Scott May

November 1 - 30, 2010 Spokane Association of Realtors MLS Data:

• Average Sold Price for November 2010: $180,278
• Medium Sold Price for November 2010: $152,000
• Inventory (12/1/10): 2951 (all homes built on site at less than 1 acre including condos minus contingents)
• Average Market Days: 132
• Mean Market Days: 98
• November Sold: 279 (down from 474 last year)
• Inventory rate of sale: 10.6 months

Year to date sales total 3,913 compared to 4,321 over the same period last year. Sales are down 9.4% through November. The average sales price so far this year is $183,822 compared to $188,179 last year, down 2.3%. The year to date median sales price is $164,000 compared to $169,000 last year, down 3%

October, 2010 information:

For October 304 residential closed sales of condos and site built homes on less than one acre were reported. In

October 2009 residential sales totaled 509. Last month sales totaled 317. The average sales price for October

was $189,541 while the median sales price was $166,250. (NOTE: Last year at this time the First Time

Homebuyer Tax Credit was set to expire on November 30, 2009.)

Year to date sales total 3,634 properties compared to 3,847 last year. Sales are down 5.5% through October.

The average sales price through October is $184,094 down 2.9% from last year. The year to date median sales

price is $165,000 also down 2.9% from last year.

The current inventory is down 7.7% from last month but is up 1.1% for the same period last year. The current

inventory stands at 3,179 homes and condos as of this report. New construction sales are down 2.2% through the

end of October compared to last year.

Frequently Asked Questions:

FAQ: What's the MLS?

Answer: The MLS is the Multiple Listing Service and it's a shared database by all members of the Spokane Association of Realtors. This way we don't have to only show houses listed by our respective agencies. While I love Coldwell Banker, it may be that you are interested in a home listed with someone else and that's ok. My key box opener will unlock that door for you as well and if you like the home I can help you with your offer, negotiate the details, and before you know it you're in your new home all warm and cozy! The same is true if you hire me as your agent and I list your home. It will go on the MLS and all other members of the MLS who are REALTORS can then show your house. In fact it's how the majority of homes in our area are sold. Having the MLS is great for home owners, for home sellers and for agents. It would be far more difficult and costly to buy and sell homes with out it; it's a win win for all!

FAQ: Can I get more specific information from you regarding the market value of my house that I'm interested in selling?

Answer: Absolutely! Call me and we can set up an apointment. If you decide to hire me as your agent I will get you all the information you need to price your home correctly to sell.

FAQ: Can you get me information about a specific neighborhood so I can determine the best offer to make on a house I'm interested in buying?

Answer: Absolutely! It's one of the major benifits, besides representation, negotiating, help with paper work, and finding a great house you'll love living in, that more than 4/5ths of all buyers get an agent. I'd love to be your agent, and yes I can get you market specifics and help you have a happier experience moving into your new home. I do no cost interview/consultations, you'll get the facts and what you won't get is pushed around or talked into buying something you don't want or can't afford.

New Business Opens: Pacific Avenue Trading Company.

The New store is at a very well recognized location near downtown Spokane at the corner of Maple and Pacific in Historic Brown's Addition and you can park right in front of Salon Solo.

Proprietor, Randy Holland has had the idea in mind for years and finally found the perfect location and space to bring to the neighborhood a very cool store!

In keeping with the tradition of barbers and salon professionals, The store will not be open on Monday, however the rest of the week, including Sunday you can step inside between 10am and 5pm.

Randy at Pacific Avenue Trading Company sells anything from household appliances to furniture, clothing and shoes...even fur coats! It's not necessarily all upscale items, nor is it total bargain store bottom of the basement.

Randy says he's looking for unique items, or things that many people may find of interest. Space is limited so you will find just selected items available and this brings more of a charm to the experience of shopping throughout.

Because the store is a consignment shop, people are encouraged to bring in items that they think might sell and/or contribute to the ambiance of the store. If you plan to bring a few items by, it's probably best to call first and talk to Randy about what it is you'd like put on consignment.

He also has collectables, jewelry, art, and antiques etc...he says customers can bring items in and when they sell, build up credit on an account and then come back and do some shopping with the money you already made.

The location is great, the concept is fun and inviting, and with Randy I truly believe you are going to get a store filled with all kinds of intriguing possibilities. Randy also owns Salon Solo attatched to the same building. Some of you may remember when Randy had previously worked and was a partner in Studio 1829 that used to be located right next to the Elk in Browne's Addition. He also helped launch Salon Rouge and according to some, is one of the most experienced and better salon stylists in the area. If you you stop in to say "hi" don't forget to mention that you found out about the shop here on my blog!

Book Review: After Shock, The Next Economy and America's Future, Robert B. Reich. 2010, Published by: Alfred A. Knopf, New York, New York. (This has been in the Wall Street Journal's Top 10 best sellers list for weeks now.)

Read Rating: Excellent (out of: Good, Great, Excellent) Pages: Under 200. Excellent writing, Easy to follow, Informative, explains points very well, provides solutions, excellent citations of sources...Well worth the money!

Overview:

While many people place blame for the economic meltdown solely at the feet of Wall Street firms and executives, Robert Reich shows in his analysis a more complex and structural reason for the crisis.

The book actually took me back to a class report I did in an undergraduate Business and Society Class at Eastern Washington University where I reported on the widening gap between the rich and the poor, and the effects of a shrinking middle class. Now, more than a decade later we are seeing it play out with devastating effects. Even the chairman of the Fed, Ben Bernanke, in a rare interview on 60 minutes (cbs.com) commented about the gapbetween the haves and have nots by pointing out that unemployment is significantly less among those with a college degree verses those with only a high school education.

After Shock paints a picture of a once vibrant middle class whose golden era took place during the nation's boom years between the end of WW II and the the late 70's and early 80's to one that became propped up by loans and more work hours. The book points out that tax rates, particularly for the top of the upper class were much higher then, in fact significantly more than double what is paid now, yet it was at the same time where our economy was booming. In contrast to now where dramatic cuts since then in taxes for the top percentages of income earners has helped create the bust as the money was invested in automation and moved off shore. Since about the same time that the tax cuts began Reich says that real annual wages (adjusted for inflation) fell for the middle earners over the past 30 years while it has sought to maintain its' lifestyle. In other words, to keep things going the people in this group first turned to working more hours, then to borrowing with increased consumer credit, and finally borrowing against their homes to pay for lifestyle upkeep. Now there's not much left to borrow from to keep things at the same level thus people are adjusting to living with less while at the same time paying back debt taking away from spending power. In some cases they are just walking away from the debt and thus what we see happening with the foreclosures and bank bailouts. Moreover, he says that outsourcing, investment abroad, automation and increased consumer debt loads have plagued the middle class. It got this way he says because of political and economic policies that have resulted in further job cuts leading to less spending because of higher unemployment causing employers to cut back and so we see the cycle.

Reich exposes a glaring reality when he shows that today, as it was in 1928 just before the Great Depression, that the upper 1% of earners takes in almost a quarter of all of the income and at the same time has had massive tax reductions over the past 30 years allowing for the accumulation of a greater chunk of wealth by a small few. He describes a future of disparity and difficult times for all but the very rich unless fundamental changes are made creating shared prosperity and a restoration of a robust economy and healthy society for all. What wasn't clear to me was what all of these changes exactly should be in order to actually rebuild the middle class, but even so the point remains vividly clear that we must have a strong middle class in order to have a successful economic picture. If we don't find changes leading to positive outcomes then we are sure to experience another shock, or what he calls the "after-shock"...

Discussion:

America will shake this off. We have rallied beforeand we have came out of times even more difficult than these. The economy always finds a way to create and invent. One thing we need is a more populist agenda that focuses on fostering a stronger middle class. Why do I say this? Well for one, in order for people to be able to afford to buy houses in numbers necessary to bring prices of homes back up on the wide scale, people need to have good paying jobs in order to realize the dream. It goes back to a saying by a great American entrepreneur, Henry Ford, who believed strongly that if his workers were payed a good wage, then they would be out buying his cars.

I can't think of anything more apropos. If The bulk of the American population are doing well, then those at the top will actually find themselves in a much better position as well even if they pay more in wages and in taxes. A stronger middle class will help in the housing recovery and it certainly will create more stability, and stability usually causes good economies where people invest and can afford to buy. As the economy heats up everyone benifits and the debt can be paid down. Right now the economy is heating up for only a few while the many continue to live in an employment recession. If you look at the figures coming out of Wall St. we see a robust recovery that's been going on now for a long time. The question is, how do we get Main St. to do the same?

About The Author of the book:

Robert B. Reich is a professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley and has served in Three United States Administrations including Secretary of Labor in the Clinton Administration.

I snapped these pictures at the Spokane Falls in Riverfront park during the recent cold arctic blast that have brought our region sub zero temperatures and a bunch of snow in November even before Thanksgiving holiday...I would have taken more but I did not bring a hat or gloves and only had on a thin pair of men's business slacks with shoes that didn't have much in the way of traction, and I gotta say my ears were...well let's just say it was really cold out!

This has got to be the most amazing picture of them all...I call it: Angry River:

And of course the spillway used to hold back the water for power generation at what the power company calls the Monroe Street Hydroelectric Development. Just below the spillway the water cascades over rock and continues it's decent into the Peacefull Valley area just beyond the Monroe Street bridge.

At the time I took these pictures the temperature was a crisp eight below zero ( -8 F)...Note the ice to the right of the spillway and the steam that completely covers the view to the left.

Spokane is a city full of amazing parks and splendid features and having a large river run right through downtown along with a huge park that was once host to the World's Fair, and of course, the water falls and gorge that follows is really something to be proud of. The land is considered sacred in some native cultures and at one time this river was chuck full of salmon. Her at the falls they could be seen jumping out of the water and swimming up river during spawning season. It's been said that a person couldn't count them fast enough as they jumped up these waters...

'Tis the season for Theatre, and Spokane's award winning Civic Theatre has got the rights to Bing Crosby's famed White Christmas and is currently running the Production through December 19th....

http://www.spokanecivictheatre.com/ For Show Times and Ticket information as well as historical points about this amazing centerpiece for Inland Northwest Arts and Culture...

Here's a sneak peak...ok, more like a part of a set that was being worked on two days before the show opening night...Even the work process on the set and creation of props is artistic!

In the main entrance way by the concessions stand and Wine bar, you may notice a number of holiday wreaths on display. I'm told that these were hand crafted by many of the Theatre volunteers and are up for a raffle type auction. The proceeds that the wreath sale generates goes to benefit the Civic Theatre Academy. The Academy offers all sorts of opportunities for those who wish to be involved in the many projects of the Theatre. They hold camps and activities all season long...so support the Academy and get into the raffle for the beautiful wreaths!

Academy Scholarship Fundraising night is on December 5th and features a performance at 7pm of Twas the Night Before Christmas...I'm so excited myself to be in the audience tonight (at the time of writing) for A White Christmas!