Richard R Bell Broker-Manager Allyn~ Belfair Washington State Realtor

It is that time of the Week, as the Managing Broker of our two Offices, that I take on the exciting task of providing a summary of our market activity. (Yawn). I know, not the most popular information to share with the AR community, but there are some out there who are curious of what is going in a various markets. Our current market appears to be similiar to what others are experiencing. The following is the Mason County, State of Washington Active Listing Report for October 2008.

The Mason County Active Listing Report for the month of October 2008 reveals that the Average Price was the nearly the same as October 2007. The 2008 October average Active List Price for the entire county was $315,297 while in October 2007 it was $315,737.

Similar results for the Active Listings Median Price, in October 2008 it was $249,000 and October 2007 it was $249,900. The biggest spread was in the Average time on Market. In October 2008 a residential property was on market an average of 143 days and in the same month of 2007 it 115 days.

New Listings took a dip in October 2008 with a total new listing count of 131 compared to 155 new listings in October 2007. The Total Active Listings for the month of October 2008 was 828 compared to 842 of the same period last year.

Year to date numbers follow a similar path as the October postings. In 2007 the Year to Date total active residential listings numbered 1,944 and Year to Date 2008 totals were 1,768 active residential listings.

The Pending Sales Report for Residential resale's is a sign of current market conditions. Pending Sales for October 2008 was 40 compared to 67 in October 2007. Year to Date Pending Sales for 2008 was 690 while in 2007 it was 890.

The Closed Sales report also illustrates a sluggish turn in our local market. In October 2008 the county recorded 50 residential sales compared to the 87 sales during same month of 2007. Year to Date residential units sold for 2008 - 584. Year to Date 2007 - 802.

The Average Sale Price for residential homes is also a bit lower in the month of October 2008 at $223,049. While in 2007 of the same month it was $258,985. Year to Date average sold price for 2008 was $224,785, for 2007 it was $246,688.

Median sold prices: October 2008 - $191,500, October 2007 - $200,000. Year to Date Median sold: 2008 - $193,000, 2007 - $207,000

If you have read this far, I thank you. If you respond, a super thank you.

If you have not been in the QFC Store in Belfair recently, you're in for big surprise. This store has been transformed. The store feels larger. More Chic. Better layout. More of everything. Can this really be happening in B E L F A I R?

The Deli and Cheese section is well stocked with a variety of foods from soups, sushi and prepared foods that make shopping for an evening's meal a pleasurable foray.

The meat and fish department rivals any urban shopping centers gourmet offerings; I had to stand behind someone today just to look over the variety of Chicken Cordon Bleus, Prime Ribs and Stuffed Pork Rolls.

Veggie and Fruit is plentiful and colorful. Well displayed and fresh. You'd believe you stepped in to a Bellevue QFC not little ole Belfair.

But the area of the store that really caught my attention - The WINE SECTION.

Wine Steward, Rick Vance, knows what the regional wine connoisseurs want in wine selection. There is now a temperature controlled wine cellar and a sizeable selection of the nectar of the Gods. From specialty wines to collector wines, the newly remodeled QFC of Belfair has my undivided attention.

This morning at the Allyn Community Association meeting, I took upon myself to announce to the attendees that the local Real Estate community has been very active in providing informative commentary, photos and chitchat about the community and posting it to LOCALISM. It was convincingly suggested that each attendee go to the LOCALISM web site today and read what is being reported.

The response was very favorable and the discussion appeared to encourage the Realtors that attended the meeting to continue to be acting as blogging ambassadors for the community.

Also, in the Local newspaper, Localism was featured in my weekly News article know locally as "The Real State of Real Estate", the message was to promote Localism and see for themselves what the real estate contributors to localism are saying about their community.

In addition, the local Chamber of Commerce Director immediately went back to his office and added localism links within the Chamber Web site. Thank you Frank Kenny of the North Mason Chamber of Commerce.

Lastly, on the localism information pages our Communities and County are now highlighted as most active and popular sites. This is really Cool because our entire County only has a Population of around 57,000 people.

All of this has happen because of the enthusiastic real estate bloggers who are proud of their communities, who are providing an array of terrific photos and sharing their experiences.

KUDOS to the AR community, members and contributors.

Thank you local contributors for your support and dedication.

While I was taking me early evening pleasure with a glass of fine 12 year old Irish Whiskey, I was having an expressive discourse on Community Planning with a fellow Businessman and community activist.

We began to converse on the subject of why the good folks of our small town of Allyn, in the great State of Washington, were always trying to reinvent itself.

You hear them declare "We must plan for new roads...a new proposal for land use and zoning...need a study for this and that...the county should pay for it...and so on and so on."

After a lively exchange of vocalizing our trepidation on Community Planning, we asked ourselves "What's the deal with all this anxiety to always toil to do something new"? "Why can't we just be content with what we have"?

As I savored more of the fresh and zesty taste of the 12 year Irish Whiskey, I inquired of my colleague "and how might we achieve this Happy State (which by the way, we both had already attained))?"

His statement was simple "Just be Happy!"

He continued on "Look what we here, a beautiful saltwater park, stunning views of the Olympic Mountains and Mt. Rainier and the 27 hole golf course we are now over looking. What more do you want. Does this not make us Happy?"

With that easily agreed to, we made a toast and proclaimed that our small town shall be forever known as "Happy Allyn".

Now that you have read my little tale, what makes your community a Happy Place?

While watching the local news channel this morning a reporter was commenting on a mailer the Washington Realtors sent out recently. The flyer was part of a public awareness campaign asking people to call their elected officials and tell them they can't afford any new real estate taxes.

A homeowner was being interviewed and he said he usually throws away junk mail but that this one caught his attention. He appeared to be very gratefully for the information and was happy to see that someone out there was looking out for him. He did not like the idea of having a tax being placed on his home equity - I think he said it was "scary".

The reporter noted that there was no new tax, but here in Washington State there has been talk of raising the Excise Tax and Taxing the Equity when a property is sold. The Washington Realtors are calling this a "Preemptive Strike".

A spokesperson from the Realtors, who by the way did a terrific job defending the flyer, said "in this marketplace is not the time to be raising taxes."

Washington Realtors have been accused of being political. Duh! Real Estate is our profession but Politics is our business. Kudos to Washington Realtors for their "Preemptive Strike" and providing to Washington State homeowners, a heads up on potential Tax increases.