Theresa Bastian Realtor in Tacoma and Pierce County, WA

It's been a busy spring for Theresa Bastian and The Bastian Team! You may have seen the News Tribune article in which Theresa was interviewed to gain deeper understanding of our local market statistics, especially the 14% drop in housing prices last month. But you might have missed the Seattle Times interviewing Theresa onsite at the foreclosure auction and touring a bank owned home.

Bottom line: it's a smart time to invest, and we have the skill to assess where the best opportunities are and to put a strong plan together to get you the return you are looking for.

I invite you to attend our Real Estate Investor Seminar to identify your personal investment goals.

Pierce County: Wed. May 13^th 6-8 pm at Keller Williams Tacoma - 5825 Tacoma Mall Blvd, Tacoma WA 98409

Thurston County: Tue. May 19^th 6-8 pm at Keller Williams Olympia - 1217 Cooper Pt. Rd, Olympia WA

Please reply to this email or call 253-376-4717 to RSVP or ask questions. I look forward to seeing you!

Pierce County's median home price fell to $225,000 in April, a 14.5 percent decrease when compared to a year ago, according to figures released Tuesday by the Northwest Multiple Listings Service.

That's one of the largest year-over-year drops the county's seen since the real estate market started its downward march almost two years ago.

The median home price in March was $228,375. The median home price in April 2008 was $263,051.

Local real estate agents attribute the price decline to a number of factors. Foreclosures and short sales - homes being sold for less than is owed on the loan - are taking their toll on the market.

And many of the homes that are selling are in the lower prices ranges - often $200,000 or less - as first-time home buyers take advantage of low interest rates and tax credits, said Theresa Bastian, operating partner with Keller Williams Realty Tacoma.

"We're still seeing home buyers almost always offering less than the asking price," she said.

Homes in Pierce County were spending an average of 131 days on the market, according to Al Morken, a local real estate analyst. That's a 16 percent increase from last year at this time.

Steve Ketz knows first hand that it's a tough time to sell. He's had his Northeast Tacoma home plus two adjoining lots on the market since September. He's received two offers on the house, now listed at $249,000. The most recent offer fell through after the buyer's financing was declined. Ketz turned down a previous offer made last fall. "I might look at it again today," he said. "Six months ago I thought it was too low, but the market has not improved -- in fact I think it has declined."

There are a few bright spots: The area's active listings dipped by 26 percent to 1,556 homes and condos currently for sale. Much of the decrease was due to a slowing of new listings. A shrinking inventory can help push home prices back up and the supply begins to better match the demand.

Pending sales - homes where offers had been made, but the sales had not closed - were also up 18.9 percent. The number of closed sales for the month was down compared to April 2008.

The uptick in pending sales reflects increased buyer activity, though some of that growth might be attributed to a number of buyers who are simply waiting for short sales to come through, Bastian said.

Rhonda Lien, 56, recalled helping her son buy a home in the Puget Sound area about four years ago when homes often had multiple offers and buyers found themselves paying above the asking price. Lien's looking for a home again, this for herself and her husband, who are moving back to the Tacoma-area from Wisconsin. "That was crazy," she said. "This feels more rational."

Several weeks ago the REO Division of Keller Williams Tacoma arranged a trip to the Pierce County Foreclosure Auction.  A group of agents and s few investor clients met at the Keller Williams office in Tacoma to review the basic procedures and terminology of what goes on at the weekly foreclosure auction.  Basically, buyers must pay cash at the auction and purchase the properties without inspections, etc - so even though the deals are often very good, only 5-10% of the homes actually sell at auction.  Doug Arbogast, Keller Williams Tacoma agent and long time foreclosure auction specialist, took time in between the auctions he was involved in to explain what we were observing.  This way we all learned to identify strategies to assist investors and other clients for whom buying at the foreclosure acution makes good sense. In order to get a sense of the 'life cycle' of a home that has been foreclosed on, we then toured several bank owned homes in Tacoma.  A reporter from the Seattle Times interviewed us and created a video that features my commentary and several of our Keller Williams Tacoma agents, and the listings of REO listing agent David Hitchcock.  I am thrilled that the efforts of our agents who are attacking the Market of the Moment received htis type of media attention.  Please forward this Seattle Times article and video to your sphere, and I invite any Realtors in Pierce County who want to really understand the REO market to attend our REO Division meetings every Friday from 12-1 at Keller Williams Tacoma.

As a Realtor who enjoys selling lakefront properties as well as a homeowner who enjoys living on a lake, I am excited about a new research study that my son Lukas and I will be participating in. We will be testing the water quality in the lake we live on - Lake Steilacoom - in Lakewood, WA. The Pierce County Health Department is coordinating the effort, in which the water quality of 10 Pierce County Lakes, including American Lake, Lake Steilacoom, Spanaway Lake, Harts Lake, Ohop Lake, and 5 others, will be tested twice a month until September. Tonight was our initial volunteers' meeting, where we reviewed the instructions for how to conduct the sampling, and were issued our official sampling equipment. My son was especially impressed with the giant thermometer (for testing the water temperature) and the Secchi Disk we will use to check the quality at different depths. I think this will be a fun experience for my budding scientist son, and I hope it will help determine long term solutions to protect our natural resources as well.

Hello...and thanks to everyone who has commented on seeing me quoted on the front page of yesterday's News Tribune. Working with homeowners to prevent foreclosures is a true passion of mine. Here's the link in case you missed it. Please forward it to anyone who might need help with their mortgage and encourage them to call me: http://www.thenewstribune.com/331/story/650731.html

Also, I wanted to share a unique opportunity to learn firsthand about the current real estate market. This Friday, I am hosting a Bank Owned Blitz. Please join me at 9 AM at my office, Keller Williams Tacoma; we will travel to the Pierce County foreclosure auction, tour some bank owned homes, and end with lunch to discuss what we've seen.

There is no cost, but please email or call me 376-4717 to RSVP.