The following is a quick analysis of the Whatcom County real estate market.
The Average Sales price is down 4.0% compared to October 08 and up 9.2% compared to last month.
The Median Sales prices is down 6.2% compared to October 08 and up 6.2% compared to last month.
The number of sales is up by 37 compared to October 08 and down by 16 compared to last month.
Condo Analysis for Whatcom County
The Average Sales price is down 17.3% compared to October 08, and down by 1.0% compared to last month.
The Median Sales prices is up by 7.3% compared to October 08 and up by 8.5% compared to last month.
The number of sales is up by 25 compared to October 08 and up by 14 compared to last month.
Great news the First Time Home Buyer's Tax Credit of $8,000 available to anyone who hasn't owned a home in the past 3 years has been extended until April 2010. The new program will also expand the tax credit to include existing home owners who have owned a home for at least five of the last 8 years will be able to apply for tax credits of up to $6,500 when they purchase their next home.
You might want to talk to your banker to see what you can afford. Meanwhile interest rates are still extremely low and there are some great values in the Bellingham market right now. You might want to take a look at what it would cost you to purchase one of these homes at today's rates. You might be surprised at what your monthly payments would be, maybe less than your paying for rent right now if you are renting a comparable sized house.
If you have any questions or want to see any Bellingham Property feel free to email me at or give me a call at 360-739-6981
Whatcom Museum's latest addition The Lightcatcher has just opened this week.With the buildings architectural design and it's exhibits, the museum will be bridging the gap between art and nature, showing the beautiful simplicity of nature's form and function.
The building's name comes from the Lightcatcher wall. Designed in an arc, the 37-foot-high and 180-foot translucent wall surrounds the courtyard capturing, filtering and translating the light of the sun. The building has an interesting shape but I find it's dull sand color exterior a little boring, some vibrant color or a mural would make it a lot more interesting.
The Lightcatcher is the first museum in Washington State built to LEED Silver standards and it includes a green roof and rainwater harvesting strategies that will be used for public education.The roof manages stormwater, their is a natural ventilation systems in the Lightcatcher wall, and a cistern for harvesting rainwater, as well as a rain garden in the courtyard,
One of the premier exhibits is John Grade's architectural installation of sculptures that he calls "Bloom: The Elephant Bed," 10 bell-shaped sculptures hanging from the 26-foot high ceiling. A type of organism called coccolithophores that forms algal blooms, was Grade's inspiration for the sculpture. After millions of years of decay and deposit, their calciferous skeletons have became the basis of England's chalky white cliffs of Dover. The "elephant bed" is a layer in the chalk deposit that holds the fossilized bones of ox, deer and even mammoth. The sculptures are made of water-soluble materials and over the course of the exhibit, a few will be lowered into a pool of inky-black water where they will slowly dissolve. On Saturday, April 10, 2010 the remaining pieces will be cast into Bellingham Bay after a public procession where they will dissolve and spend eternity.
Grade's exhibit honors the natural world's state of impermanence, death and renewal; the cycle of birth and decay is nature's way of creating a sustainable habitat.
The museum's art gallery, has works that explore political, social and gender issues and show how ordinary materials and ideas can be transformed into art. The Lightcatcher building's inaugural exhibition "Out of Bounds" features more than 80 compelling works in all media - painting, sculpture, drawing, Out of Bounds is the collection of Driek and Michael Zirinsky.
The Family Interactive Gallery (FIG), formerly the Children's Museum is the Pacific Northwest's newest family attraction. Art-based activities in a dramatic setting connect visitors to our region's history and environment, the FIG promises to be a fun and engaging experience for the whole family.
The Whatcom Museum Lightcatcher is a welcome addition to the city of Bellingham.
The following is a quick analysis of the Residential Bellingham real estate market.

The Average Sales price is up 7.9% compared to October 08 and up 8.2% compared to the previous month September 09.
The Median Sales prices is down by 6.3% compared October 08 and up 5.3% compared to the previous September 09.
The number of sales is up by 10 compared to October 2008 and down by 6 compared to the previous month September 09.
Condo Analysis for Bellingham

Average Condo sale price is down 15.0% from October 2008 and down 5.9% from the previous month - September 2009
Median Sales Price is $300 or .2 %up from October 2008 and down 6.8% from the previous month - September 2009.
The number of sales is up by 18 compared to October 2008 and up by 9 compared to the previous month September 09.

If you look at the graph you can see that prices the residential market has taken a bit of a rise. Where will the graph go next month is anybody's guess. Will the roller coaster ride of prices continue?........Tune in next month
Great news the First Time Home Buyer's Tax Credit of $8,000 available to anyone who hasn't owned a home in the past 3 years has been extended until April 2010. The new program will also expand the tax credit to include existing home owners who have owned a home for at least five of the last 8 years will be able to apply for tax credits of up to $6,500 when they purchase their next home.You might want to talk to your banker to see what you can afford.Meanwhile interest rates are still extremely low and there are some great values in the Bellingham market right now. You might want to take a look at what it would cost you to purchase one of these homes at today's rates. You might be surprised at what your monthly payments would be, maybe less than your paying for rent right now if you are renting a comparable sized house.
If you have any questions or want to see any Bellingham Property feel free to email me at or give me a call at 360-739-6981
The home buyer tax credit ,which is part of a larger bill that also extends unemployment benefits. has been approved by both houses of Congress and signed by President Obama.
First-time home buyers are still eligible for tax credits of up to $8,000. Buyers will now have to sign a purchase agreement by April 30, 2010 and close by June 30.
The new program will also expand the tax credit to include existing home owners who have owned a home for at least five of the last 8 years will be able to apply for tax credits of up to $6,500 when they purchase their next home.
The maximum price on a home will be $800,000 and vacation homes are not eligible.
The National Association of Realtors says that so far, about 1.4 million first-time homebuyers have qualified for the program and they estimated that 350,000 of these buyers would not have otherwise purchased.
The tax credit will also be extended for another year for military personnel serving outside of the United States until June 30, 2011.
Senator Johnny Isakson, who heavily pushed for the extension, along with his own version that would have increased the credit to $15,000 stated, "this bill will help us boost what is the real problem in the U.S housing market today and that is what is called the move-up market."
Today we got something to help the move up buyers that should help jump start that segemet of the market as well as the first time buyer market.
Another common question from buyers as well as sellers is, "what are my closing costs?" Some typical closing costs in real estate transaction are
Title search fees - is the assurance of clear title to the property and title insurance to defend against any future claims made on the title by circumstances that were not picked up at the time of the title search. This fee is based on the price of the transaction. It will vary from one company to another but they usually pretty close to each other. Traditionally the seller will buy the title insurance policy to protect the buyer, and the buyer will buy a title insurance policy to protect the lender that is providing the loan for the transaction.
The appraisal fee - this fee is paid by the buyer to have a professional appraiser give their value of the property. The appraisal is based on recent comparable sales.
Prorated property taxes, utilities, and association fees - these fees are based on the percentage of the year, or month in terms of utilities such as water and sewer, that you own a home.
Insurance fee - you can usually expect to prepay the first year of your insurance premium
Recording fees - these are fees charged to record the change in ownership usually by the county.
Document fees - these can be fees for drawing up different documents involved in the transaction.
Escrow fees - this fee is usually shared by both buyer and seller and pays for the escrow company that is handling the transaction.
Credit report fee - this fee is for the lender to render buyers credit report.
Other miscellaneous fees - these can include courier fees, electronic transfer fees, flood determination fees, digital storage fees, retrieval fees, underwriting fees, wire transfer fees, tax service fees, e-mail document fees. You won't necessarily be paying all of these, but you will pay some of them.is
Loan origination fees and discount points - the loan origination fee can vary from 0.5 % to about 2% of the loan amount pays for the cost of providing loans. Discount points are percentage of the loan amount paid to buying down the loan rate, resulting in a lower monthly payment.
Sellers additional fees - the seller will also pay a percentage of the sales price in excise tax to the county, and commissions to real estate agents.
You real estate agent can usually give you a pretty close estimate of what most of these fees will be.
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