Housing affordability

Housing affordability is a significant issue in the San Juan Islands where our current median home price on all 4 main state ferry served islands exceeds $800,000. As of today, September 13th 2021 the median sold home price over the past 180 days for San Juan Island (Friday Harbor) was $817,000 (94 sales), for Orcas Island was $975,000 (51 sales), for Lopez Island was $1,101,000 (15 sales) and for Shaw (1 sale) $1,300,000.

Read the article: https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2021/08/05/housing-affordability-has-left-the-building.html

Be warned of warranties

As stated in the KOMO news article home warranties are “terrible deals that simply aren’t worth the money”. Be skeptical of professionals that are selling you a “free” home warranty. Also, be aware that once your contact information is given out you will be solicited for lots of services you may not want or need (SPAM!)!!!

https://komonews.com/news/consumer/thinking-of-buying-a-home-warranty-read-this-first

Determining home values

In rural areas like the San Juan Islands where land, views, and location are so important this article is spot on. There is so much more to value than the sales price divided by the GLA!

Forget Price Per Square Foot: The More Accurate Ways to Determine Your Home’s Value

Forget Price Per Square Foot: The More Accurate Ways to Determine Your Home’s Value

Price per square foot is a common way to quantify a home’s value, but that doesn’€™t mean it’s the most accurate. There are better ways to determine value.

Source: www.realtor.com/advice/buy/more-accurate-ways-to-determine-homes-value/

Median age of owner-occupied homes

With the median age of San Juan County residents at 54-55 years old , I wonder what San Juan County median age of owner-occupied homes would be. Would it be different on each island? Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, Orcas, Lopez or Shaw?

How about in Anacortes where the median age is 48-49 years old?

Statistics can be found at: https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/community_facts.xhtml?src=bkmk

Full article at Eye On Housing:

Half of US Homes Built before 1980

Half of US Homes Built before 1980

The median age of owner-occupied homes is 37 years, according to the latest data from the 2016 American Community Survey. Compared to a median age of 31 years in 2005, the U.S. owner-occupied housi…

Source: eyeonhousing.org/2018/08/half-of-us-homes-built-before-1980/

Where is the real estate market headed?

While the San Juan Islands and Skagit County are outside of the greater Seattle market we are definitely impacted by this markets activity.  Many recent retirees and telecommuters are moving to Anacortes from the Seattle market and demand for new construction remains strong according to local builders. Orcas, San Juan/Friday Harbor, Lopez, Shaw and Guemes islands are more seasonal markets for second home buyers and investors. It has historically been the case that the San Juan Islands lag behind the Seattle market by 1-2 years.

Continue reading →

American Society of Appraisers, National Association of Independent Fee Appraisers to merge

As a member of NAIFA (member ID#111013) I am excited and happy about the merger of these national appraiser groups and look forward to being a member of the ASA also.

Read full article here: https://www.housingwire.com/articles/39904-american-society-of-appraisers-national-association-of-independent-fee-appraisers-to-merge