Anchorage Real Estate Market: Hot or Not?

Nearly every single time I'm asked, "How is the market these days?" (which is an often occurrence) it's said with an expected reply in mind. Most expect me to say, "Terrible! Awful! Horrible! Nothing is selling and what does miraculously sell is going for half of what is was worth last year!" Now, that's a bit of an exaggeration but you get the idea. For some reason there’s a widely accepted notion that the local market is down and down a lot, but that's just not true.

When comparing Quarter 1 2016 to Quarter 1 2017 we see a 2% increase in residential sales with a less than 1% decrease in average sale prices. Those numbers do not reflect a down market, they reflect a market where sales are slightly up and prices are steady. In the three years prior we saw 3% increases year over year in sale prices; but we all knew at some point it had to stop. Those aren't sustainable numbers. What we're seeing now is the market flattening out. Stable and consistent. A market you can depend on.

Interestingly, we have seen one area where the residential market has fallen and that's in new listings. We saw a 23% decrease in new listings this quarter compared to Q1 2016. 23%! I think one of the main reasons we've seen such a drastic decrease in new listings is because of that preconceived notion that the market is down. Homeowners are weary to list because they're afraid their homes won't sell for what they need them to.

I'm here to dispel that fear.

Homes are selling, and they're selling for basically the same prices they were last year. I'd even venture to say that sales would have increased at an even greater rate had there been as many new listings in Q1 2017 as Q1 2016. Buyers are here to stay. Loan applications are up and buyers want to lock in before rates rise. Sales are up and prices are steady, let's get inventory up. Afterall, it shouldn't be scary anymore.

So to answer my initial question, I'd say the market is warm and it's officially springtime here in Alaska - it's getting hotter every day.