Real estate market waiting to end its fall

Local realtors are looking for the bottom of the housing boom-to-bust cycle that grips the nation. Foreclosures are driving down the price of homes in Wahkiakum County and financing is unpredictable.

“Seems like we’re waiting for what we hope is going to be the bottom,” said Stephanie Prestegard of Lower Columbia Realty.

Newly elected Wahkiakum County Assessor Bill Coons said the real estate market is still declining.

“Foreclosures are putting a lot of pressure on private sales,” he said Monday, his first day as county assessor.

“Some people used their home as an ATM. They refinanced until they couldn’t make the payments. Other people lost income.”

There were 44 residential sales in the county in 2010 (which included two farms) up from 22 in 2009 (including one farm) according to data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (MLS), provided by Lower Columbia Realty broker Kay Cochran. But the number of foreclosures in the county is driving prices down.

The MLS listed the median price of a residence in the county down from $198,334 in 2009 to $182,617 in 2010, Cochran said.

“People are stuck,” said Prestegard. “They’re upside down in their home. It’s still kind of scary.”

The county issued 11 building permits in 2010 compared to nine in 2009, said county permit coordinator Chuck Beyer, who said his business in 2010 was “slow and steady.”

There were nine sales of vacant land in 2010 compared to 11 in 2009 according to the MLS. But of the housing permits obtained in 2009, Beyer said, “some are just getting built this year and some aren’t going to be built. The loans have dried up.”

In an effort to deal with the financing challenge, companies like Adair Homes are providing in-house financing for construction loans, Cochran said.

The county planning department issued four short plats (between two to four lots) for subdivision this year, “but there are still a lot of lots out there from the boom years of 2006 and 2007. Not many new lots are being built,” Beyer said.

There are 103 parcels of land for sale in the county, Cochran said.

David Nelson of Cathlamet Realty West said he’s sold two farms recently, both to cash buyers. Financing is inconsistent, Nelson said. “Some [sales] you think would be a slam dunk are a problem.”

Cochran said, “With so many properties on the market, it’s like a used car lot, you’re going to have to get some of them off of it,” before sales pick up.