Data Choices

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Want to buy Homes or Land in North Idaho?

Existing Home Sales Subprime Hits Autos 2007 Realtor of the Year Award

North Idaho Real Estate and Surrounding Areas

Retirees are moving to this part of the country in droves. Who says the boom has bust???

Coeur d'Alene, Sandpoint, Bonners Ferry, Moscow and many other gorgeous towns are all part of North Idaho! If you have never visited this part of the country then you have never seen the territory that people often refer to as "God's Country." You owe it to yourself to come visit. CAUTION: Once you have visited a place this wonderful it is highly likely that you may never go home . . .

Spokane, Washington is only a half hour away, so people looking for Spokane area real estate may also be interested in North Idaho and all it has to offer!

Take a look at Coeur d'Alene right now!

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12/8/2007

The Coeur d'Alene Press reports that residential listings are up twenty percent from a year ago, but down five percent from last month. For the six month period ending on October 31st the average sales price is down half a percent while the median sales price is down four percent. Read the original article in The Press by clicking here.

Contractor Woes

Make sure you check out any potential contractors before you write a check!

This story presents one man's troubles after hiring two different contractors to install a deck for this gorgeous home! Click here to read the original article.

2007 Realtor of the Year Award

Twenty years in the Coeur d'Alene Association of Realtors earned Anne Anderson, co-owner of Lakeshore Realty and a certified commercial investment member, the respect of her peers. Anderson was named the association's Realtor of the Year 2007 at Wednesday's general membership meeting of the organization.

Kelly Hanson (left and 2006 Realtor of the Year) and Anne Anderson, the new 2007 recipient!

See complete article in the Coeur d'Alene Press!

Real Estate Marketing Strategies, or Real Estate SEO is a tricky business! Data Choices would like to help you succeed!

Existing Home Sales July 2007

According to the National Association of Realtors, preliminary sales of existing homes were down nine percent in July over the year ago period. The hardest hit areas continue to be the west and the south. This can, in turn, be harmful to North Idaho and Spokane, given that so many people relocate from California, Arizona and Nevada.

More information can be garnered and theorized when we look at prices versus the year ago period. Throughout the U.S. prices were down only six tenths of one percent, to just under $229,000. This is still higher than the almost $222,000 sale price average for all of 2006! Additionally, in one of the hardest hit areas (the west) prices were actually up by nine tenths of a percent! In the south prices fell 3.2%, though they are still up over the average 2006 whole year selling price.

So what does all this mean? When existing home sales are down in a region and supply continues to grow, prices will usually fall until they reach the new equilibrium price created by the supply/demand graph. So the rise in prices in the west defies that standard economic theory and says one of two things:

Either people in the west are expecting a quick recovery or

They are holding out either because they cannot afford to sell for less or don't feel like they need to sell . . . yet.

Meanwhile the prices in the south fell, but at about one third the rate at which existing home sales were down. Again, a similar type situation may be developing. Our data and trend analysis in this area continues.

From the Washington Times: Subprime Market Hits Autos - Two of the Big Three

September 5th, 2007

The Washington Times today reports that the subprime housing crisis has hit the auto makers - including Toyota.

Ford sales were down more than fourteen percent, Chrysler down more than six percent and even Toyota was down almost three percent. GM managed to buck the trend and its sales were up more than six percent over the year ago period.

It has been widely reported that many people used the housing boom to create their own personal ATM - refinancing their loans at the higher assessed values and then taking cash out - not only their built up equity from their previous loan but also cash reflecting the newly valued higher price of the home, essentially repurchasing their own home. People then used the cash to buy cars and other products which helped spur the U.S. economy.

But as they say, all good things must end. And with house values down twenty percent or more in many areas, people are struggling to make higher mortgage payments - forced to cut spending elsewhere. Adding to this are the people that bought houses solely for the purpose of "flipping" them, now saddled with the inability to unload the house for what they paid.

And finally there are the "too creative" financing schemes that have put many families in trouble. The Mortgage Bankers Association, ahead of its September 6th conference call to address foreclosures, released the following information:

As of June 30 this chart represents the non owner-occupied homes in default in relation to loan type, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association

Example: Of the total defaults in Nevada, thirty two percent of prime loan defaults were non owner occupied and twenty four percent of the sub-prime defaults were non owner occupied. *Defaults or seriously delinquent.

This seems to indicate that about a quarter of the defaulting properties are either rentals or "flippers" in most of the U.S. Unfortunately for North Idaho and Spokane, Arizona, California and Nevada are huge feeder markets for this part of the country. The extremely high rate of more speculative real estate ventures in these states has hurt and is likely to continue to hurt the North Idaho Real Estate market for awhile to come.

See more from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

On 10/15/2007 KB Homes issues a depressing statement by saying that they do not expect the housing market to recover before 2009. We think they are wrong! Read the blog entry by clicking here.

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Note: This is not an offer to buy or sell properties in Idaho or any other part of the country. Real estate seo, or search engine optimization, is unique to the seo field. Data Choices understands optimization and those who buy and sell real estate. As such we are uniquely prepared to aid in real estate marketing strategies.

See our Real Estate Predictions for 2008!