Supra, the major lockbox provider for the northwest, follows the trends of how many lockboxes are
opened by a Realtor and the recent numbers have people talking. When comparing the week of
April 23 – April 29 with the week prior, the number of times an RMLS™ subscriber opened a Supra
lockbox rose 13.9% in Washington and 3.8% in Oregon.

Team McAleer at RE/MAX Fifth Avenue in Sequim tracks market trends closely and sends out a
quarterly report to our clients and the numbers will very interesting to see at the end of the 2^nd
quarter. From an anecdotal perspective, this is the most activity we have seen as far as new buyers
go in close to six years. We will see in the coming months if this was the time the market made it’s
rebound or if it’s simply a seasonal bump assisted by some beautiful warm weather.

At some point, all of those people who have been waiting for the bottom and wanting to get on with
their lives, will get on to buying new homes. Is that time now? I think the coming months will show
us.

If you are thinking about selling, or know someone who is thinking about selling, contact Team
McAleer at RE/MAX Fifth Avenue at 360.683.1500.

Although slight, the median sale price of homes actually rose slightly comparing Q1 of 2012 to last quarter and Q1 of 2011. That was a bit surprising being as though the volume of sales actually fell and the percentage of distressed sales in the overall market rose again as well.

Median sales price – rises slighty.

The median sale price of a home in Sequim rose 5% from last quarter to $220K the 1^st quarter of 2012. That is the highest median price for home sales in Sequim in 5 quarters. Team McAleer did its part in helping get that median sales price up a bit as we were responsible for the two highest priced sales of the quarter and 3 of the 6 highest sales. Go Team.

Number of Sales – second slowest quarter in terms of volume since we began tracking this data.

The first quarter is traditionally the lowest in terms of sales volume, but this quarter was surprisingly low. With only 19 home sales/month, this quarter was second only to the first quarter of 2009 (when it looked like our economy might never recover). This was a bit surprising considering the positive news from other markets around the country and an overall improvement in consumer confidence. Until we looked at the data for this quarter, Team McAleer would have told you “things are great!” but that’s because our business is doing well. We make up two of the 187 Realtors in Sequim and Port Angeles but were responsible for 16% of Sequim’s home sales this quarter. Go Team again.

Portion of the market taken up by Distressed Sales – slightly up again.

14 of the 56 sales this past quarter were classified as “distressed sales”. That is a slight increase from the 24% clip we saw all of last year, but is frankly less than we expected going into this year. Bank of America has yet to put their back log of bank owned properties on the market, and according to the CEO of one of our biggest local banks here on the Peninsula, 60 day delinquencies are peaking in our area right now. That leads us to believe that we are not out of the woods as far as the distressed properties go and they put downward pressure on prices – mostly the properties in the lower price ranges of course.   The current 11.1% unemployment rate in Clallam County (well above the state and national rate of 8.2%) won’t help matters either.

LAND REPORT – 1^st Quarter of 2012 sees modest increases in volume and sale prices.

Number of total land sales: The 20 land sales this first quarter was up slightly compared to the 15 sales last quarter and the 18 sales in the first quarter of 2011. It will be interesting to see how recent decisions by the city of Sequim and Washington State DOE will affect raw land and existing home values. The city changed their impact and hookup fees for new construction from $6,500 to $22,000. Later this year, the state DOE will impose new rules on NEW wells outside the city limiting the daily use to 350/gallons/day (down from the current 5,000 gallon/day).  It’s quite possible that these decisions will increase the value of existing homes while doing serious economic harm to many raw land owners. We’ll have to wait and see how the market reacts.

Median Sales Price of all land sales: The median sales price in Q1 of 2012 was $66K. That is slightly up from the $64K median sales price of the previous quarter but down from the overall 2011 median sale price of $74K. We made the decision to NOT INCLUDE in our data 14 sales in the Diamond Point Beach area that were unbuildable, recreation lots that sold for between $2,200 and $4,000 each. The assessor and/or appraisers may consider them, but we don’t think they are valid sales for the purpose of this analysis.

Median asking price of all Active parcels:  What has been a very interesting trend is the drop in the median asking price or raw land. As of 4/1/2012 there were 499 parcels on the market. Of those active listings, the median asking price was down to $90K which is an 18% drop from the median asking price seen in 2011. We expect that price trend to continue as well.

We hope everyone has a great Spring!

As a Realtor for Team McAleer at RE/MAX Fifth Avenue, I provide local knowledge for those visiting our town for the first time. I tell clients that I know a whole lot about very little. That very little is most everything there is to know about Sequim of course. Among the most frequent questions I get, including “how are the schools in Sequim?” and “did you know one of your children drew on the back of your driver seat?” is “what’s the best place to go for lunch?” I always ask them to tell me what they’re in the mood for, and then give them a few options with brief descriptions including price range.

Although not an official food critic (I’m assuming there are official food critics) I do eat lunch almost every day. This experience makes me an authority on some level. The blogosphere is filled with people who have promoted themselves to positions far less deserving than my current, self-appointed food critic status.

Best Soup and Sandwich: The Sweet Beginning located just inside the OMC Building at 840 N. 5^th Avenue. Fresh soups daily, fresh Salads, delicious baked goods. Try the Dilled Chicken Sandwich or the Meatloaf Sandwich. Beautifully done, delicious simple food, with quality ingredients. Food snobs all appreciate Kathryn’s work.

Best Breakfast at Lunch time: The Oak Table located just south of the intersection of 3^rd Ave. and Washington St. They make some great lunch items as well (The BBQ Chicken Salad and Chicken Pita) but the breakfasts make you want to eat breakfast. That was deep – I know. Whether you want to attempt to conquer the Apple Pancake (probably more suitable for a small Army) or try one of their fluffy scrambles, you really can’t go wrong. The 49er Flapjacks are a thin, creamy pancake that don’t need any topping. If I figure out how they make them myself, they’re in trouble. (The owners are huge supporters of our schools too!)

Best Thai Food: It’s a tie between the two Thai Food Restaurants in town- Galare Thai located at Bell and Sequim Ave. and Sawadee Thai located just south of the intersection at 7^th Ave. and Washington St. Known for really going out on a limb, I continue to feed that reputation with this bold decision to award both with this honor. I choose both because I love Thai food and because both are quite good. Galare probably wins on the atmosphere and presentation but Sawadee wins on food alone for me (just barely) because of one dish: Spicy Basil Noodle with Chicken, 3 Stars. It’s unbelievable. Sawadee is located in an unassuming place just behind McDonalds. behind McDonalds (McDonalds is not going to make this list by the way despite my kids disturbing worship ritual to the Shamrock Shake). Mike, the owner at Sawadee, is one cool cat too.

Best Local Cuisine: Alderwood Bistro. A little more expensive, but rightly so. Alderwood is located a block west of Sequim Ave. on, oddly enough, Alder St. The structure is a cute, remodeled old rambler, but don’t let the building fool you…this is some seriously well crafted food being served here. They are committed to serving local produce and meats and have a great range of delicious menu items. The Calamari Salad with a tangy citrus dressing and the sweet potato fries with Aoli dipping sauce are a few of my favorites. It’s hard to go wrong with anything they serve though.

Best Local Seafood: The Dockside Bar and Grill located at the John Wayne Marina is superb. The most expensive place to eat in Sequim, they too are probably justified in their pricing. Start your meal with the rich “Pasta Purses” – shells stuffed with chicken and ricotta cheese in a prosciutto ham and Madeira cream sauce. My son thinks they’re awful which is usually a good sign that something is spectacular. Although the Alder planked steaks and Salmon are what they’re known for, it’s the traditional Paella that tempts me most. The standard sausage, chicken, seafood mix that sounds like overkill, but always somehow works tossed with saffron infused Basmati rice and baby peas.

Best BBQ : Jeremiah’s BBQ on W. Washington St. This award is much akin to naming myself the most handsome bald 41 year old man in my family. However, the fine folks who prepare this good down home cooking can’t be overlooked. Served with a smile, you can choose from all of the traditional ribs, briskets, sausage links, etc. but it’s the BBQ Chicken that takes it for me and not just because I want to live to see 60. The “Hot Little Piggy in a Blanket” sandwich is a pulled pork sandwich with fried jalapeno peppers and cole slaw that is crazy good too.

Honorable mentions (a category that could be called the “I’m not actually a food critic, and need to get on with things I get paid for but don’t want to leave these out” category): Old Mill Café in Carlsborg (superb Bloody Mary’s), Adrian’s on Fifth Ave. (just opened – hard to judge just yet), Wasabi Japanese Restaurant on E. Washington St. (great Sushi), Fresh Mix Grill, across parking lot from Clallam Co-op on E. Washington (great subs and Philly Cheese Steak!).

If you feel as though you were unfairly left off of this list, know that it will likely be read by no more than 10 – 12 people – I wouldn’t worry about it. And my son probably loves your food.

Michael McAleer

Overall the 4^th quarter and 2011 as a whole saw drops in the number of home sales and median price. We saw some signs of life from the upper end of the real estate market in 2011, while seeing an extreme increase in the portion of the market taken up by distressed sales, mostly in the lower and middle sections of the market. It seems as though a painful, yet necessary cleaning out of the distressed sales is occurring which we feel had to happen before we could hope to return to a balanced real estate market.  

Median sales price- trending down but largely due to the distressed sales.

The median price of home selling in Sequim fell 9.5% going from $230K in 2010 to $210K in 2011. With the number of distressed sales increasing so dramatically (we’ll get to those numbers later) this is no surprise.

Number of Sales – down again slightly, but an interesting trend down as far as the number of Active homes on the market.                                                                                                                                          

There were 95 home sales in the 4^th quarter which was an 8.4% drop compared to the 4^th quarter of 2010. Overall in 2011 there were 341 homes sales, down 11.1% from 2010. Interestingly the number of homes on the market actually dropped this year compared to 2010. On average there were 455 homes on the market at the end of each month in 2011, compared to 498 homes on the market at the end of each month in 2010. This is a good sign that we could be working through our inventory.

Number of Distressed Home Sales – 2011 saw 81 homes classified as “distressed sales” compared to 41 in 2010!                                                                                                                                                                

That is obviously a 98% increase year over year but even more daunting is when you consider that in 2010 they made up only 11% of the overall sales whereas in 2011 they made up 24% of the sales – an increase of 118%! We point to that increase as a major factor in our median sale price drop and as a painful step towards our market’s recovery. (Distressed sales are made up of short sales, foreclosures and bank-owned repo sales.)

Team McAleer’s 2012 Real Estate Forecast- Please don’t share this valuable information!                   

We have no idea. The real estate forecasting business is for wizards and people who like to guess. What we can point to is the necessary process of selling off distressed homes, 30 year-fixed interest rates at 3.87% currently, a slight yet encouraging drop in the nation’s unemployment rate and the fact that we live in a beautiful place desired by many. We believe there are more distressed properties that will come on the market affecting values but with that, more buyers who will recognize that there are some great values to be had in Sequim.

*Sequim Area is defined as the Sequim School District Boundaries stretching east to the Jefferson County line and west to Blue Mountain Road and Lewis Road.

Courtesy of Team McAleer @ RE/MAX Fifth Avenue in Sequim, WA

The award recognizes a business leader who has had a significant impact on the economic growth and stability of Clallam County. McAleer has been a longtime board member and officer of the Clallam EDC and many other groups.

With him in the photo is Ron Allen, tribal chairman and CEO of the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe.

More tools available on our website:

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Learn more about our team and how we can assist you!

Team McAleer has experience with a broad range of real estate types in Sequim and will help you decide what will work best for your needs; from raw land and building your own home to retirement and investment planning.

From the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the foothills of the Olympic Mountains, Team McAleer knows where to find the homes in Sequim or Sequim properties to fulfill your desires!

We diligently monitor Sequim homes listings and you do not have to be in Sequim for us to help you find a home. Once we know what your criteria is we are able to pick up all new listings that qualify and contact you immediately.

Team McAleer understands the Sequim homes marketplace and will:

• Help you determine the market value of the property
• Negotiate the best possible deal on your behalf
• Provide you a clear picture of the transaction
• Assist you through any questions or concerns that may arise

Call on Team McAleer to ensure that you receive professional buyer representation for Sequim homes and properties!

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