Gold Bar

Residential Housing Statistics in Snohomish County December 2009

What is going on with the real estate market in Snohomish County? As being a Snohomish County resident and a Real Estate Agent, I feel as I need to share the factual numbers which are published every month by Northwest Multiple Listing Service (MLS)  with my clients. I often get calls from my active buyers asking “when to buy”. My sellers are asking me “when you sell”. Each party wants to know how long to wait before pulling the trigger.  My answer is “when it is the right time for you, your budget and your family”.  Each person has a different life event that calls to buy or sell real estate. Northwest Multiple Listing Service (MLS) reported as following stats for Dec 2009. ACTIVE PENDING SOLD DEC 09 UNITS 3,533 628 654 DEC 08 UNITS 4,362 455 346 Total Unit +/- -829 173 308 Difference DEC % -19.01% 38.02% 89.02% YTD 09 UNITS 15,025 9,979 6,644 YTD 08 UNITS 17,483 7,693 6291 Total Unit +/- -2458 2286 353 Difference YTD % -14.06% 29.72% 5.61% As seen above chart, Residential active listings units dropped 19.01% from 4362 units in 2008 vs 3533 units in 2009 for the month of December while Pending... 

Great Hiking in Western Washingtons Snohomish County

OLD ROBE TRAIL - Mountain Loop Hwy, Granite Falls Last weekend the day before Memorial Day, my family and I went on a great hike up in Granite Falls. This was our first time hiking there, having received information previously indicating there are at least four hikes in this area. Through my real estate related excursions in Granite Falls, I know it to be beautiful country. The Glacier Basin Trail is considered strenuous, but the other three are considered easy. They are The Big Four Ice Caves, Monte Cristo, and The Old Robe Trail.  We hiked Old Robe. There is a bit of a descent down to the river which in the reverse, makes for an ascent, which can get a persons heart rate up a little for about 15 minutes.  It is beautiful scenery from the get-go and once down by the river, the trail remains relatively flat. The trail leads to part of what was once an old railroad line, and I’ve walked and maybe even ridden along tracks before, but I’ve never seen the likes of this. There are several tunnels or caves in the hillsides which the trains used to travel through. Although the trail is supposed to be closed at this point, we ventured on and the terrain does get a bit dangerous...