Spokane Realtors Are Optimistic for 2009

The president of the Spokane Association of Realtors is optimistic about the local Spokane real estate market. The combination of factors for a good market are better here than in other regions across the U.S.

clipped from spokanejournal.com Real estate said poised for rebound Real estate industry insiders are optimistic that the relatively resilient economy here can carry the residential and commercial real estate sectors through the national recession. The residential sector is expected to bottom out here and perhaps begin to rebound in 2009, Stable home prices, an increase in mortgage applications, and historic low interest rates may stop the bleeding in the Spokane residential market, says Rob Higgins, executive vice president of the Spokane Association of Realtors. In the first 11 months of 2008, 4,619 homes were reported sold in Spokane County through the Spokane Multiple Listing Service, down a whopping 29 percent from 6,309 homes sold in the year-earlier period. Total home sales volume through November this year was $954 million, down 30 percent from $1.37 billion in the year-earlier period, the MLS reports. Yet, home values haven't fallen significantly, Higgins says.