Spokane Real Estate Investor - Richest Spokanite

Harlan Douglass made his fortune as the biggest Spokane real estate developer. Sold his Eagle Hardware to Lowes and owns a reported 40% of INB.

clipped from www.businessweek.com Who Are the Richest People in Town? Every town has a richest person. Do you know who the richest person in your town is? Have you ever wondered who the richest man in town is? Some of these individuals, like Gates, were well-known. His $40 billion fortune has established him as the richest man in Seattle, if not the world, for more than a decade. But what about the richest man in Spokane, Washington State's second-biggest city? According to Jones, it is Harlan D. Douglass, the largest real estate developer in town, who also sits on the board of Northwest Bank (NBCT) and invests in local companies such as Eagle Hardware & Garden. Bet you didn't know that.

Spokane Real Estate Foreclosures Down

Spokane real estate foreclosures are down and are at a significantly lower rate than in other parts of the State. This bodes well for the price of your home in Spokane.

clipped from www.spokesman.com Foreclosures drop in Spokane, soar in Kootenai County Bert Caldwell The Spokesman-Review The April home foreclosure rate in Kootenai County jumped 52 percent from March, and almost five-fold from last April, according to statistics released Wednesday by RealtyTrac Inc., an online marketplace for foreclosed properties. In Spokane, meanwhile, foreclosures dropped significantly month-over-month and year-over-year. Only 53 Spokane County homes were either bank-owned or subject to a trustee sale notice. That’s down from 70 in March and 125 last April. The rate of one home per 3,680 was 24 percent lower than the rate for March, and 57 percent lower than last April’s rate. The Spokane County rate was one-quarter the one-per-817 homes for all of Washington, which ranked 26th among the states. Fewer homes were bank-owned or subject to trustee sale notice than in March, but the total, 3,359, was up one-third from last April.

$8000 Tax Credit as a Down Payment

The State of Washington is working out the kinks of an advance loan program to allow first time home buyers to use the $8000 tax credit as a down payment. Sounds like it will potentially help out a lot of people.

clipped from www.lilaccityrealestate.com Tax Credit Advance Loan Program Lack of down payment assistance is the only barrier to home ownership for 50% of qualified first-time home buyers. The 2009 Economic Recovery and Revitalization Act included a “refundable” tax credit worth up to 10% of the home purchase price with a maximum of $8,000 for taxpayers who purchase a home between January 1 and November 30, 2009. There is a demand from first-time home buyers – responsible people with jobs, good credit, and the ability to make the monthly mortgage payment. However, many of these potential home buyers still need down payment assistance and they can’t get the $8,000 until after the sale is closed. The goal of the Tax Credit Advance Loan Program is to make the equivalent of a first-time homebuyer’s tax credit (up to $8,000) available to borrow for down payment, and repay the loan quickly by filing an amended return so that the HFC can turn it around for more down payment assistance to other first-time home buyers.

Spokane Home Resales Better Than Average

While still slumping, the Spokane real estate is out performing the rest of our state and the national averages.

clipped from www.istockanalyst.com Local Home-Value Decline Less Than National Average May 8--Home values in Spokane County fell during the first quarter but performed better than the national average, according to a new report from online real estate site Zillow.com. While home sales in Spokane County were down in the first quarter compared to last year, sales in March alone showed a big jump over February, according to Multiple Listing Service statistics. Zillow reported that home values in the county dropped 10.8 percent in the first three months of the year compared to the same period a year ago. But the report also showed that home values locally over the past five years were up 4.9 percent, while in more than half the markets the firm covers, values were flat or negative over that same period.

Spokane Real Estate Market Outperforms Rest of State

The Spokane real estate market really out performed the rest of Washington State in April.

clipped from seattletimes.nwsource.com Wash. existing home sales drop 30% By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS Sales of existing homes in Washington slumped badly in the first quarter of this year, according to the Washington State University Center for Real Estate Research. The number of existing homes sold in Washington dropped 30.6 in the first quarter of 2009, compared to the same period a year ago, according to a report released Friday by the center. Until recently, Washington had a stronger real estate market than much of the nation. The state also suffered a smaller number of home foreclosures. But prices have been falling steeply recently, and foreclosures are likely to spike because of rising unemployment, Crellin said. Among larger counties, existing home sales dropped 15 percent in King County, 13.8 percent in Yakima County, 7.8 percent in Clark County and 2.3 percent in Snohomish County. Sales stayed roughly the same in the Tri-Cities, and actually increased 2.3 percent in Spokane County.

April Market Report

Spokane real estate prices sagged in April as sales of existing Spokane homes continued at a steady pace. If you have the ability, right now is the perfect time to buy a home in Spokane.

clipped from www.spokesman.com Spokane home prices dip in April Bert Caldwell The Spokesman-Review Homes sales in Spokane County leveled off in April, and average and median prices slipped, possibly reflecting high unemployment in the area, the head of the Spokane Association of Realtors said Friday. Rob Higgins said 329 properties sold, just three more than in March and substantially below the 445 of last April. The average price was $197,339, off from $200,229 in March and $204,002 a year ago. The median price fell to $172,500 from $176,200 in March and $183,500 in April 2008. Sales of new homes also declined. Active listings increased to 2,997 from 2,687 in March, but down from the 3,218 last April. Higgins said the price decreases may reflect purchases by first-time buyers seizing on the newly available $8,000 income tax credit. That activity should increase still more if the IRS signs off on a $25 million Washington program that will enable homebuyers to use the credit as part of their down payment, he said.