Last Year in Bainbridge Island Real Estate

In the first six months of 2007, there were 282 real estate transactions (all types of properties) on Bainbridge Island (with an average price of $713,500). By contrast, we had 112 transactions in the first six months of 2009 (averaging $686,000). In the second half of 2009, real estate began to move a bit; we finished with 166 transactions between July and December (compared with 213 in the second half of 2007 and 120 during that period in 2008).

Home-buying activity has increased but house prices are still sagging. Although this is the natural cycle and is a necessary step prior to the market returning to positive figures, it is a painful process for all. For the year, home prices are down 12% on average and are 6.4% of the median home price of 2008. Prices are down an average of 20% since the height of the market in 2007; with the median price drop of 19.7%. While the lower prices fueled the transaction rebound, we must wait for prices to stabilize before we declare the market healthy again.