Housing market picks up during fall quarter

Cheaper homes and departure of senior faculty at WSU pushed up Whitman County’s real estate activity during the third quarter of 2011.

Washington’s Center for Real Estate Research issued its quarterly report last week, showing a 65 percent increase July through September in home sales over the same period in 2010.

In Whitman County, 430 homes sold, compared to the 260 sales in third quarter 2010.

Glenn Crellin, director of the center at WSU, said the increased number of sales is more reflective of last year’s depressed activity. Crellin said the third quarter 2010 was the first quarter after the federal first-time home buyer tax credits expired.

People who were thinking about buying homes made those purchases early in the year to take advantage of the tax credit before it expired.

Throughout the state, 85,870 homes sold during third quarter 2011, a 22 percent increase over 2010.

Whitman County’s real estate market was the second most active in the state, trailing only Skamania County in increased home sales.

Crellin attributed that to the number of young professors who moved to WSU to replace senior faculty members, many of whom took early retirement.

“I know my home was in there,” said Crellin, whose office is moving to the University of Washington in January.

Home buying was also pushed by lower prices, as owners of high-end homes that had been on the market for a year or more lowered their asking prices.

The average value of homes sold in Whitman County was $193,300, an 11 percent drop from the third quarter 2010.

Construction of single-family homes was down 38 percent in Whitman County from 2010, although a 30-unit apartment complex pushed the number of building permits above the third quarter 2010 total.

The possibility of further cuts to the WSU budget may take a bigger bite out of the county’s housing market in coming years, said Crellin.

As the university is forced to cut staff, the number of home buyers in Whitman County will decrease.

“That’s obviously a dark cloud on the horizon for the local economy,” he said. “If not for the success of Schweitzer, our market here locally would definitely be in the dumps.”

Statewide, the value of homes sold during the third quarter of 2011 was down 9.5 percent from 2010 levels.