Hood River Real Estate Update

I have been following the real estate market here in the gorge since 1985 when we bought our first home in Stevenson, WA for $23,000. Granted, it was a true fixer with not even a foundation, but it had potential.  It was perfect for a young, ambitious family and the payments were less than the rent we'd been paying. After 6 years, $15,000 and plenty of sweat equity we sold it for $70,000. The market was still reasonable in the Hood River area. In 1993 we bought another fixer bungalow in the old part of town for $66,000 and the empty buildable lot for $22,000.  We built a new 1700 sq. ft. craftsman style home on the lot which I marketed for $200,000. 

In 1996, there were very few homes in this price range. Only a handful of homes would even bring this price. After marketing for quite a few months and even moving in ourselves we finally sold for $186,000. The Hood River market was in the early growing stages. Every year home prices were going up but in 2000 you could still buy a 1500 sq. ft. new tract home in Pacific Heights for around $150,000. In 2000, The Colby House, a 1905 Victorian on Columbia St. that we had totally rebuilt and listed on the National Historic Registry sold for $300,000. This was the most the market would bring and few homes were selling for over $300,000.   By 2003, the market had become very competitive. There were multiple offer situations and some homes were selling for over the listed price. Prices in the gorge continued rising through 2005 with plentiful home sales. The market started shifting in 2006. Many sellers had seen what similar homes had sold for and kept wanting more but where were the buyers now? The market was slowing down. 

The gorge area is unique in that it consists of 4 counties in 2 states. In each county there are many small towns. The county data is an overall compilation of the entire county. To get a totally accurate picture you would need to compare each individual town year by year. Now in 2008 the market is quite different than it was a few years ago. We have a large inventory of homes for sale. Sellers are having to be more realistic with pricing and consider their competion. In general homes are still holding a reasonable appreciation value in the gorge but may take longer to sell.

Here is a breakdown from data compiled from the RMLS for March 2008 compared to March 2007

2008 Klickitat County Active Listings-170  Average sales price-$167,800  Average DOM- 143

2007 Klickitat County Active Listings-194  Average sales price-$205,300  Average DOM-111

2008 Skamania County  Active Listings-88  Average sales price-$288,300  Average DOM-298

2007 Skamania County Active Listings-88  Average sales price-$353,900  Average DOM-147

2008 Wasco County   Active Listings-220  Average sales price-$142,400  Average DOM-131

2007 Wasco County  Active Listings-211  Average sales price-$227,600  Average DOM-118

2008 Hood River County    Active Listings-246   Average sales price-$285,400  Average DOM-173

2007 Hood River County  Active Listings-168   Average sales price-$328,900  Average DOM-85