It seems these days that everywhere you turn, you hear that the real estate market is crashing to an all time low. While it's true that nationally, the country is experiencing a rough, and rather scary, market, here in Washington, our market is quite stable. Home appreciation in Washington continues to out-perform the rest of the nation with year-to-year price increases every quarter since the spring of 1995. Washington has a robust economy with it's roots in aerospace, technology and exports. Our unemployment rate is extremely low, and we continue to add jobs to the marketplace.

 

One reason that Washington is different is that the home market isn't keeping pace with the growth of the state's population, which continues to increase at 1.8% per year. The state's population will increase by nearly one million over the present decade and reach 6.8 million by 2010. About two thirds of the growth is due to in-migration; the rest is a result of the growth of families now living in Washington (these statistics are from the WA State Office of Financial Management).

 

Home prices here continue to increase an average of 8.1% since the same time last year. In fact, many counties have experienced price hikes much higher.

 

Fewer than one percent of mortgages end in default in Washington State, and the foreclosure rates are the same as they were 10 years ago. Financial guru Suze Orman calls owning a home "the absolute best investment out there, bar none." And as rates are low, purchasing a home in Washington is an excellent long term investment.