Health & Fitness
Woodinville Home Prices - A Return to Normalcy
Home Price Moderation in Woodinville Should Be Read as a Return to Normalcy Not as a Weakness in Real Estate as an Investment
Home prices have been trending downward in the Woodinville market. Consider that the median price for residences in our market area has dropped from $550,000 in 2008 to $400,000 in the Spring of 2011. Many homeowners feel betrayed by the conventional wisdom that home prices always appreciate year-by-year.
Don't feel betrayed. Homes remain a good investment. History supports this view. But homes have always gradually appreciated. The boom in the 2006-2008 era saw home values spike to never-heard-of-before levels. The dramatic spike (aided and abetted in no small part by lending abuses) departed from historic patterns for home values. The boom created an abberation in appreciation rates.
The present moderation in home prices marks an adjustment back to normalcy. For awhile our skyrocketing home prices in Woodinville far outpaced rental values. The "affordabililty index" told us our homes were beyond the earning power of many hardworking families that should have been able to buy.
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Keep the faith. A home is still a good investment. Prices will find a normal level where there's a rational connection with rental values and where all industrious households can afford a home. We may already be seeing the approach of the new normal. Then your home will appreciate - as always before - at a rate commensurate with commonsense and responsible market forces.
Editor's Note: Tim Bruce is a Realtor with