Facebook
X
Pinterest
Copy Link
The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices is a monthly report that analyzes housing data in major metropolitan areas across the U.S. Windermere’s Chief Economist, Matthew Gardner explains what this report is and why we use it to assess the strength of the housing market.
More •
June 3, 2016
Windermere’s Annual Community Service Day Is today!
Today you may notice your local Windermere office is closed, or it may take a little bit longer for your Windermere agent to get back to you. But we promise it’s for a very good reason: today is Windermere Community Service Day. Since 1984, our agents have taken one day a year off to dig into hands-on community service projects throughout the Western U.S. On this day, you’ll find our teams doing a variety of projects, such as cleaning, landscaping, and painting at local senior citizens centers, facilities for homeless children and adults, public parks and schools, low-income housing, and emergency shelters, among others.
Follow what our offices are doing on Community Service Day on Facebook! You can also vote for your favorite Community Service Day photos in our #WindermereCSD2016 photo contest. The photo with the most votes will receive a $1,000 donation for the Windermere Foundation charity of their choice. Go here to vote. We encourage you to “like” our Facebook page, follow the Community Service Day projects, and vote for your favorite Community Service Day photos!
A big thank you to all of our Windermere Real Estate offices for the amazing work they do. Community Service Day is an important part of what makes Windermere the place it is, and we appreciate everything they do to make our communities a little better.
Community Service Day Projects:
| Office | Organization | Project | |
| California | |||
| Carlsbad | San Diego Ronald McDonald House | Ice Cream Social for patients & families | |
| Diablo Realty | B Walker Ranch | Building garden boxes, planting olive trees, conditioning the soil, creating signage on the property, painting the alpaca barn, and caring for the alpacas. | |
| El Sobrante, Brentwood and Diablo | B Walker Ranch | Help set up new location grounds for incoming campers | |
| Morgan Hill | Morgan Hill Senior Center | Building maintenance, administrative support and lunch with seniors. | |
| Walnut Creek | Contra Costa & Solano Food Bank | Collecting and sorting food for the local food bank | |
| Colorado | |||
| Fort Collins | The Murphy Center | Sharing donuts, muffins and coffee with homeless community members and assisting with building maintenance; cleaning windows, organizing gear and making bags for the Street Outreach Program. | |
| Hawaii | |||
| Kailua-Kona | Supporting local neighbor with home projects | Managing yard maintenance and other home projects for local single mom with stage 4 breast cancer | |
| Montana | |||
| Bozeman | Springmeadows Assisted Living | Throwing a beach party for the elderly residents | |
| Helena | Lewis & Clark Humane Society | General maintenance | |
| Oregon | |||
| Bend | Healing Reins, Bend, Oregon | Working on the arenas and grounds of Healing Reins. Painting, pulling weeds and organizing tack rooms etc. | |
| Bridgeport/Charbonneau | Community Warehouse | Landscaping and additional maintenance work | |
| Cannon Beach | Gearhart Kids- local children’s center | Installing a mud kitchen, burying tires, building boxes for gardening – and what ever else they need | |
| Corvallis/Albany | Benton County Habitat for Humanity | Working on construction (framing and installing sub-floor) of a home for Habitat for Humanity. | |
| Eugene | Food for Lane County Grassroots Garden | Harvest and clean up the entire garden with over 75 volunteers | |
| Gearhart | Gearhart Kids- local children’s center | Installing a mud kitchen, burying tires, building boxes for gardening – and what ever else they need | |
| Grants Pass & Rogue River | Hearts with a Mission, Josephine County | Outside work: Cleaning up property which includes knocking down long grass and weeds and cleaning up. | |
| Inside work: Cleaning furniture and facility, as directed by program director. | |||
| Hillsboro/Sunset Corridor | The Pantry | Pressure washing the delivery truck, washing out food crates, cleaning aisle shelves, painting the waiting room, and cleaning freezer shelves | |
| Hood River & Bingen | Local Food Bank | Organize & execute a food drive to help local families | |
| Kelso/Longview | Salvation Army and North Lake Elementary | ||
| Lake Oswego- Stellar | Tualatin School House Pantry | Working at a local Food Bank, helping prep food and dry goods for transport | |
| Lake Oswego- West | Oregon Food Bank | Sorting dried goods for redistribution at the Oregon Food Bank in Beaverton. | |
| Lane County | Lane County Food Bank | Volunteering at Food for Lane County's Grassroots Garden | |
| Medford, Eagle Point, Jacksonville & Ashland | Access Food Bank | Collecting bags of food donations | |
| Mill Plains | Fruit Valley Foundation Food Bank & Local Meals on Wheels | Month-long food collection & serving local members of the community through the meals on wheels program | |
| Portland Heights | Project Lemonade | Merchandising a store front that serves foster youth for back to school clothing | |
| Portland- Hollywood | Oregon Humane Society | All agents and employees in our office have donated money and pet supplies for the Oregon Humane Society | |
| Portland- Lloyd Tower | Friends of the Children | Setting up for Fundraising event | |
| Portland- Moreland | Human Solutions | Groundskeeping | |
| Portland- North | Astor Elementary School | Cleaning up the school grounds, weeding, laying bark dust, trimming trees and plants | |
| Portland- NW Johnson | White Shield Garden | Property maintenance & organization | |
| Portland- Raleigh Hills | Hopewell House | Weeding and pruning beds, planting flowers and improving the appearance of the pathways, grounds and fountain for hospice residents, their families and visitors to enjoy. | |
| Redmond | Bright Side Animal Center | Working at the Thrift Shop that supports Brightside Animal Center | |
| Salem | City of Salem Parks | Working at Riverfont Park. Prepping and painting decorative railing and tending to flowerbeds. | |
| Sandy | Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) Adopt A Road program | Collect litter along highway 26, a three-mile strip of roadway in Sandy, Oregon. | |
| Seal Rock | Seashore Family Literacy Center | Improving and maintaining the JOY GARDEN at the Seashore Family Literacy Center | |
| St. Helens/Scappoose | Columbia River food bank | Fundraise and collect food and other supplies for the local food bank | |
| Stevenson | City-wide downtown cleanup | ||
| The Dalles & Property Management- Gorge | The Dalles Mainstreet | Downtown core clean up | |
| Vancouver Metro | Fruit Valley Foundation Food Bank & Local Meals on Wheels | Serving meals for Meals on Wheels at 4 of their locations in Clark County & doing a month-long food drive to benefit the Fruit Valley Foundation | |
| West Linn | West Linn Adult Community Center | Helping with landscaping, cleaning and other projects at the West Linn Adult Community Center | |
| Utah | |||
| Salt Lake City | Salt Lake Somali Refugee Community | Laying sod, repairing fences, building a play ground and some back yard furniture, planting a garden and more to help transform a local home and community meeting space for the Salt Lake City Somali Refugee Community | |
| Washington | |||
| Aberdeen | The Driftwood Playhouse | Cleaning and organizing the costume storage rooms at local live theatre venue | |
| Alderwood | Red Barn Community Farm | Preparing garden beds for summer crops | |
| Ballard | Saint Luke's Church | Revamp kitchen & dining area to serve larger homeless population and beautify outdoor areas | |
| Bellevue | Kelsey Creek Farm | Gardening, weeding, yard cleanup, and painting. | |
| Bellevue Commons | Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center | Painting the caretaker’s home (the whole house!), taking care of rain garden maintenance, weed whacking, and washing windows. The brokers will also be washing the horses’ paddock fencing and arena fencing as well as making repairs. | |
| Bellevue-South | Mountains to Sound Greenway | Restoration of the Sunset Beach area at Lake Sammamish State Park | |
| Bellevue-West | Evergreen Court | Removing ivy and blackberries, washing windows, power washing, and painting | |
| Capitol Hill | City of Seattle | Cleaning up trash on 9 different busy streets, including two on and off ramps in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, and picking up trash and cleaning up the sidewalks | |
| Coupeville | National Park Service/ Prairie Wayside Park | Cleaning graffiti, painting, pruning hedges, scraping moss, clearing paths, picking up trash and beautifying this little gem of a park | |
| Edmonds | Edmonds City Park | At the Edmonds Marsh removing noxious Japanese knot weed | |
| Green Lake | Local Neighbor Support | Help local families with needed maintenance projects | |
| Greenwood | Phinney Center | Working with elderly families on yard projects | |
| Issaquah | YMCA's Camp Terry | Clearing trails, depositing wood chips into play areas, staining new bleachers and picnic tables around the stage and fire pit, and building a large platform for camp-goers to play games. | |
| Kirkland- Central | McAuliffe Park | Local park cleanup | |
| Kirkland- Northeast | Attain Housing | Half the group will be painting and doing yard work while the other half cleans and organizes their office | |
| Kirkland- Yarrow Bay | Heritage Park | Landscape cleanup, view restoration, path cleaning, and weed removal. | |
| Lori Gill & Associates/ Property Management offices | Camp Korey | ||
| Madison Park | Washington Park Arboretum | Clean up | |
| Magnolia | Community support event | Hosting a shredding, eCycle and Goodwill donation event | |
| Marysville | Marysville Historical Society Museum | Landscaping grounds of new museum | |
| Mercer Island | Eastside Baby Corner | Cleaning, sorting and prepping the baby items to be delivered that day to Eastside Baby Corner | |
| Mount Baker | Wellspring Family Services | Helping out in the Baby Boutique | |
| Mukilteo | Mukilteo Food Bank | Collect food for local food bank. Last year they collected more than 2,000 pounds of food. | |
| Oak Harbor | Habitat for Humanity | Aiding in the construction of a new duplex, including framing the ground floor, landscaping and community garden support | |
| Professional Partners (Tacoma) | Northwest Furniture Bank | Helping out in their warehouse and loading and unloading trucks full of furniture and household goods | |
| Professional Partners (Tacoma) | Liberty Road Foundation | Helping them organize their fundraising retail store | |
| Professional Partners (Tacoma) | Purdy-area resident | Helping an elderly resident without the resources to move personal belongings to new residence | |
| Professional Partners (Tacoma) | Key Peninsula area | Helping an elderly couple with necessary yard and home maintenance | |
| Property Management Kent | Northwest Harvest Kent Warehouse | Helping with food sorting for area food bank | |
| Pullman/Moscow | Whitman County Human Society | Pulling weeds, mowing lawns, doing deep clean outs, scrubbing walls and much more | |
| Queen Anne | Food drive and making individual bag lunches for the Queen Anne Helpline | Dropping bags at homes May 30 and 31; picking up and bagging lunches on June 3. | |
| Covering the surrounding Queen Anne area of the office. | |||
| Redmond | YWCA Family Village | Planting flowers, painting stripes in the parking lot, power washing the porches, labeling supplies, and more. | |
| Renton | Emergency Feeding Program | Cleaning up the warehouse and helping them organize the bags of food for delivery to their distribution partners. | |
| Sand Point | NEST (North East Seattle Together) | Helping six elderly families/individuals with home maintenance, including window washing, weeding, trimming bushes, removing moss and other home maintenance projects | |
| Seattle Property Management | Green Seattle Partnership & Weekday Workers | Forest Restoration at Carkeek Park | |
| Seattle Services & Marketing | Magnuson YMCA | Indoor and outdoor maintenance programs in preparation for summer programs | |
| Sequim East & Sunland | Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula | Car wash fundraiser | |
| Shoreline | North Helpline | Sorting and boxing food for the food bank | |
| Spokane | Annual Windermere Marathon/ Foundation Fundraiser | ||
| Vashon Island | Granny's Attic | Clean and organize the local thrift shop. This store donates profits to local area nonprofits. | |
| Wall Street | Mary’s Place | At the Travel Lodge near Seattle Center that was donated by Amazon. | |
| Painting, cleaning, landscaping and getting rooms ready for new families. | |||
| Wedgwood | Wedgwood Community Council | Mowing, edging, weeding and hauling away debris of public space | |
| West Seattle | Single family residence | Painting, planting and landscaping | |
| Woodinville | Park at Bothell Landing | General maintenance and cleanup of the parks next to the Sammamish River to prep the Landing for summer crowds | |
Market News •
May 25, 2016
How a Federal Interest Rate Hike Impacts Mortgage Rates
When the Federal Reserve announces a change in interest rates, it makes headlines. But does the federal interest rate directly impact your mortgage rate? See what Windermere’s Chief Economist, Matthew Gardner has to say.
More •
May 18, 2016
Summer camps provide invaluable learning and socialization opportunities for youth
Child development professionals recognize the camp experience as being valuable in helping children mature socially, emotionally, intellectually, morally, and physically. Summer camps and summer programs for youth not only keep them occupied while on break from school, it provides them with a safe place to be while their parents are at work, and gives them learning experiences that will help them throughout their lives.
Through camps and other summer programs, children can make friends, reconnect with nature, learn social skills, have free time for unstructured play, grow more independent, develop life-long skills, unplug from technology, gain resiliency, build self-confidence, and spend their day being physically active. And for some youth, it gets them away from an unhealthy environment that may exist in their neighborhood.
Grants from the Windermere Foundation have allowed many of our Windermere Real Estate offices to support local organizations that provide summer activities to kids. Funding has also allowed for the expansion of existing programs, thus enabling them to serve even more children. And many of these programs also offer need-based financial assistance or scholarships that make it possible for children from low-income families to attend.
Here are just a few of the organizations that Windermere Real Estate offices have supported:
Boys & Girls Club of El Sobrante offers programs in five core areas (character and leadership development; education and career development; health and life skills; the arts; and sports, fitness, and recreation). All programs are designed to produce positive outcomes for youth and reinforce necessary life skills.
Camp Kiwanilong in Clatsop County, Oregon provides a summer youth resident program consisting of several five-to-seven-day overnight camping sessions and are designed to provide a positive environment, nurture self-esteem, and develop lasting relationships.
Camp Mak-A-Dream in Montana provides cost-free experiences in an intimate community setting for children, teens, young adults, women, and families affected by cancer, as well as programs for children who have a sibling or a parent with cancer.
Donald W. Reynolds Boys & Girls Club offers full-day summer programs for children in Henderson, Nevada. Core programs are also available that engage young people in activities with adults, peers and family members that enable them to reach their full potential.
Peer Solutions in Arizona provides peer-led activities year-round to promote positive youth development. Students become ambassadors of change and model positive behaviors, which in turn foster healthy families and communities.
Quest Summer Day Camp in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho offers a positive summer alternative for families with kids in the six-to-fourteen age group. That includes active learning and recreational experiences in the course of 10 weeks throughout the summer. Matching scholarships are available to families who can only pay a portion of the cost for their children to attend.
Royal Family Kids provides summer camps for children in the foster care system so they can experience positive memories. There are currently 12 camps and 3 clubs in Washington, and the average camp serves 45-50 children each summer.
Want to help make a difference in children’s lives over the summer? Then consider making a donation to the Windermere Foundation or donating directly to organizations that provide summer camps and programs for children in need in your community.
To learn more about the Windermere Foundation, visit http://www.windermere.com/foundation.
Market News •
May 16, 2016
Historically low inventory levels, how we got here, and what to expect in the coming year
The housing market is performing remarkably well, with the exception of incredibly low inventory levels in many areas throughout the country. Why is this happening? Windermere’s Chief Economist, Matthew Gardner, explains why and offers his predictions for what we can expect in the future.
Living •
May 13, 2016
What Millennials are Looking for in an Apartment or Condo
LinkedIn recently told us that 4,279 new apartments were added to Seattle’s local inventory last year, and based on the number of cranes you constantly see around the city, we believe them. With so many choices, Millennials are getting really specific about what they want in a living space and the lifestyle it provides them. Here are some of the amenities we’re told that Millennials have come to want, and in some cases, expect:
1. Parking & Electric Car Charging Stations
2. High Speed Internet and WIFI (around the entire building). Preferably free WIFI on the first floor
3. State of the Art Fitness Center – Fitness centers not only act as a place for exercise, but now a place to casually socialize and build friendships. For instance, when a developer integrates fitness classes into the gym, they are creating a space where tenants can connect with their building community.
4. Dog Grooming/Washing Facility & Outdoor Pet Run: As many millennials are postponing starting a family to focus more on their career, their pets are like their children. With that said, an apartment building that doesn’t allow their fury friends will ultimately be losing out on a big portion of the millennial pie.
5. High- Tech Control Automation: Using smart technology to control your thermostat, lights, switches, sensors, and locks while you are away.
6. Business Center/ Work From Home Space: With remote work becoming an increasing popular trend, the potential ways of catering to work-at-home tenants are limitless.
7. Laundry Facility/Service and Dry-Cleaning Drop Off/Pick Up- Laundry is a hassle, and most renters want the burden of doing laundry to be, well, less burdensome. Programs like “Laundry View” are used in some apartment buildings to view how many washers and dryers are in use. It will also send you text alerts when your laundry is done.
Read the full article on LinkedIn.
More •
May 11, 2016
Community Service Day: Henry’s Story
For the past 31 years, Windermere offices have closed their doors to dedicate a day of service to provide support for members of our communities and nonprofit organizations that help our neighbors in need.
A few years ago, a group of Windermere agents and owners were hit personally when a boy in their community, Henry, was diagnosed with Birkins Lymphoma at the age of 13. This office decided to spend their Community Service Day helping to ensure Henry’s home and favorite space, his back yard, was safe for him to enjoy. And even after his passing, this space continues to provide his family a place to honor his memory.
To learn more about Community Service Day projects in your area please go here.
Market News •
May 9, 2016
Nevada Real Estate Market Update
ECONOMIC OVERVIEW
After losing over 134,000 jobs during the Great Recession, the Las Vegas metropolitan area has recovered all of those jobs and employment is now at an all-time high of 934,600. Year-over-year, the market added 24,600 new jobs. This is up from the annual pace of 21,300 jobs seen at the end of last year, but below the average annual rate of 32,700 seen through the whole of 2015. However, with an annual growth rate of 2.7% I see no reason to complain.
The local unemployment rate rose from 5.6% to 6.0% between February and March of this year, but this data set is not seasonally adjusted. (Seasonal adjustments remove the influences of predictable seasonal patterns to show how unemployment changes from month to month.) As such, I am not too concerned and would note that the current rate is still down substantially from the 7.2% unemployment rate that was in place a year ago.
HOME SALES ACTIVITY
- Sales activity in the area rose by an impressive 7.7% when compared to the first quarter of 2015, with 7,248 home sales.
- The fastest rate of growth in sales came in the North Las Vegas sub-market which rose by 11.3% to 757 home sales.
- Pending sales rose across all areas, with the Sunrise sub-market showing the greatest growth when compared to the first quarter of 2015 (22.6%). This was followed by Downtown (+21.4%). Total pending sales were up by 12.9%.
- Inventory remains tight with half of the sub-markets seeing modest increases in listings compared to a year ago, and half showing a decline. In total, listings are down year-over-year by 3.3%. The greatest increase in listings was seen in the South Summerlin/Lakes sub-market (+6.6%).
HOME PRICES
- Average prices in the region rose by 4.4% year-over-year to $232,045.
- All but two counties saw prices rise compared to the first quarter of 2015, and three sub-markets registered double-digit percentage gains.
- Spring Valley saw the strongest annual growth with home prices rising by 16.2%.
- Prices fell in the Downtown and the Green Valley/Henderson sub-markets but the declines were minimal.
DAYS ON MARKET
- The average days it takes to sell a home in the region dropped by six days when compared to the first quarter of 2015.
- The average time it took to sell a home in the region was 63 days.
- The South Summerlin/Lakes sub-market was the only market where the number of days on market increased (+3).
- The greatest drop in days-on-market was seen in the Southeast and Summerlin markets which both dropped by 16 days.
CONCLUSIONS
The speedometer reflects the state of the region’s housing market using housing inventory, price gains, sales velocities, interest rates and larger economics factors. The Southern Nevada economy continues to expand and I do not see this changing in the foreseeable future. There has been some modest improvement in inventory levels across the region, but many areas are still well below historic averages, causing the market to remain in favor of sellers. While prices have not yet reached their historic peak, they’re showing strong gains, thanks in part to the continued decline of distressed home sales.
Matthew Gardner is the Chief Economist for Windermere Real Estate, specializing in residential market analysis, commercial/industrial market analysis, financial analysis, and land use and regional economics. He is the former Principal of Gardner Economics, and has over 25 years of professional experience both in the U.S. and U.K.
Market News •
May 6, 2016
Southern California Real Estate Market Update
ECONOMIC OVERVIEW
Southern California continues to add jobs but the rate of increase has started to taper. Through the end of the first quarter of 2016, the counties that make up this report added 71,100 new jobs, and year-over-year, employment is up by 196,100 total jobs for a growth rate of 2.1%. Regional unemployment remains steady or is dropping modestly, and most counties are at or approaching full employment.
HOME SALES ACTIVITY
There were a total of 38,917 sales in first quarter, which is a modest increase of 1.9% compared to a year ago.
The modest increase in sales is primarily due to inventory constraints and price/affordability. Total listings were down by 5.5% in first quarter when compared to the first quarter of 2015.
Home sales grew fastest in San Bernardino County, at twice the rate of the other counties contained in this report.
San Diego County saw a modest decline in sales which is a direct result of a 9.1% decrease in active listings.
HOME PRICES
Compared to first quarter of last year, average prices in the region rose by 5.8% to $594,152. We are seeing a slowdown in price growth that can be attributed to affordability issues that are becoming prevalent in many markets.
Orange County saw the greatest appreciation in home values (+8.8%) to $767,667. This was closely followed by L.A. County where the average price rose to $747,300.
DAYS ON MARKET
The average time it took to sell a home in the region was 56 days. This is a drop of five days when compared to the first quarter of 2015.
Homes in San Diego County sell at a faster rate than the other markets in the region. In the first quarter, it took an average of 38 days to sell a home, which is 10 days less than a year ago.
The drop in days on market can be blamed on a lack of available inventory. I am optimistic that we will see more homes for sale as we move through the year, but demand will certainly continue to outstrip supply during 2016.
All counties saw a drop in the amount of time it took to sell a home between the first quarter of 2015 and the first quarter of 2016.
CONCLUSIONS
The speedometer reflects the state of the region’s housing market using housing inventory, price gains, sales velocities, interest rates and larger economics factors. The regional economy continues to expand but the rate of growth has started to taper. Inventory constraints persist, which has been driving prices higher, but this has given rise to affordability issues which are becoming pervasive.
In the coming months, the housing market will continue to favor sellers; however, for the time being, concerns about escalating home prices should be offset somewhat by the continuation of very competitive mortgage rates. We will still see strong demand for homes, but I believe we’re going to start moving towards a more balanced market through the duration of 2016.
Matthew Gardner is the Chief Economist for Windermere Real Estate, specializing in residential market analysis, commercial/industrial market analysis, financial analysis, and land use and regional economics. He is the former Principal of Gardner Economics, and has over 25 years of professional experience both in the U.S. and U.K.
