APRIL 2017
SPOKANE REALTORS® OPEN HOUSE WEEKEND
Mark your calendar now and plan to participate in our big event of the year - the Spokane REALTORS® Open House Weekend, April 29th and 30th - where you and your open house visitor could win a prize!
Promote the event, and your participation in it, with the official Spokane REALTORS® Open House Weekend event logo (pictured), online here.
Here’s a look at all of the prizes in play:
1 - GRAND visitor prize - $1,000 VISA gift card
1 - GRAND REALTOR® prize - $500 VISA gift card
5 - REALTOR® participation prizes – there will be ten of these - $100 gift card to spend at River Park Square in downtown Spokane – with complimentary parking pass included!
(All prizes to be drawn and announced on May 4th).
This is the seventh annual countywide event to draw attention and visitors to your business as a REALTOR®. Spokane REALTORS® offered more than 300 homes in this event last year.
OFFICIAL ENTRY FORM: This is the document (pictured) each of your visitors must fill out in order for that person - and you - to be eligible for the grand prize drawing! Download the two-up document for printing among the supporting files to this newsletter, or pick up ready-printed copies at your SAR (1924 North Ash Street).
Printed copies of the entry forms will be available for members at the headquarter house during the event.
REALTOR® balloons (pictured) are available at your SAR now for your pick up during regular business hours (1924 North Ash Street).
REALTOR® balloons and helium will be available to members at the headquarter house during the event.
All participating open houses must be listed on SpokaneOpen.com, the official open house website of the Spokane Association of REALTORS®. Sign riders (pictured) are available now at your SAR for your pick up during regular business hours.
Sign riders will also be available for members at the headquarter house during the event.
APRIL IS FAIR HOUSING MONTH
April 2017 marks the 49th anniversary of the 1968 landmark Fair Housing Act.
Each year we, as REALTORS®, recognize the significance of this event and reconfirm our commitment to upholding fair housing law, as well as our commitment to offering equal professional service to all in their search for real property.
Fair Housing Partners of Washington State offers a guidebook to assist you in understanding and complying with Fair Housing laws. Download your copy of Fair Housing for Real Estate Industry Professionals - Washington State Edition (pictured) – online here:
http://www.fhcwashington.org/PDF/Top%20100%20FAQ.pdf
Our National Association of REALTORS® creates a new poster to support Fair Housing every year. This year’s effort shares the history of Fair Housing rights in our country. Download NAR's 2017 Fair Housing poster, suitable for posting in your office (pictured), online here:
https://www.nar.realtor/handouts/2017-fair-housing-poster
BROKER LIABILITY SERIES
Washington REALTORS® shares word that risky practices are emerging because of a very busy seller's marketplace.
Our Legal Hotline lawyer, Annie Fitzsimmons, hears about many of these practices and wants to help us do the right thing.
So, here begins a new Broker Liability video series that aims to highlight the consequences of risky practices, and what you can do when your clients want to pursue a course that you deem risky.
Four videos exist in the series so far:
Video #1 – Broker Liability Series kicks off:
https://youtu.be/HK7-ii25Mt4
Video #2 -The Danger of Prohibiting Buyers from Getting Inspections: https://youtu.be/TjGTYbWN26A
Video #3 – Risky Business with Inspections:
https://youtu.be/9fmdX2d0lYE
Video#4 – Buyer Broker Risk for “No Contingency” Buyers
https://youtu.be/yDRHzj7gOuc
MARCH MARKET STATISTICS
555 single-family homes on less than one acre including condominiums were reported as sold closed for March. Last year for March, 497 closed sales were reported. This month closed sales are up 11.7% over March last year. The average sales price for March was $220,984 up 8.1%
from March last year when the average sales price was $204,421. The median sales price was up 9.3% compared to last March, $204,900 v. $187,500.
First quarter closed sales total 1,268 compared to 1,190 for first quarter last year, an increase of 6.6%. The average sales price through the first quarter is $212,426 compared to $198,691 for first quarter last year, an increase of 6.9%. The median price for first quarter this year is
$197,475 compared to last year at $182,500, an increase of 8.2%.
Inventory improved slightly this month but we are still in a very tight market. Inventory at the time of this report totals 1,268 homes on the market compared to 1,752 at same time last year. Current inventory is down 27.6%. New home construction is maintaining the same pace as last year through the first quarter, 166 closed sales reported this year compared to 165 last year. Average sales price is up 10.5%, $302,096 compared to $273,304.
This is an excerpt of the Spokane Association of REALTORS’® March 2017 Residential Market Activity Report. Access to the full report each month is a benefit of your association membership. See the full report online here (after you log in to the member portal):
https://www.spokanerealtor.com/mls/market-activity-mls-statistics
MARCH LOCKBOX STATISTICS
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