The Splash
16 • AUGUST 2013
Real estate revival
NEWS
LL housing market showing serious signs of resurgence By Craig Howard
SPLASH CONTRIBUTOR
In 20 years of selling homes, Doc Williams has seen markets range from bleak to bountiful. From 2008 to 2011, when real estate sales paralleled the nosedive of the national economy, Williams and other Realtors felt the brunt. The burst of the housing bubble — starting with record-high prices in 2006 to the severe plummet a year later — prompted a somber scenario that U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson described as “the most significant risk to our economy” in October 2007. “It was the worst market we’ve ever seen,” Williams said. “It was very difficult for a lot of people.” The downturn had a ripple effect on the entire industry, from developers to builders to those who supply the materials to construct homes from the ground up. On the financing side, the tenuous nature of subprime loans proved to be the faulty foundation of a crumbling enterprise. In 2008 alone, there were nearly 2.8 million home foreclosures filed nationwide. These days, Williams is glad to be out of the shadows once cast by the Great Recession. As a broker with Coldwell Banker Tomlinson, his schedule consists of a steady shuttle between the West Plains, where Coldwell is marketing three communities, to the Legacy Ridge development in Liberty Lake, where Williams and fellow broker Karen O’Donnell are selling homes in the Parkside neighborhood. “Things are definitely getting better,” said Williams, who has a genuine, good-natured delivery that comes in handy on the sales front. “Now, it’s really become a situation where we’re selling houses faster than they’re being built.” While sales may be flourishing at levels not seen since the market tumbled, Williams said now it’s a game of catch up due to the void left when things went south. “A lot of people got out of the trade during that time,” Williams said. “At the same time, people weren’t learning the trade.”
SPLASH PHOTO BY CRAIG HOWARD
Homes in the Parkside neighborhood on Legacy Ridge are selling quickly, one of several neighborhoods enjoying resurgence as home sales near record levels in the. city of Liberty Lake. Nationwide, 2013 has also been the most encouraging year for home sales since the bubble popped. In May, the National Association of Realtors reported that pending sales in the U.S. had reached their highest level since late 2006. Meanwhile, home foreclosures in the first quarter dropped to a low not seen since 2007. In June, the unemployment rate for construction workers dropped below double digits for the first time since 2008 according to the Associated General Contractors of America. One entity benefiting from the resurgent market is the city of Liberty Lake. In the first two quarters of 2013, the city processed 72 single-family residential permit applications and collected just short of $250,000 in permit fees. At the mid-year point in 2012, the numbers were good, but not this good — 52 single-family homes and roughly $161,000 in fees. The figures for the first part of this year set a new record in permit fee revenue since the incorporation of Liberty Lake in 2001 and fell just short of the all-time, halfway mark in single-family permits, set in 2007 at 75. In contrast, only 36 permits were filed in all of 2008. “We expected the growth to continue in
this part of the year, but I don’t think we anticipated quite this amount of volume,” said Amanda Tainio, the city’s planning and building services manager. “The guys (Liberty Lake’s two permit specialists) are really running around over here.” Perched on a slope in the south central part of town that was home to the Holiday Hills Ski Resort in the 1970s, Legacy Ridge provides a tranquil setting that features spectacular views of the Valley basin. Williams is currently selling lots in the Parkside area of Legacy Ridge where homes run from $200,000 to $350,000 — lower than the nearby section of Estates at Legacy Ridge. The rancher — with its single-level layout — is the fastest selling home in Parkside, where the square footage of dwellings ranges from 1,250 to 3,000. “It’s more difficult to find ranchers these days,” said Williams. “There were so many multi-level homes built in the last 30 years. I talk to a lot of people who want to get away from stairs.” Whether they are seniors looking to downsize or a family seeking a newer home away from traffic, those who move into a new neighborhood like Legacy Ridge quickly discover a sense of community, Williams
BY THE NUMBERS
72
52 75 36
Number of single-family residential permit applications in the city of Liberty Lake in the first six months of 2013 The number for the same period in 2012 The city of Liberty Lake record for the same period, set in 2007 The number of permit applications in 2008 — for the entire year
said. Residents held their annual neighborhood party in July, and amenities like walking trails and a 7-acre swathe of greenspace add to the communal atmosphere. “People have just moved here, so everyone is pretty much in the same boat,” Williams said.
See HOUSING, page 17