Local real estate professionals optimistic about housing market

By Jessica Legge

FAIRMONT — Homes in the Fairmont area are staying on the market longer, and prices are slightly higher but steady.

Local real estate professionals, however, have favorable expectations for the future of the housing market.

According to the Multiple Listing Service, homes in Fairmont presently spend an average of 110 days on the market, said Diane Floyd, broker and owner of Floyd Real Estate Inc. in Fairmont. In Marion County as a whole, the average time on the market is 113 days, an increase from last year’s average of 100 days.

So far this year, 499 properties have sold in the county, compared to 523 sold in 2006. About two weeks still remain in 2007, so that number could change.

The average price for all properties sold — which includes multi-units, single-family homes and land — is currently $101,638. For single-family homes alone, the average price is $108,243. The year 2006 saw an average price of $99,121 for all properties.

“The average price sold has gone up, but so has the days on the market since last year,” Floyd said. “The market has been good as far as houses selling for a good price.”

Of course, these housing prices provide advantages for the seller because the homes sell for more, she said.

In Fairmont, the higher-priced houses — anything more than $150,000 — are staying on the market longer, Floyd said. These homes remain on the market an average of 164 days.

From Nov. 1 until today, the average days on the market for all properties has been 105. For the past month, the average sale price was a low $83,799, which Floyd said is “a big drop.”

She said consumers often become concerned when they hear about the nationwide housing market on the news, and that affects the local industry.

“Interest rates are still low. We do have a fair amount of houses on the market right now, so there’s good inventory,” Floyd said. “A lot of sellers are negotiable on their price because they have been sitting on the market a little longer.”

As for the future of the housing market in the area, Floyd has heard from sources that the industry will improve by the third quarter of 2008, and until then it will remain stable. She thinks housing prices will remain the same in the area.

Real estate is a seasonal business and homes typically stay on the market a little longer this time of year, which is normal, said Jo-Helen Williams, broker and co-owner of the Fairmont and Morgantown offices of ERA Pitrolo and Williams Real Estate. Winter weather is definitely a factor that impacts the market.

However, the buyers that are now looking for properties should be taken extremely seriously, she said. These buyers are moving forward with their housing plans, and sellers need to stop and realize this. Williams said many home owners decide at the end of the year or beginning of the new year that they need change and want to transfer to a new location.

“I am seeing absolute dynamite prices when people are jumping at the value, and I’m actually seeing some bidding wars,” she said. “It’s a rare thing, but it is happening.”

Williams said she is not seeing growth in the cost of homes in the upper price range. Overall, prices are stable and she expects them to stay that way.

Although persons may hear about panic in the housing market, Williams doesn’t believe the market in North Central West Virginia has experienced the decline and the flight of buyers that other areas have gone through. She said lenders in the area have used very sound lending practices with solid principles.

“Our predictions are that this market is going to turn around with a vengeance come spring,” Williams said. “The market probably will return very nicely to a standard and typical market this spring.”

She said 90 to 120 days is the usual amount of time for houses to stay on the market.

“There’s never been a better time to buy than now,” Williams said. “Sellers remain steadfast. It’s a good time for both processes, whether you’re buying or selling.”

The Marion County Assessors Office looks at every sale that is transferred in the county, Assessor Jim Priester said.

“What we’re noticing is there are more houses on the market, and obviously that makes it a buyer’s market,” he said. “Homes that have location are still knocking down pretty good market values.”

Priester said the office is seeing people pay quite a bit of money for homes all over the county. Location such as Pleasant Valley, White Hall and the Bunner Ridge district are attractive because of their proximity to the interstate. People are also still interested in farms in the outer districts and larger tracks of land.

Since 2000 when Priester started working at the Assessors Office, more than 700 homes have been constructed in Marion County. He said that’s good growth for the county.

“The market has been pretty brisk in Marion County for the last three to five years,” he said. “We’ve gone through spells where there weren’t a lot of houses in the market. There are a lot more homes on the market (now).”

People are paying more to live in places with accessibility to schools, shopping and the interstate, and these good locations have been able to maintain increased prices, Priester said. Meanwhile, the values of homes in other areas have started to come down.

Picket Fences Realty in Fairmont has been staying steadily busy and has several closings a week, broker Carol Oliver said. Even though the phone isn’t ringing as much this time of year, she is still pleased with the business that Picket Fences Realty is doing. She said business increases every year.

“This year, for me, has been my busiest year,” Oliver said. “In my own office, we seem to be as busy as ever.”

Properties are on the market a little longer, and she believes the number of people looking has slowed down slightly. Oliver said the seller, buyer and interest rates each affect the housing market.

“The market naturally adjusts itself,” she said. “The real estate market, it’s up and down. When prices go too high, it adjusts itself.

“I do think it’s a good time to buy and sell because interest rates are good.”

Monica Gorrell, an owner of Homefinders Plus Real Estate in Fairmont, said 90 days is pretty much the average time that area single-family homes remain on the market. Consumers have “kind of been brainwashed” by the media to believe that the housing market is declining, she said.

“Our market, our whole corridor ... is pretty stable,” she said. “Overall, our market has been pretty consistent with the past few years.”

Gorrell said prices are pretty stable and the market is comparable to 2005 and 2006. Because the real estate industry is unpredictable, there is some fluctuation, but the area hasn’t taken any big hits. She said the Fairmont area is a different market and doesn’t have the foreclosures that other places experience.

“If you really look, it’s larger areas that are having the problems,” Gorrell said. “It’s not in our market.”

Based on the past few years, Gorrell hopes that the real estate market stays consistent and the number of units sold increases. New developments are popping up in Marion County, which may cause people in the county to move to a new place of residence. However, the market is variable, and it’s hard to predict what will happen in the future.

Ray Joseph, CEO of the West Virginia Association of Realtors, said the average time on the market around the state this time of year is 100 to 120 days. That’s a considerable decrease from the 170 to 180 days on the market at the beginning of the year, he said.

In West Virginia, the average sale price of homes from 2005 to 2006 went up 4 percent. He expects to see a similar trend at the end of this year.

The average sale price of homes is up, and the average number of days on the market is higher than it was a few years ago. But prices and interest rates are still holding pretty strong and steady. Plus, an increase in inventory has created a buyers’ market, Joseph said.

“Inventories are a little high, which is actually a good thing if you’re looking to buy a home,” he said. “There still seems to be a lot of buyers out there.”

In the state, more homes were sold in the first quarter of 2007 than in the first quarter of 2006. Joseph said the initial quarter of this year was West Virginia’s strongest quarter in three years. The second and third quarters were also high.

“West Virginia is still just a good market. It’s taking a little longer to sell homes than it did last year,” Joseph said. “It’s just a good steady market. It’s not booming.”

E-mail Jessica Legge at jlegge@timeswv.com.