PORT ANGELES — Little more than two weeks after a North Olympic Peninsula-wide open house caught the interest of several hundred residents, Realtors in Clallam and Jefferson counties were racking up some sales they attribute to the event — and were feeling good about the future.
The June 27-28 Realtors Statewide Open House, sponsored by the Washington Association of Realtors, drew about 2,500 visits to 400 homes for sale in Clallam and Jefferson counties, event organizers said this week.
Five homes were purchased in Clallam County and at least one in Jefferson County as a direct result, and dozens more open house attendees are actively interested buying homes after taking part in the event, said Clallam County event coordinator Eileen Schmitz, owner of Jace the Real Estate Company in Port Angeles, and Jefferson County event coordinator Nancy Stelow of Cape George, a Realtor with Better Homes and Gardens real estate company in Seattle, which markets property in Jefferson County.
Stelow said she doesn’t expect to realize the event’s full impact for another two or three weeks while potential buyers round up funding and start making offers.
But what she and Schmitz say Realtors really drew strength from was the serious interest the look-sees had, and that they came armed with knowledge about such enticements as the $8,000 federal tax credit for first time home-buyers, which ends Dec. 31.
That, and a ripe combination of 5 percent mortgage interest rates and affordable prices generated about 1,500 visits to 200 homes in Clallam County, and about 1,000 visits to 200 homes in Jefferson County.
All five homes purchased in Clallam County were in Port Angeles, Schmitz said.
“As home prices have softened, families are able to buy homes they did not think they would be able to buy,” she said.
“We never have had an interest rate this low at this price point,” she said. “Throw in the $8,000 tax credit, and that’s pretty fabulous.”
She said it also was the first time Realtors noticed that so many potential buyers said they knew about the federal tax credit, which first-time buyers are eligible for when they file their taxes.
“The Realtors felt excited and were really gratified,” Schmitz said.
The homes that had good attendance were in the $250,000 range, she said.
“More people went to lower-priced homes because they are serious about buying. That is our buying market now.”
Attendance at each home varied.
But one house near downtown Port Angeles had 50 groups of people: a $200,000, three-bedroom, 1 ½-bath.
“We’re selling a lot of homes now under $200,000,” she said. “This was a great price point that a lot of people thought had disappeared.”
There are 382 active listings for stick-built homes in Port Angeles and 665 active listings in Sequim.
“We did open houses in the winter with three or four agents at houses, and not a soul would show up,” Schmitz said.
“I would bet by next year, when we have the next statewide open house, we have a very different market, because the lower-priced homes are disappearing.”
Stelow said Port Townsend had 86 open-house homes, Chimacum and Port Hadlock had 14 and the other 100 were in the communities of Port Ludlow, Marrowston Island, Kala Point, Cape George, Discovery Bay and Brinnon.
One offer for a home has been accepted as a result of the open house, and another agent has told Stelow an offer is on the way.
There were about 10 visits per home in Port Townsend and five in the Chimacum and Port Hadlock areas.
“As you worked your way farther out to Port Ludlow, the numbers were not as high,” Stelow said. “It was pretty darn successful in Port Townsend.”
The open-house homes in Jefferson County ranged from $185,000 to more than $1 million.
Realtors told Stelow that the most frequent group of open-house visitors were potential buyers, followed by people who owned a home in Jefferson County and were considering putting them on the market.
“They were getting a reality check of the competition and what real estate was going for and educating themselves, so when they put their house on the market it would be appropriately priced,” she said.
Houses in the $200,000 to $300,000 range had the most traffic, while “some of the million-dollar folks got nobody.”
“This indicates to me that there were not of Looky Lous, that people were literally looking at homes for purchase or potential purchase.”
Two investors also participated in the Jeffferson County event along with homeowner wannabes.
“That’s significant, with all the economic issues we’re dealing with,” Stelow said. “To have two investors walk into the door was fabulous.”
Most Realtors in Jefferson County will say that open houses don’t work because “people come here to play,” Stelow added.
“So having the volume we did have over the weekend also was very significant.”
On June 27, the first day of the event, there were 611 residences on the market.
As of Wednesday, there were 578.
“That’s one of the signs of a returning market, to have the number of active houses decrease like that in two weeks,” Stelow said.
“I think there are signs that things are getting better, but I wouldn’t say we are returning to normal.”
Staff writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
