Matt Thomson Gig Harbor, WA Real Estate & Relocation

I am a very proud graduate of Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA. It is more than a college, it is a place that is truly forming young people. I can't begin to explain in a blog what Westmont has meant to my life and my family. Most folks don't understand how a college can be so impactful...you really have to experience it or know somebody who has. Anyway, Westmont was engulfed in flames last night, with several buildings (including 14 faculty homes) being lost. As far as I know, nobody was injured. My coach, who is more so my mentor and friend (he, his wife, and his 2 children were all part of my wedding) lost his home. Gig Harbor High graduate and cross country and track and field standout Kate Stuart is a freshman at Westmont this year, running for that same coach I ran for over a decade ago. She's safe as far as I know, but one of the freshman dorms burned. I have no idea if it was hers or not.

I have to apologize. I used this photo without permission. I have no idea how to get permission. You can view this photographer's 27 photo series here. This shot is of the library on Westmont's campus.

It seems as we move towards the winter, fewer and fewer open houses are being hosted. If you're looking to sell your home in the Gig Harbor area, I'd check with any real estate agents you're thinking of hiring and ask them what their policy on open houses is. In buyers' markets like the Gig Harbor real estate market is in right now, anything to get buyers into your home is a good thing! That being said, here's the interactive map of open houses in Gig Harbor and Fox Island for this weekend. There are some pretty nice ones. I'll be hosting an open house on a property I have listed for sale over in Tacoma. If you have a chance, swing by Saturday from 10am-1pm to say hi.

Remember, all of the information here is from the NWMLS and is reliable, but not guaranteed. If you're looking to buy or sell a home in the Gig Harbor area, I'm more than happy to talk to you to see if I can help.

It's been a pretty fall here in Gig Harbor. Maybe you'd like to drive around and look at all of the pretty fall leaves at some of the open houses this weekend!

There are only 11 open houses in Gig Harbor this weekend, but they're 11 good ones! Tomorrow (Saturday October 25th) I'll be hosting an open house at what I believe to be Gig Harbor's best view home value. Over 3100 square feet of beautifully remodeled home, large fenced yard, huge bonus room, large home office, and amazing views for only $599,000. I don't think that you can find view properties in Gig Harbor with views as wide open as these at this price, and in a cost per square foot comparison, I doubt you can find any Gig Harbor view homes this low. Value is created not only by low price, but more so by what you get for that price. This gorgeous view home on Point Fosdick Drive not only gives you a great house with a great floor plan, not only do you get amazing Puget Sound views and views of Mt Rainier and the Olympic Mountains and views of Fox Island, but you get this at a great price. I'd love to meet you at the house tomorrow from 1-4pm. Please come by to say hi. Click here for an interactive map of all of the open houses in Gig Harbor this weekend. Information is taken from the NWMLS and is reliable but not guaranteed.

All of these photos are from the house at 19 Point Fosdick Drive that will be open Saturday from 1-4pm!

Sorry for being so late with this post. There's a nice assortment of open houses this weekend in Gig Harbor. Home prices range from the low $200's to just shy of $1.3M. There are all sorts of homes for sale in Gig Harbor, and this weekend's opens seem to have a nice sample of them. You can see the interactive map here. There are a few Saturday opens, so check the dates and times.

Fall leaves along Harborview Dr in Gig Harbor are not for sale, nor are they open, nor are they houses. But they're pretty.

September had some ups and some downs in terms of the local Gig Harbor real estate market. I made the mistake of watching some news the other day, and after a story about the economy and how bad it is, I watched 2 stories about rape and 4 about murder, then one more about the housing market and its tumble, and reminded myself why I don't watch the news. The news isn't going to tell you anything positive. They just won't. If you'd like the truth about home sales last month in Gig Harbor, keep reading. If you want moaning and groaning, you'll have to go elsewhere.

There were 47 single-family homes that sold in Gig Harbor during September. That's the 2nd highest total we've had this year behind 61 sales in June. Key Peninsula only had 13 sales, which is the lowest total they've seen since 12 sold in January. The 47 sales in Gig Harbor look especially good compared to September of ‘07, when 51 homes sold. Nice to see us getting the volume back to where it was last year. In Sept of ‘07, however, the median sales price was $448,000, whereas last month it was down to $392,000.

More good news is that the home inventory dropped for the 6th consecutive week. There are currently 722 homes on the market in Gig Harbor, the lowest we've been since the week ending on June 22nd. Homes pending sale (accepted sales contracts on the home) have remained steady since that same week in June, another good sign. Year to date, our volume of sales (actual homes sold) is down a hefty 39%. Median price is down 5.8% from last year, while days on market are up 17 days (this last number is skewed by 6 new construction sales that were on the market for over 500 days, including one for 1018 days!). Good news for folks looking to sell a home on Fox Island as well. January through August saw a total of 16 properties sell on Fox Island (2 per month). In September, 6 properties sold on Fox Island, a nice little increase.

Hopefully what you gather from this information is that our housing market is down from last year, but not nearly as down as what the majority of reports would have you believe. There really are positive things happening in the real estate market right now. If you'd like more specific information (broken down by neighborhood, condo sales, etc), please give me a call, email me, or post a comment to this article. I'm happy to share with you the actual numbers, no spin attached. If you've ever driven by a house for sale, been surprised by the asking price, then curious about what price they actually got for the house, check out my month-by-month interactive maps of SOLD homes in Gig Harbor. If you can't find the information you're looking for, let me know.

Here is a chart showing the home sales by price range for September.