Serenity Now!
Posted July 8, 2018 in Real Estate Trends
I don’t often quote Frank Costanza from the Seinfeld TV show, but it seems the right mantra for the times. Even if you’re able to tune out our contentious political climate, housing availability and prices can cause high blood pressure these days. Title companies deal with housing every day, in good housing markets and bad. For 5 years now, we’ve seen mostly happy sellers, pleased with the price they were able to obtain for their sale. Buyers, too, have been happy to be able to purchase a home after sometimes competing with other buyers to get their offer accepted.
What’s the problem, then? Finding affordable housing. Rents and home prices both continue to rise, leaving an increasing number of people scrambling to afford a roof over their heads. For the 50,000 apartments in Clark County, the vacancy rate is 2.1%. For two-bedroom units, it’s even lower at 1.9% (a vacancy rate below 5% is considered low). Clark County rents average $1024 for 1-bedroom units and $1134 for 2-bedroom units.
Why don’t these budget-stressed renters buy a house? Because the median home price for existing homes is $350,000. And, if you look around at new homes, you’ll see prices higher than that. Lots of our neighbors and friends are stuck between rising rents and homes they can’t afford.
Title companies are a neutral third-party, not representing the buyer, seller, lender or Realtor. But we’re literally on everyone’s side, doing our best to get transactions closed to allow all involved to “get to their peaceful place.” We pride ourselves on being problem-solvers, knocking down obstacles like complicated title issues, difficult parties, or unresolved questions that can hold up or cancel a closing at the last minute. The best part of our job is seeing happy people at the end of the transaction, pleased with the outcome and the work of the professionals involved—not just us, but the best Realtors, lenders and homebuilders in town, who make things look easy even when they’re not.
We hope to be a part of your successful transaction, and wish you the best for a wonderful summer from the professional title and escrow people of Clark County Title! Let us know if there is anything we can do to answer any questions you may have about real estate in Clark County. We’d be happy to assist you!
Note: The source of the statistics in this article is the Runstad Department of Real Estate at the University of Washington.
Scott Hogan
Clark County Title
Scott@ClarkCountyTitle.com360-694-4722
1400 Washington St, Ste. 100
Vancouver, WA360-787-9197
3200 SE 164th Avenue, Ste. 219
Vancouver, WA 98683