Whatcom County Housing Market Second Quarter 2011

According to the Washington Center for Real Estate Research 2011 Second Quarter Housing Analysis; Whatcom County home re-sales ( # of units sold) were down -3.6% from the previous quarter, and down -8.7% from the second quarter in 2010. Statewide home re-sales ( # of units sold) were down -4.0% from the previous quarter and down -11.3% from the second quarter in 2010. Overall building permits in Whatcom County were down -17.8% from the second quarter of the previous year, in comparison to the 33.6% increase statewide. The median re-sale home price in Whatcom County was $253,000 (Up 1.1% from the second quarter in 2010), above the statewide median of $226,900 (down -7.6% from the second quarter of 2010). The 2011 Second Quarter Housing Affordability Index (HAI) was 128.00 for Whatcom County, lower than the statewide index of 154.7.

More Info: http://www.wcrer.wsu.edu/WSHM/WSHM.html

Website: State & Local History in Washington State-- Worth Checking Out.

We recently found a very interesting website that we thought was woth sharing History Link. Org.

http://www.washington.historylink.org/index.cfm

It is an online enclyclopedia of state and local history in Washington state.

Here is a little bit of info per their website:

"HistoryLink.org is an evolving online encyclopedia of HistoryLink.org provides a free, authoritative, and easily accessible history reference for the benefit of students, teachers, journalists, scholars, researchers, and the general public. With a few noted exceptions, all essays and features on this site are original works prepared exclusively for HistoryLink.org by staff, contract writers, volunteers, and consulting experts. The encyclopedia contains more than 5,000 essays as of September 2008. It is constantly expanding, with new essays added every week."

Great website definetly worth a look.

City of Bellingham; Research Your Home's Past

Via the City of Bellingham's wonderful (new edition) website; the Whatcom museum of History & Art has put out a four page pdf on how to research the history of your historic home. It shows you where to look to get the pertinent information and it mentions some of the publications that may be handy to your Bellingham specific search ex. R. L. Polk Bellingham City Directories, which date back to the late 1890s and, list the names and occupations of Bellingham residents.
Whatcom Museum of History & Art Tracing the Past Owners of Your Home PDF:

http://www.cob.org/documents/planning/cd/historic/house-hist-research.pdf

For the Whatcom Museum of History & Art Photo Archive Info:

http://www.whatcommuseum.org/pages/archives/archives.htm

Bennett Appraisals provides residential appraisal service to the following areas: Bellingham, Birch Bay, Blaine, Custer, Ferndale, Fairhaven, Geneva, Silver Beach, Sudden Valley, Sumas, Acme, Anacortes, Alger, Arlington, Bow, Burlington, Cain Lakes, Conway, Concrete, Darrington, Deming, Edison, Emerald Lakes, Edmonds, Everett, Everson, Glacier, Granite Falls, Hamilton, Kendall, Laurence, La Conner, Lake Stevens, Lynden, Lyman, Lynnwood, Maple Falls, Marblemount, Marysville, McMurray, Monroe, Mount Baker, Mount Vernon, Mulkilteo, Rockport, Samish Island, Sedro Woolley, Snohomish, Stanwood,Van Zandt, and all of Whatcom, Skagit & Snohomish Counties. * Time permitted we also serve Point Roberts