On Dec. 20, the sun set in Anchorage, Alaska at 3:41 p.m. local time, and the temperature sank to 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
But in a real estate economy that has made destination cities out of the likes of Boise, Idaho and Manchester, New Hampshire, perhaps it’s no surprise that there is nothing dark or cold about the Anchorage housing market. In fact, despite existing 1,400 miles north of the contiguous 48 states, Anchorage faces high-demand, decreased inventory and even a lack of space to build, issues familiar to many mid-sized American cities amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“You’d be surprised at the amount of people who can just see past the snow and the dark,” Megan Daniel, a local Keller Williams agent said. “Things are still going strong here. We are above a 70% pending ratio [the ratio of pending listings to active listings], which is insane. Inventory is at an all-time low and demand is extremely high so we are still seeing bidding wars. Normally, we see a pretty intense seasonality shift with our winters here in Alaska being what they are and we are seeing a slight slow down from the absolute craziness of this summer, but not nearly as much as we would expect based on historical trends.”
The median November home sales price in Alaska was $350,250, which is slightly up from 1.2% in November 2020, according to a report from Redfin. The median sales price is down from a record high of $375,000 in June. But other agents echo Daniel that there is no market setback. <<<Continued on HousingWire.com
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