Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Kenai housing market question

The joke then was...
"What is the difference between syphilis and a condo in Anchorage?"




You can get rid of syphilis!

Or you could open a checking account and get your choice between a toaster and a condo...

Only problem is they are fresh out of toasters...

I'll bet that would be fun to live in a condo that was paid in full for 1/3 the price of the folks' next door....while they're still working on the front half of the loan.

While it did not get quite as bad, our home in CA, purchased in late 2002 well before the insanity, is just now being assessed at what we purchased it for 13+ years ago.

RE value valleys can be deep and wide...

LOL.. The toaster thing killed me!! we checked out a place yesterday. got some more to look at today. not much inventory with the acreage i want. we shall see.

Despite the complaints about costs, when you compare Southcentral AK to major west coast areas, the real estate is on par price wise. So in the long term it should be a decent investment. But the next few years are going to be a bumpy road, and I can see it being a decade long recovery.

There was one new bank that offered a S&W 44 mag for opening a new and substantial account. The life of that bank was brief.

Yeah, it did not operate long, but the revolver deal was not what killed them... actually they were bought by First Nasty IIRC.

AK has always been pretty much counter-cyclic with America...

Yup, both the economy and weather.

Unfortunately the same does not seem to hold true with wacky political beliefs.

Realizing this is a spin the dice and throw it to the wind question, what are you locals guesses/estimates as to when an optimal time to buy there might be? Nope, not looking to buy or move, just curious what you might be thinking.

There are rumored to be some pretty substantial layoffs coming from one of the majors; if that comes to pass Id say "who knows" - but not anytime soon!

Last time around it took a few years to hit bottom, but stayed there for several more. My plan is to wait for bottom and give it at least a year before buying anything major. It will take growth to fill rental houses.

I think it will be at least a year before they get near bottom. The economy has to bottom out, and then people have to come to terms with whether they want to keep depleting their savings or walk away from their homes.

BP has another round of layoffs to be announced the 28th. CH2M just announced layoffs today but not how many (I'm surprised they've kept their engineering office open as it's been dead for years), ASRC has had a couple rounds of layoffs, Nana has had a couple rounds and Conoco as well. Conoco does look like the one bright spot in the industry with the success of CD5 and plans for Greater Mooses Tooth and expansion into NPRA but who knows at what rate they plan to invest and expand.

Most wait longer than a year because they just hate to give up...

Back in the mid 80's up here/north in Fairbanks... The staying was ...the last one out hit the light switch will ya..prices were out of wac tho,buddy got some raw/3a of land for 20sum grand then….....and sold in the high market of 06/07 ..for......20 sum grand

I would be very cautious buying into a declining market especially if the reason for the decline is job and economy related and not overbuilding. As people move out rents will fall as well. Many bought into a falling market in FLA thinkng they were getting a decent deal 30% off the highs only watch the values fall another 30%. Once the market hits the bottom it will drag there a while. If they would have rented another year they would have had a better idea how bad it was going to get. They could have bought a great place for $200,000 that someone had paid $500,000 for 2 or 3 years prior. 300k is a lot of spread.

Yup, the potential downside in the current market is huge IMHO...