As many of us know, we have been in a hot market for the past few years. Daily questions come up, such as: Is it a good time to sell? Is the market still hot? Are we expecting a slowdown next year? and others. Although we can never predict the future, with the amount of demand we are seeing, I am optimistic and hopeful that we will see a strong market for 2017.

A lot of people are curious about home values and what we can expect since the downturn in 2006 and 2007. The following points provide some interesting figures that will help shed a little light on the Jefferson County real estate market.

Residential units sold in 2015 and 2016 are nearing the levels of 2004 and 2005.

Overall values are not yet back to the 2006 and 2007 height of the market. This is based on median price. But in some areas, we are seeing values over the 2006 and 2007 levels.

Depending upon the location in Jefferson County, the bottom of the market in value was 2011, 2012 or even 2013.

The bottom of the market in units sold was 2010.

Presently, we are seeing low inventory levels, which is adding to the hot market. Port Townsend has just over one month of inventory for residential listings. This means that if no new houses came onto the market, we would be out of homes in just over a month. The trend in Jefferson County is that we see an increase in inventory when the weather starts to warm up.

Here are a couple of reasons to be a “winter seller” in the Jefferson County real estate market:

Less competition. A lot of sellers refrain from putting their homes on the market during the last couple or first couple of months of the year. Winter sellers have fewer showings yet more qualified buyers. You may be at an advantage selling when most sellers are waiting and appear more attractive to buyers in your local market. In addition, the holidays are a great time to show homes, because they feel warm decorated inside and out.

Changing dynamics in home-buying searches. Not listing in winter because of less daylight hours and bad weather inhibiting buyers from wanting to see homes is not as relevant anymore. According to the National Association of Realtors, nine out of 10 home buyers search for homes online – at their workplaces, on their smartphones and from the comfort of their homes after dark.

(Steve Kraght, copresident of the Jefferson County Association of Realtors, works at John L. Scott Real Estate in Port Townsend.)