Hello and welcome to the Spotlight Vancouver podcast. I'm your host Doug Varenas, licensed
real estate agent in Washington and Oregon. And we have the only podcast for and about the people
of Vancouver, Washington and Clark County. So welcome. And today we've got an exciting show
because I'm going to be talking about the top five highest appreciating areas of Clark County
in the last three years. So what I wanted to do was take out the anomalies of the COVID craziness
and just focus on the last three years. So that's kind of the tail end of COVID and then coming
out of it, I'm going to give you the top five highest appreciating areas. And that is based on
the average sale price. Overall in Clark County over the last three years, we've seen an appreciation
rate of 5.36%, which isn't bad at all. But there are some areas that are appreciating at a much
higher rate. And so while buying a home is all about getting something that you're going to feel
comfortable in, getting a safe neighborhood, getting close to the amenities you want, getting the
lifestyle you want. And that is really the most important thing is getting a place that you're
going to love to live in. Your family's going to enjoy and everyone's going to have a good time
and be happy. But at the end of the day, your home is also an investment. And so I'm going to go over
these five top five high appreciating areas. And we're going to get it kicked off with number five.
Number five highest appreciation, highest appreciating area in Clark County is going to be
Hamas. So no surprise here, Hamas is at 7.83% appreciation, average appreciation over the
last three years. People are looking to move there. There's a lot of development there. There's
some really good school districts. There's a really good access to nature. A lot of activity in
Camus and people have been flocking there. And so we've seen an appreciation rate that's just
about two and a half percentage points above what's averaging Clark County over the last three
years at 7.83. So Camus are top five highest appreciating area in Clark County. Moving on to
number four, it's going to be the East Heights area. So this is the area that is east of Andreessen,
south of Mill Plain, and west of the 205 Freeway. So we're talking about the Ellsworth Springs area
and the Blanchett Park area. And this is getting to be sort of a more sought after area.
Probably going to see more development on that side of the waterfront.
Proximity to transportation, proximity to Oregon. If you're still commuting to Portland
or you have friends or family there, that can be important. I mean, some really desirable
neighborhoods in this area. And so they've seen an appreciation rate of 7.9% just edging out Camus.
And that was a little bit of a surprise to me. Actually, a lot of things on this list have been
a little surprising. So let's move on to the third highest appreciation. I'm having all kinds of
problems with that today. Highest appreciating area in Clark County. And that is going to be
downtown. Downtown has actually had the strongest appreciation over the last five years. They're
a little flat this year. But other than that, they've seen solid double digit appreciation
in downtown. So we're talking about obviously like the waterfront area, but also the area around
Esther Short Park, the Halk neighborhood. So the downtown area has been appreciating at a really
healthy clip. So in doing these averages, a lot of them have had negative appreciation. They actually
fell year over year. But because they bounce back so strong on the average, they've, you know, they
get that average appreciation that's pretty high. But downtown is the one where they have not had a
negative appreciating or down year. Every year has been solid double digits. So we're talking
about 12, 15, 18% appreciation rate in that downtown area. And I think right now, and I mentioned
in my last video, I think right now it's quite a bargain at where it's at just being flat. You
can find deals there in the downtown area. And so yeah, downtown comes in at number three of the
highest appreciating areas in Clark County. Next on our list, a little bit of surprise. I like this
area, but I wouldn't have guessed it was higher than Camus and kind of unbelievable. Yakult.
Yeah, that's right. The Yakult area. I'm a big fan of this area for the certain kind of person
who's looking for more acreage, really looking to tap into some natural beauty there. A lot of,
you know, you're sort of, you're kind of in that molten falls area, Lewis River. You've got a lot
of great things going on there. You've got some beautiful countryside there. And if you're looking
to get away and you're looking for like a little more of a rural feel, but you still want access
to some urban amenities, you know, don't sleep on Yakult. I just love, I just love the name too,
Yakult. It's a great area. It's not for everybody, but apparently it's for somebody because it's
appreciating over the last three years at an 8.73% average. So higher than Camus, you know,
higher than downtown on average has been the Yakult area. And that is number two on our list.
I really don't have any insight into the Yakult area other than people just wanting more land
and more space. So people just who maybe lived in that city center and they're kind of like,
yeah, I'm tired of the density. I'm just, I want some more room and Yakult offers, offers that
because most of the plots out there are going to be, you know, on acreage. And so that's really
appealing to a lot of people. And the community is also pretty tight. And so that might appeal to
some people too. But Yakult coming in at number two on our list of highest appreciating areas in
Clark County, Washington, number one on the list, also kind of a surprise for me. I mean,
maybe it shouldn't be, but Wash Ugl comes in at number one. It is the top appreciating area in
Clark County over the last three years based on average home sales. And so it is topping 10%,
almost at 11% at 10.77% average appreciation over the last three years. It is Wash Ugl. So
actually, if you take that strip of land from Wash Ugl through Camus, through that East Heights,
Ellsworth Springs area, stretching all the way to the waterfront and downtown, you have basically
most of the highest appreciating areas in Clark County right along that sort of water
adjacent area. And that really shouldn't be a surprise. But Wash Ugl was a little bit surprising
to me. When you think about it, it makes sense. I'm wondering if you're starting to see a little
spillover from Camus. The taxes are a little bit more manageable in Wash Ugl. You get a lot of the
same amenities. You get proximity to Camus. You're still on close to the water. There's a lot of
development going on there in the waterfront too. So that might be a part of it. And it can be one
of those skate to where the puck is going moments. And so I think Wash Ugl, similar to Camus, is
going through a lot of changes and seeing a lot of growth there. So number one on our list
of highest appreciating areas in Clark County, Washington is Wash Ugl. So this has been really
interesting. I don't know about you, but I'd love to hear your experience or where you see the puck
going. You drop a comment of an area that you see really growing. I know that East Vancouver also
came in pretty high. You had some usual suspects, I guess, like your Philitas, your Salmon Creeks,
your yields, but they did not break into the top five. I mean, they are growing, but the appreciation
is not as strong as the areas I mentioned. And some of that, maybe in Ridgefield, is just because
they keep building more homes. And so that keeps the inventory up and the price is manageable.
Still appreciating, obviously, at a higher clip than the average in Clark County, but not by a
super large degree. Again, number five was...
We'll find it here. We started off with Camus. We moved to the East Heights area, that swath kind
of in between Cascade Park and downtown. Then we had Yaakult coming in at number two, and then
Wash Ugl at number one. Again, if you are looking to move anywhere in Clark, I'm happy to help you
out in that regard. If you're interested in finding out what your home's worth, drop the word value
in the comments, and I will get back to you. And we can discuss. I'm happy to come up with your
home's current value, so you can see where you stand in that regard. And on that note, I hope
everyone's doing well out there, and I'll see you on the next episode. Take care!