July’s
Pending Home Sales Dip Slightly From June, Prices
Edge Up
KIRKLAND, Wash. (August 6, 2008) – Inventory
remained plentiful during July, pending sales
nearly matched June’s volume, and last month’s
selling prices edged up from June in more than
half the counties served by Northwest Multiple
Listing Service, according to a new report.
“Considering the market adjustment because of
the sub-prime mess, we're doing better than
expected,” said NWMLS director Dick Beeson,
broker/owner of Windermere/Commencement Associates
in Tacoma.
Northwest
MLS brokers reported 6,350 pending sales (offers
made and accepted, but not yet closed) during
July. That volume was down slightly from June’s
total of 6,470 sales, which was the highest
level in ten months, and off about 26 percent
from the same month a year ago. Ten counties
reported more pending sales in July than in
June.
Prices showed resiliency in many areas, despite
being about 8 percent lower than a year ago
for the area overall. The median selling price
for last month’s closed sales of single family
homes and condominiums across the MLS service
area was $310,000.
For the same month a year ago, it was $337,500
and for June it was $314,900. Ten counties reported
price gains for July’s transactions compared
to sales that closed in June. For the four-county
Puget Sound region, the median selling price
for single family homes and condominiums (combined)
was $340,070, slightly more than June when the
price was $340,000.
This
may be an historic opportunity to buy in Washington
State, suggests Scott Jarvis, director of the
state’s Department of Financial Institutions.
He believes the true nature of the state’s real
estate market has been lost among the national
headlines.
Among
reasons Jarvis cited for optimism were attractive
long-term mortgage rates, generally stable prices,
a relatively strong local economy, and local
availability of loans from various institutions
DFI oversees. “Excellent financing options”
exist for homebuyers with reasonably good credit,
“including great programs for first-time homebuyers,”
he noted in a statement.
Northwest
MLS brokers added 13,093 new listings to inventory
during July. That was nearly 1,800 fewer than
the number of residences (14,875) added the
same month a year ago. At month end, buyers
could choose from 51,694 total active listings,
up about 9.7 percent from the year-ago inventory
of 47,106 listings.
The
current selection includes 43,688 single family
homes and 8,006 condominiums.
“Buying
smart in today’s market got a little easier
last week following the signing of the Housing
and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 by President
Bush,” remarked J. Lennox Scott, chairman and
CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate. “The passing
of this legislation marks the beginning phase
of the next 10-year housing cycle in which prices
in the more affordable markets will only continue
to appreciate,” he stated, adding, “Contributing
to rising prices is population growth, the impact
of Generation Y, inflation, and growth management.”
Scott believes homes in the more affordable
price ranges in many markets have already adjusted
and the new housing legislation will continue
to boost this positive momentum. He expects
increased sales in the more affordable markets
will set a new foundation for housing, helping
to stabilize the overall real estate economy.
Beeson
described July as a month of transition with
the passage of the federal housing bill and
new incentives for first-time buyers. Despite
persistent uncertainty among would-be buyers,
he said his Tacoma office had its best month
for sales so far this year, spurred in part
by brisk sales in the medium to lower price
ranges, first-time buyers utilizing incentives,
and shrinking inventory in Pierce County. (The
number of active listings is down 6.6 percent
from a year ago.)
“The
balance of the year appears to portend more
even-handedness in the market place,” Beeson
commented. Serious sellers are pricing properties
more realistically, he reports. “While it is
not 2005, 2006 or even 2007, we are beginning
to see more balance between demand and supply,”
the veteran Realtor noted.
Northwest
Multiple Listing Service is the largest full-service
MLS in the Northwest. Based in Kirkland and
owned by its member brokers, it currently encompasses
nearly 2,100 companies with more than 26,000
sales associates. Together, they serve 19 counties,
mostly in western Washington, plus Grant, Kittitas
and Okanogan counties in the central part of
the state.
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