NCW Real Estate Blog

From the NWMLS May sales numbers show the median home price down by 2.89% in King, 6.74% in Snohomish County and 7.57% in Pierce county as compared to May 2007.  In May, there were 2081 closed sales versus 3514 in May of 2007 which I calculate to be a 40.7% decrease in volume of sales.  Total sales in the NWMLS showed a 6.19% decrease in Median Price and a volume reduced to 5,158 from 8,590 closings in May of 2007.

Okanagon county is showing a 20.47% increase in median price but sales volume dropped from 35 closings in May 2007 to 17 in May of this year. 

What is the good news in all of that?  There are opportunities for buyers!  The inventory of properties for sale is up and sellers are pricing aggressively.  Here are some comments from the NWMLS, printed with prior permission:

Northwest MLS Brokers Report Buyers
Slow to Take Advantage of Market Conditions

KIRKLAND, Wash. (June 5, 2008) – “If you’re a buyer, this is the time to take advantage of unique market conditions.” That’s the message one industry leader offered in reviewing the latest report from Northwest Multiple Listing Service summarizing housing activity for the month of May.

NWMLS figures show inventory remains plentiful (up nearly 22 percent from the same month a year ago, and up about 5.4 percent from April), with thirteen of the nineteen counties in its service area reporting double-digit increases from twelve months ago. At month end, the selection included 43,546 single family homes and 8,271 condominiums – with one of every five of those listings classified as newly built.

“There are such great opportunities for buyers right now to position themselves for the future,” remarked J. Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate. “Interest rates are historically low, there’s a healthy inventory of homes to choose from, and the new, higher conforming loan limits have increased housing affordability,” he noted, adding, “If you’re a buyer, this is the time to take advantage of these unique market conditions.”

Prices area-wide are showing moderate fluctuation. While median selling prices in most counties served by NWMLS are down from a year ago, many areas are showing stability and even increases. In 30 “sub-areas” the MLS tracks within King County, for example, 21 areas reported higher prices in May compared to April.

NWMLS director Diedre Haines, the broker at Coldwell Banker Bain’s Lynnwood office, said that office had twice as many multiple offer transactions in May compared to April (rising from six to 12). Last month, agents in that office wrote the highest volume of transactions since August, she reported. “I’ve stopped reading the papers,” she remarked, adding, “We’re seeing good increases in activity.”

Pending sales are down from a year ago, but nearly kept pace with April’s volume (down about 2 percent). NWMLS members reported 6,085 pending sales area-wide during May. That compares to 9,743 pending transactions of a year ago and 6,208 for April.

Pending sales of single family homes declined about 3.8 percent from April, while the volume of pending sales of condominiums rose nearly 8 percent from April to May.

“We still haven’t had summer hit us yet as the weather remains cool, wet and cloudy. I expect both temperatures and the market to heat up as summer approaches,” commented Dick Beeson, broker/owner at Windermere/Commencement Associates in Tacoma. “Open house traffic is picking up and buyers are coming off the sidelines to make buying decisions. Buyers are realizing that interest rates may creep up and they would be in a worse position if rates went up 1 percent than if prices fell 5 percent, he stated.

NWMLS director Mike Skahen believes the price drop has “already happened.” “It’s a great time to negotiate with sellers,” he suggests. Skahen, the broker at Lake & Co. Real Estate, Inc., reports a noticeable pickup in activity in the close-in Seattle markets where sellers are pricing competitively.

“We didn’t have a spring selling season this year,” he observed. When the press gets less negative, Skahen believes “It’s going to push buyers off the fence and they’ll regret having waited.”

Northwest Multiple Listing Service, owned by its member brokers, is the largest full-service MLS in the Northwest. Its membership includes approximately 31,000 brokers and agents. The organization, based in Kirkland, currently serves 19 counties, mostly in western Washington, plus Grant, Kittitas and Okanogan counties in the central part of the state.

Statistical Summary by Counties: Market Activity Summary - May 2008

May 2008 Single Family Homes + Condos	LISTINGS		PENDING SALES	CLOSED SALES
	New Listings	Total Active	# Pending Sales	# Closings	Average Price	Median Price
King	5,473	16,435	2,414	2,081	$494,868	$399,950
Snohomish	2,254	7,472	883	775	$357,363	$329,950
Pierce	2,092	8,548	971	759	$293,118	$259,739
Kitsap	639	2,834	258	225	$310,534	$263,000
Mason	209	956	78	67	$245,259	$188,000
Skagit	255	1,392	136	131	$300,925	$273,578
Grays Harbor	260	1,026	77	75	$172,208	$150,000
Lewis	196	814	46	37	$194,292	$185,000
Cowlitz	169	833	69	62	$171,623	$157,000
Grant	179	744	82	66	$185,578	$168,500
Thurston	629	2,248	361	297	$292,806	$264,000
San Juan	79	437	12	11	$1,076,273	$569,000
Island	232	1,229	91	74	$323,927	$302,500
Kittitas	159	737	33	26	$280,913	$258,450
Jefferson	91	566	24	19	$360,147	$325,000
Okanogan	68	466	43	17	$217,653	$180,700
Whatcom	622	2,351	268	238	$280,872	$255,000
Clark	167	870	92	60	$288,504	$266,950
Pacific	82	452	32	29	$187,849	$170,000
Others	321	1,407	115	109	$237,000	$209,000
MLS TOTAL	14,176	51,817	6,085	5,158	$378,835	$312,000

4-County Puget Sound Region Pending Sales (SFH + Condo combined)
(Totals include King, Snohomish, Pierce & Kitsap counties)

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
2000	3706	4778	5903	5116	5490	5079	4928	5432	4569	4675	4126	3166
2001	4334	5056	5722	5399	5631	5568	5434	5544	4040	4387	4155	3430
2002	4293	4735	5569	5436	6131	5212	5525	6215	5394	5777	4966	4153
2003	4746	5290	6889	6837	7148	7202	7673	7135	6698	6552	4904	4454
2004	4521	6284	8073	7910	7888	8186	7583	7464	6984	6761	6228	5195
2005	5426	6833	8801	8420	8610	8896	8207	8784	7561	7157	6188	4837
2006	5275	6032	8174	7651	8411	8094	7121	7692	6216	6403	5292	4346
2007	4869	6239	7192	6974	7311	6876	6371	5580	4153	4447	3896	2975
2008	3291	4167	4520	4624	4526

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