Housing prices fluctuate based on a complex mix of job growth, population growth, interest rates and consumer sentiment. Layered on top of that is a large percent of pre-foreclosure and foreclosed inventory. But at the core, it is an exercise of supply and demand. Less buyers than sellers, and prices have to decline in order to spur demand. If the supply of housing shrinks and the buyers are still out there, competition and buyer frustration will eventually drive up prices.

I took an in-depth look at the number of active listings and closed sales in King County for the last 11 years.

Statistics not compiled or published by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service

The top line in this chart represents the number of active home & condo listings in King County each month. You’ll notice that the chart bottoms in December and peaks every summer in an identical pattern every year. The inflation of the bubble is also readily apparent, with suddenly declining inventories in 2004, which remained low until 2007. The burst of the housing bubble is also clearly visible, with a dramatic increase in active listing inventory starting in May 2007. (In hindsight, this all looks pretty obvious, but it took almost another year for the price declines to take hold.)

The bottom line in this chart is the number of closed sales for homes & condos in King County each month. You’ll see that closings climbed to 4000 homes a month during the summer of 2004-2006. Once consumer confidence tanked, the number of homes closed sank to roughly half of those numbers during 2008-2011.

What is most interesting about this graph is the distance between the two lines. During the boom, the number of closings was very close to the number of active listings. Homes would sell as soon as they were put on the market. In 2008, the gap between active listings and closed sales became enormous, with over 16,000 active listings against 2000 closings per month, driving prices lower.

Since the worst of the market in 2008, active inventory has been on a steady decline, with levels now down to where we were in 2007. 2011 also posted some very modest growth in the number of closings. If you have been a buyer in the Seattle area during 2011, the lack of inventory was probably apparent, as homes in popular areas have been harder to come by.

At the moment, we are finally entering a territory where the number of active listings is in better balance with the actual buyer demand. How prices will behave with this diminished supply is not entirely clear at this point. Increased competition for a smaller inventory will put upwards pressure on prices, but that will be counteracted by the distressed property liquidation that is still underway. Both short sales and bank-owned homes will continue to drag on home prices.

Also, it is important to point out that King County is actually a huge market area. It is useful to look at these statistics for the entire county, but recognize that inventory, demand and prices vary considerably throughout the county. Popular urban neighborhoods have fared quite differently than some suburban and rural areas.

The pattern of new listings is remarkably consistent from year to year. There is a spike of new listings in January as the holidays end and the new year begins. New listing volume peaks roughly between the months of May-June of each year, with strong listing activity from March-August in most years. Listing volume gradually declines in September-October and then dramatically tails off in November and bottoms out in December. Looking at the last decade, the number of new listings that come on the market in December is 50-70% lower than the peak activity in May-June.

A few more interesting notes on this chart. You will see a big spike of new listings in March-April 2010 as sellers attempted to take advantage of the home buyer tax credit. The sudden shift downwards from 2008 > 2009 clearly shows the lack of seller enthusiasm for trying to sell their home.

2011 has been particularly slow for new listings, and I anticipate that when December numbers come out, the number of new listings for this month will likely set a decade-long low. Obviously the population has continued to increase in King County during the past decade, so it is a very telling story about how fewer people are currently attempting to sell their homes.

Apparently more goes on in Montlake than meets the eye, as Amazon has just announced a new line of romance novels named after the neighborhood called Montlake Romance.

Perhaps you’d like to tour Montlake homes for sale with one of our agents? You never know, but Fabio may lurk behind the doors of one of these classic homes ready to whisk you away!

The homes aren’t on the market yet, and their landmark status may limit what you can do to the exterior, but the interiors are fair game for a totally unique remodeling project. King 5 reported on this last night, featuring a former firefighter who is looking to buy the West Seattle station.

Of course when they hit the market, give a holler to a findwell agent and we’d be happy to help with the purchase!

Housing analyst Deborah Downer discovered the error in her spreadsheet late yesterday and promptly issued corrected data for the last 3 years. Downer tracks and calculates housing price averages throughout the Puget Sound region for all of the major banks, real estate companies and other financial institutions in the area. Asked about the error, Downer mentioned that she “had messed up the formula in one of the cells in her spreadsheet, placing a minus sign where there was supposed to be a plus sign. As soon as I fixed it, I realized that home prices in the Seattle area were actually 30% higher than what I had been reporting.”

Downer’s employer, Housing Analysis, Inc., apologized for the error, indicating that they will review her numbers more thoroughly before they get published in the future. “We thought Deborah was pretty adept at spreadsheets, but we’ve decided to send her to an Excel training class to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” said Housing Analysis CEO Jon Trainer.

Sellers rejoice at news

Home sellers in the Seattle metro area were jubilant at the news. At the end of 2010, Zillow estimated that 34.3% of homeowners in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties were “underwater” on their mortgages, owing more than the home was worth. With the 30% increase in prices, that number has gone essentially to zero. (Zillow recalculates its data on a weekly basis, so it will take a number of days before the error is corrected on their site.)

Local brokers reported a brisk, almost panicked pace of activity from sellers looking to get their homes on the market. According to Seattle real estate broker Kevin Lisota of findwell, “Lots of sellers have been waiting for the market to improve. I have received calls from 23 sellers so far today who want to get their homes listed this week. We’re going to be busy!”

Some local real estate companies have built their entire business out of helping homeowners to sell their home via a short sale, but with the sudden rise in prices, seemingly there are no more short sales to be had. Local company Short-Sales-R-Us has quickly closed up shop today, stating that they “can’t make a go of it in the improved market.”

Buyers fret at higher prices

Local buyers are struggling to come to terms with the new housing prices. A $500,000 home they were looking at yesterday is now worth $650,000. Surely this is going to affect the purchasing power of home buyers, but many seemed resigned to the new reality.

“I was excited that home prices in Seattle had come down so far in the past few years,” said prospective home buyer Tamara Hammer. “But I knew that it was too good to be true. Seattle was supposed to escape the housing downturn in the rest of the country, and now it turns out that we actually did. Local brokers were right. Seattle is a special market.”

Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were also reportedly scrambling to revise loan programs for Seattle, with rumors that they will raise conforming loan limits in the area as soon as this week to reflect the new pricing. Treasury Department officials are also quickly winding down their Making Home Affordable loan modification programs in Seattle, with one official already promising to pass along the budget savings from the programs to “other cool initiatives for the citizens of Seattle, maybe a new NBA team or something.”

Housing pundits are tongue-tied

Local housing analysts and bloggers seemed flustered by the news, particularly by how long it took Downer to discover her spreadsheet error.

“I have been blogging about inflated home prices in Seattle for more than 5 years,” said Seattle Bubble editor Tim Ellis. “We all rely on Deborah’s housing data, and I sure wish she had double-checked her formulas. I wasted 5 years talking about a housing bubble in Seattle that didn’t really exist. I guess I’ll have to look at repurposing my blog. Do you think folks would like a blog with cat photos and funny captions?”

Local housing economist Clarence Nuy quickly released a statement as well, pointing to population trends being the real driver behind the sudden run-up in prices. “If you look at the numbers more closely, you’ll see that there is a large spike in Generation Y home buyers that are coming of age. I totally saw this coming, even without the data errors,” said Nuy.

Local real estate agents also had difficulty coming to terms with the new reality in housing prices. “I’ve been telling my buyers for years that there has never been a better time to buy,” said local broker Michael Clozier. “Clearly yesterday would have been a great time to buy, with an instant 30% gain on your investment. Is it still a great time to buy? I thought about it for a little bit, and even now, there has never been a better time to buy, with low interest rates and everything. There are no housing cycles here in Seattle. Things will keep going up-and-up.”

This may sound like odd news in a struggling real estate market, but as prices have declined and distressed parcels have hit the market, there are certainly opportunities for builders to get their hands on affordable land. Sounds like this company is trying to take advantage of their deep pockets to establish a presence as the market emerges from the downturn.

What is most interesting about the story is the style of homes that they plan to build under the Henley brand. If their Australia website is any indication of the style of homes they build, they will be a welcome addition to Seattle and a respite from the sameness that dominates all of our local home builders. I kind of like the looks of these.

In hindsight, it is easy to look back at just how flawed that thinking was and how funny it all looks now. True, the Seattle market did not feel the effects of the real estate downturn as soon as most cities, but the problems in the market ran deep and eventually took hold throughout all cities in the US. Did the Seattle area fare better than other major cities? Yes, the real estate pain being felt elsewhere is certainly higher in areas that were ripe with speculation and overbuilding, like Las Vegas or South Florida, but the Seattle housing market has suffered like the rest of the country.

What is striking about this is that the Realtor association feels it is their place to cheerlead and “pump up” the state of the market in order to drive more transactions for their Realtor members. I still see this mentality in our industry, with many Realtors believing that they need to sell you on why it is “such a great time to buy.”

Our job as real estate brokers is first and foremost to facilitate the purchase and sale of homes, while watching out for our clients best interests in the process. All of us have opinions about where the market is headed, but none of us has a crystal ball for where exactly the economy will lead us. The only “good time to buy” is when it is the right time for your personal situation. Whether it is growth of a family, a job transfer or a change in family situation, those are the primary factors which drive whether to buy or sell a home. Consumers need to be educated about the state of the market, interest rate conditions and the overall health of the economy in order to make their own decisions to purchase or sell real estate.

Real estate agents can offer guidance and opinions, but it is NOT our job to hype the market. Realtors and their associations who believe that relentless cheerleading will somehow alter basic economic realities are being irresponsible and ignoring one of their key responsibilities to the consumer.

Prices remained relatively stable, however. Median and average prices for single-family homes in King county are pretty much unchanged from the previous month and consistent from a year ago, with a small downward movement in median condo prices from a year ago. Inventory of homes for sale in King County has also increased 7.8% compared to one year ago.

King County Data for September 2010

• King County median prices are relatively flat compared to a year ago.
• There were 1,467 closings in King County for single-family homes and condos, down 27.2% from a year ago.
• Pending sales for King County are down 25.3% from the same time last year and down 43% compared to April 2010.
• There were 13,922 active listings in King County for September 2010, up 7.8% from a year ago.

It is clear from the last few months of sales data in our area that the tax credits from earlier in the year accelerated demand and sapped transactions out of the second half of the year. It is also clear that home buyers were more incented by the $8,000 tax credit than they are by record low mortgage interest rates.

Follow the findwell blog for future monthly statistical updates.

Previous monthly updates:

• Northwest MLS statistics – August 2010
• Northwest MLS statistics – June 2010
• Northwest MLS statistics – May 2010
• Northwest MLS statistics – March 2010
• Northwest MLS statistics – February 2010
• Northwest MLS statistics – January 2010
• Northwest MLS statistics – December 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – November 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – October 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – September 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – August 2009

Related articles

Home tours by agents have been remarkably consistent for the past five months, with 185-195k showings per month. This is a significant drop-off from February-April 2010, where buyer traffic was being inflated by the expiration of the home buyer tax credit. While summer buyer traffic was down over the beginning of 2010, we seem to have entered a period of consistent buyer activity over the past months. As we approach the holiday season, we would anticipate this to decline, with normal seasonal trends kicking in.

As of October 3, 2010, here are the number of times that listed homes were accessed throughout western Washington. Unfortunately the statistics can’t be broken out by counties or cities, but activity within the 19 county area likely trends similarly at the city and neighborhood level as well.

The Seattle Times reports that there were over 200 bidders at the auction, where 32 condo units were put up for sale. Unique to this auction, each bid was subject to a secret reserve price. According to the developer, 28 out of the 32 bids had been accepted at the end of the auction. That would indicate that 4 of the winning bids were under the secret reserve price set by the builder, and they are still potentially negotiating with those buyers, so hard to say if deals will come together.

Before the auction, 74 of the 227 units (33%) in Olive 8 had been sold. Assuming that at least 28 of these auction deals actually close, that would leave the building at 45% sold. Most of the remaining inventory at the Olive 8 are higher-price units on upper floors, so there is still a significant inventory of condos remaining to be sold.

The Seattle Condo Blog posted a great recap of the auction, including a chart of the units that sold, their starting and winning bids, along with previous listing prices.

I still scratch my head about why these auctions are necessary. Clearly buyers see value in condos when they reach certain price points, and I can’t help but think simply listing the units at reasonable prices would get the transactions moving and eliminate the need for such an auction. But these auctions are all about tapping buyer psychology and generating excitement. One buyer mentioned that they were “still shaking” from the excitement of the auction atmosphere.

If you ever attend such an auction, remember to do your homework up front and keep your wits about you while the auctioneer whips the crowd into a frenzy. Do some bidders get good deals? Sure, some do, but most end up paying the current fair market price for a home.

The Hellicksons listed a lot of properties, and their signs were a very common site in the area. Hellickson also sold an enormous volume of short sale and bank-owned properties in King and Pierce Counties, often appearing in the list of top 10 agents for sales volume, so the suspension is going to affect a large number of home sellers and banks that had their properties listed with the Hellicksons.

KIRO TV also has an interesting report on the suspension.

Median and average prices for single-family homes ticked down slightly from July, but were up slightly compared to a year ago. Condos remained relatively flat, though the average sale price is up considerably over a year ago, indicating sales of some higher-priced condos affecting the averages. Inventory of homes for sale in King County is up over a year ago, indicating greater inventory for buyers to choose from.

King County Data for August 2010

• King County median prices are flat compared to a year ago.
• There were 1,654 closings in King County for single-family homes and condos, down 17.5% from a year ago.
• Pending sales for King County are down 23% from the same time last year and down 42% compared to April 2010.
• There were 14,217 active listings in King County for August 2010, up 8.2% from a year ago.

This month should mark the end of statistics that were being artificially manipulated by government stimulus programs. We now anticipate the market will behave in more typical seasonal trends, and it will certainly be interesting to see how the sales pace and average/median prices behave in the coming months.

Follow the findwell blog for future monthly statistical updates.

Previous monthly updates:

• Northwest MLS statistics – June 2010
• Northwest MLS statistics – May 2010
• Northwest MLS statistics – March 2010
• Northwest MLS statistics – February 2010
• Northwest MLS statistics – January 2010
• Northwest MLS statistics – December 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – November 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – October 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – September 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – August 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – July 2009

Sales at the Olive 8 condo have struggled after initially pre-selling most units. They are planning to auction 34 units on the lower floors 18 through 26. The “sky suites” on floors 27 through 39 are not part of the auction.

There have been a number of Seattle condo auctions over the past year or so, with most of them having a quite lively and festive auction event, to say the least. To be successful at one of these auctions, you need to do your homework upfront and keep your wits about you to avoid overpaying. Unlike the previous auctions we’ve attended, this one has a sneaky little gotcha in the fine print:

All homes have an unpublished reserve price (Unpublished Reserve Price), which means that the seller has established an unpublished minimum selling price. The Starting Bid is not the reserve price. In order to become the winning bidder of a home, a bidder must have the highest bid and meet or exceed the unpublished reserve price. The highest bid is subject to acceptance by the seller. With respect to a high bid less than the seller’s reserve, the high bid, resulting purchase documents/offer are subject to the seller’s acceptance, counter-offer or rejection during the auction, in the contract room and/or within five (5) days following the auction.

So, they are trying to lure you in with minimum bids that the developer will not actually accept, and you won’t know if your winning bid is high enough until they later tell you if you have met the Unpublished Reserve Price.

Like we did at previous Seattle condo auctions, findwell agents plan to participate and represent buyers in this process if you are interested in buying a unit at the Olive 8. By working with a findwell agent, you do have the opportunity to use our commission rebate towards your closing costs. Be aware, however, that agent participation rules must be followed and you must register us as your real estate agent prior to the auction. Please contact us if you are looking for agent representation at the Olive 8 auction.

King County Data for June 2010

• King County median prices are down 3.96% from twelve months ago.
• There were 2,348 closings in King County for single-family homes and condos, up 13% from a year ago.
• Pending sales for King County are down 27% from the same time last year and down 42% compared to April 2010.
• There were 13,793 active listings in King County for June 2010, up 3.3% from a year ago.

It is very clear that home buyers were lured to purchase earlier in the year by the $8,000 tax credit and we are now operating in a market without artificial government stimulus. Based on the statistics, home buyers were more likely to buy to secure a one time tax credit, but are not being enticed by record-low mortgage interest rates in May and June.

Follow the findwell blog for future monthly statistical updates.

Previous monthly updates:

• Northwest MLS statistics – May 2010
• Northwest MLS statistics – March 2010
• Northwest MLS statistics – February 2010
• Northwest MLS statistics – January 2010
• Northwest MLS statistics – December 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – November 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – October 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – September 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – August 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – July 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – June 2009

Related articles:

Not surprisingly, showing activity was strong in February-April and declined in May 2010 with the expiration of the home buyer tax credit. We don’t have a lot of historical data to compare to, but home showing increased by 19% in March-April 2010 compared to February 2010. May saw a 22% decline in showings compared to traffic in March-April.

As of June 13, 2010, here are the number of times that listed homes were accessed throughout Western Washington:

King County Data for May 2010

• King County media prices are down 1.56% from twelve months ago.
• There were 2,233 closings in King County for single-family homes and condos, up 38% from a year ago.
• Pending sales for King County are down 22.6% from the same time last year and down 44% compared to April 2010.
• There were 13,345 active listings in King County for May 2010, down 1.4% from a year ago.

We have seen these activity trends mirrored in our own business, which was unseasonable strong in February-April 2010. While there was a lull immediately after the tax credit, our own internal forecasts and trends point to a gradual increase of buyers as we enter the summer. Follow the findwell blog for future monthly statistical updates.

Previous monthly updates:

• Northwest MLS statistics – March 2010
• Northwest MLS statistics – February 2010
• Northwest MLS statistics – January 2010
• Northwest MLS statistics – December 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – November 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – October 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – September 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – August 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – July 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – June 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – May 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – April 2009

Related articles:

Unfortunately the statistics are only available in the entire NWMLS service area, which includes ~19 counties in Western Washington. We are unable to break out the data by city or county, but still this is quite educational to track buyer activity in our region, and we assume that these same trends exist for each county and city in our region.

There are a few key events here that drove changes in weekly showing traffic. The Easter holiday on April 4 definitely detracted from showing activity by buyers. The week of April 5-10 included the “National Open House Weekend”, which was a nationwide open house event that has driven the most showings so far this year on a weekly basis. Lastly, the tax credit for first-time and repeat home buyers expired on April 30, 2010. Showing traffic decreased rather dramatically in the week immediately after the tax credit expiration, declining by ~21% from the week prior. That week had an additional challenge for sellers in Western Washington, as there were no new listings being published to external websites during a lengthy NWMLS data outage.

Looking at monthly showing traffic, it is clear that traffic was up dramatically in March and April, compared to February of this year. This is expected as we enter the spring buying season and more buyers were out looking to take advantage of the tax credit. Follow the findwell blog, where we’ll continue to track this data as a “pulse” on buyer activity.

(Note: Statistics not compiled or published by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.)

“Unless Bank of America changes course, longtime Seattle developer Lorig Associates probably won’t be able to stop the lender from foreclosing on its new, luxury 200 West Highland condo project on Queen Anne Hill, Lorig’s chief operating officer said Thursday.

It’s unlikely, Tom Fitzsimmons said, that Lorig can come up with the $26 million plus interest it owes the bank by Aug. 6, the date Bank of America set for a foreclosure auction in a notice filed with King County Tuesday.”

According to the builder, 7 out of the 25 condos are sold, with an additional two currently under contract. The Northwest MLS currently shows 10 active listings in the building, priced between $895,000 and $2,050,000. Will be interesting to see if Bank of America does follow through on the foreclosure, or if there is some sort of auction event to liquidate the remaining units before the foreclosure deadline arrives.

King County Data for March 2010

• King County median prices are up 2.7% from twelve months ago.
• There were 2,008 closings in King County for single-family homes and condos, up 60.9% from a year ago.
• Pending sales for King County are up 69% from the same time last year. 
• Average and median sale prices for homes and condos in King County remain relatively flat over the past year.
• There were 12,415 active listings in King County for March 2010, down 5% from a year ago.

Buyer and seller activity for our own business at findwell continued to be unseasonably strong in March. There is a push by some buyers to take advantage of the housing tax credits, and a continued desire to capitalize on the low interest rate environment while it lasts. It will be interesting to watch how market activity behaves after the expiration of the tax credit on April 30. Based on our internal forecasts for active buyers, we anticipate continued improvements through the summer season. Follow the findwell blog for future monthly statistical updates.

Previous monthly updates:

• Northwest MLS statistics – February 2010
• Northwest MLS statistics – January 2010
• Northwest MLS statistics – December 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – November 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – October 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – September 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – August 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – July 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – June 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – May 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – April 2009

“Hundreds of residents and business owners who live and work in a modern, 25-story Belltown apartment building were told over the weekend to move out as soon as possible because of major structural flaws found in the building.

The building owner, a Seattle-based venture formed by pension funds and the local carpenters union, said it plans to demolish the high-rise.

The entity, Carpenter’s Tower, said it is too expensive to fix all the problems at the 272-unit McGuire Apartments at Second Avenue and Wall Street. Defects include corroding and rusting cables, defective reinforcements in the building’s exterior concrete and structural problems, the company said in a news release.”

Such structural issues are unheard of for a modern building built less than 10 years ago and makes you wonder what the construction crews and building inspection companies were thinking during the construction process.

King County Data for February 2010

• King County median prices are down only 0.4% from twelve months ago.
• There were 1,255 closings in King County for single-family homes and condos, up 44.8% from a year ago.
• Pending sales for King County are up 63% from the same time last year. 
• Average and median sale prices for homes and condos in King County remain relatively flat this year.
• There were 11,539 active listings in King County for February 2010, down 9.8% from a year ago.

Buyer and seller activity for our own business at findwell jumped substantially in February as well. We are seeing a significant increase in active buyers and sellers looking to take advantage of a combination of factors including the housing tax credits, low interest rates and spring selling season. From our own view on the market, we anticipate relatively strong selling statistics for the next six month period. Follow the findwell blog for future monthly statistical updates.

Previous monthly updates:

• Northwest MLS statistics – January 2010
• Northwest MLS statistics – December 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – November 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – October 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – September 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – August 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – July 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – June 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – May 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – April 2009

Related articles:

King County Data for January 2010

• King County median prices are down 3.9% from twelve months ago.
• There were 1,222 closings in King County for single-family homes and condos, up 34.9% from a year ago.
• Pending sales for King County are up 47% from the same time last year. 
• Average and median sale prices for homes and condos in King County remain relatively flat this year.
• There were 10,679 active listings in King County for January 2010, down 11.2% from a year ago.

Our own business is seeing increased activity in 2010. With the holidays behind us, and the home buyer tax credits due to expire at the end of April, there seems to be an abnormally high number of home shoppers for the winter season. We anticipate a faster than anticipated sales pace during the spring season of 2010. Follow the findwell blog for future monthly statistical updates.

Previous monthly updates:

• Northwest MLS statistics – December 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – November 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – October 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – September 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – August 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – July 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – June 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – May 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – April 2009

Related articles:

King County Data for December 2009

• King County median prices are down 5.6%% from twelve months ago.
• There were 1,795 closings in King County for single-family homes and condos, up 53.6% from a year ago.
• Pending sales for King County are up 51% from the same time last year. 
• Average and median sale prices for homes and condos in King County remain relatively flat this year.
• There were 9,652 active listings in King County for December 2009, down 17.1% from a year ago.

findwell’s business did slow due to the holiday season, but activity in the new year indicates that we will likely see a fairly strong spring buying season as buyers look to take advantage of the home buyer credits before their expiration. Follow the findwell blog for future monthly statistical updates.

Previous monthly updates:

• Northwest MLS statistics – November 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – October 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – September 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – August 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – July 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – June 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – May 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – April 2009

Related articles:

• King County home sales surge in December for seventh straight month (seattletimes.nwsourse.com)

King County Data for November 2009

• King County median prices are down 7.7%% from twelve months ago.
• There were 2,234 closings in King County for single-family homes and condos, up a surprising 76.9% from a year ago.
• Pending sales for King County are up 37% from the same time last year. 
• Average and median sale prices for homes and condos in King County remain relatively flat this year.

findwell’s business in the Seattle area remained abnormally strong during November, echoing the overall trends seen in the market. We will continue to watch these statistics closely as we enter the slower winter season, but we do anticipate the pace of sales to remain stronger than normal because of historically low interest rates and the extension of the tax credit. Follow the findwell blog for future monthly statistical updates.

Previous monthly updates:

• Northwest MLS statistics – October 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – September 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – August 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – July 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – June 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – May 2009
• Northwest MLS statistics – April 2009

Related articles: