Today the Northwest MLS released their Western Washington real estate statistics for June 2009. Continuing on positive trends from May, home inventory has decreased, pending sales rose dramatically and prices have been flattening or slowly rising since the beginning of the year. Overall inventory of homes for sale on the NWMLS now stands at 41k listings, down a 17.6% from a year ago. Pending sales in the four-county area of King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish rose more than 25% compared to a year ago. Closed transactions are still slower than last year, with 4.3% less closings than last year. While median prices are still down from a year ago, the have been slowing creeping up since January of this year.
King County Data for June 2009
- King County prices are down 9% from twelve months ago, but remain essentially unchanged since January. We are definitely seeing some current stabilization in King County real estate prices.
- There were 2,083 closings in King County for single-family homes and condos, up 29% since last month, but still down 12% from a year ago.
- Average sale price = $446,044
- Median sale price = $363,116
- Pending sales for King County are up 19% from the same time last year.
Our own experience at findwell is showing these very same trends. In June, we have seen very strong increases in the number of home tours and offers that our office is working on. Anecdotally and statistically, there seems to be a somewhat uneven recovery taking place in our local market. We continue to see very strong interest and quick sales in entry-level homes at the <$400k price point. Sales of more expensive homes remain sluggish, reflecting the challenges of jumbo mortgages and large down payment requirements. Condos also continue to lag performance of single-family homes, with particularly high inventory and slow sales for downtown high-rise condos.
Related articles:
- House sales up in King County (Seattle PI)
- Home sales climb in June in King County; median price drops from year ago to $395,000 (Seattle Times)
- NWMLS: Sales Edge Above ‘08, Median Up 5% MOM, Down 12% YOY (Seattle Bubble)
