Posts Tagged ‘seattle housing numbers’

Regular readers are well aware of my unhealthy preoccupation with statistics.  The Multiple listing service recently released the compiled numbers for June and I have been sifting through them for my and your benefit.  Below is a chat of the past 3 years for single family homes in Seattle.

Here is what you need to know The light green bars are the homes for sale in each given month.  The dark green bars are the ones that have sold in each month.  The red line are the pending sales for each month. 

A few comments on the numbers.  Obviously there are many more homes for sale this June then prior to the recession.  Still the numbers are down from a year ago and suggest some improvement in the market.

Sales However are similar to last year suggesting that buyers are not more willing to buy this year then last. 

The red pending line however is markedly different.  It is sharply up over the past several months.  This is partly due to the first time home buyer tax credit and some is due to a seasonal uptick that we see each year anyway.

One more thought that I will leave you with.  I saw a statistic that first time home buyers make up approximately 50% of the market right now.  That is up sharply from the typical 25-30% of the market they typically occupy.  I have to say that many of my current clients are first time home buyers, so I am seeing the effect of the tax credit.

There is some noise in congress to extend the first time home buyer tax credit to all buyers and extend it into next year. 

I’ll keep you posted on that.

Give me a call if you need help.

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Rob Graham, Accredited Buyers Representative

Windermere Real Estate

206-321-6349

robgraham@windermere.com

Popularity: 2% [?]

Each week the numbers come out indicating how much inventory there is in each of the multiple listing service areas of Seattle and surrounding King County.  Frequent readers of my blog should already be aware of the term inventory but for the newbies here is a refresher.  Inventory is the relationship between how many houses are on the market and how fast they are selling.  It is the information we use to indicate if we are in a buyer’s or a seller’s market.  Generally the more houses and the slower they are selling the more it favors buyer’s.  When there are fewer houses selling more quickly, it favors sellers.

The numbers below are expressed in months of inventory.  Numbers below 3 are generally considered a seller’s market.   Numbers between 3-6 indicate a balanced market.  Numbers over 6 indicate a buyer’s market.

Each column represents one of the past 7 weeks with the average at the end.

As has been true for some time, NE and NW Seattle represent the hottest markets right now and in fact are in the range that would consider them seller’s markets.  SoDo and Georgetown though have made a strong charge and are close behind and also seller’s markets.  Even the western end of Shoreline including Richmond Beach has been improving. 

Overall there are no markets that still appear to be buyer’s markets.  All remaining neighborhoods are balanced.

Ok so those are the numbers but being in the trenches each day I can offer a little more insight.  The facts are the the cheaper the homes the faster they are moving.  The recovery is transitioning from just plain bottom feeding to buyer’s picking at appropriately priced inventory.  They are still pretty cautious though.  Much of the really old, really cheap houses have been bought up and what is left is getting absorbed at a more moderate pace.  The higher the price point in general the slower the sale.

Take a look around your neighborhood.  You are likely to see a lot more sold signs and a lot fewer for sale signs overall.  Listings are way down compared to last year.  This is good news.  Seller’s are aware of the market and choosing to stay in their homes for a while longer.

Buyers continue to be very picky though.  They are still trying hard to negotiate better deals on list price and closing costs all the way around.

My prediction is for a stable to improving summer.  No fireworks but a healthy absorption of moderate amounts of inventory.  I do expect to see a flurry of activity in the fall when people jump to take advantage of first time home buyer tax incentives prior to their scheduled expiration on November 30th. 

Give me a call if you need help.  I’d love to work with you.

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Rob Graham, Accredited Buyers Representative

Windermere Real Estate

206-321-6349

robgraham@windermere.com

Popularity: 3% [?]