Market Update

Overview

It’s been a while since I have posted a market update. The tone in the business section of The Seattle Times of late, relative to real estate, has been pretty positive. In general, they have been reporting sales are up while prices stay flat or continue to decline ever so slightly. The most important three rules for real estate buyers also applies to dissecting the market: location, location, location. Below is a look at our micro-market, as compared to 2008. Keep in mind that 2008 was not a stellar year for the real estate sector, but my view is that if the market holds steady in 2009 that will be good news given the climate of economic instability that has hovered for much of this year.

Single Family Homes

Compared to last year, the number of sales is down by 8%, year-to-date. Last year as of August 16th, there were 119 sales compared to 110 in 2009. The median price of a singe family home sold last year was $610,000 compared to $620,750 this year, for an increase by 2%. (Note: I would not interpret that as “prices are up.” Looking house by house, prices are definitely down.) There is almost no change in how long it takes to sell a house - 75 days compared to 74 days in 2008. This statistic is the number of days it takes from when a house is listed to when it has a pending contract. 

Condominiums

Similar to the single family home market, the number of condominium sales are down by a marginal amount, with 31 sales this year and 34 in the same period last year. The median sale price of condominiums is down from $391,750 to  $349,000, and the median days on market is 105, up from 82 last year. The striking statistic here is how long it is taking to sell a condominium; we are finally seeing sales of a number of condominiums in new projects that have been on the market for quite some time. The market is still absorbing that segment of inventory.

Vacant Land

With just 5 sales this year compared to 9 in the same period last year, land sales are down 44%. Bottom line here? The market still has plenty of inventory and there just is not much of a market for new spec homes. Lending is also a factor; with so many builders defaulting on construction loans in the past year are so, banks are reluctant to lend to builders for new projects until the market changes. The median days on market has changed from 48 in 2008 to 135 in 2009, up 181%.

Silver Lining

I’m a cup-is-half-full sorta gal. The positive new is that we are holding ground in number of sales for single family homes and condominiums. If you have money to spend now would be a good time to make an investment in any of the market segments. There are single family homes and condominiums that could cash flow with 25-30% down with today’s interest rates. It has been some time since we have seen that on this island. Rental rates have felt downward pressure just as house and condominium sale prices, but the equation still works out on some properties.

For someone who has thought about building their dream house some day, this is also a good time to buy and hold. There are 83 vacant land listings on the market. Half of these are under $300,000. There is one piece of water view land, close to 2 acres, that sold for $550,000 three years ago and is now on the market for $299,000.

If you have any questions about the above statistics, please call or email me.

Follow responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.