Seattle Washington Real Estate Today

 

    Are we seeing a return to a healthy market yet, here in SeattleWashington? Not quite although generally there are some signs of life that are very encouraging.

    he National Association of Realtors or NAR, reported has reported the median resale home price is expected to fall 6.4% this year. Previously the NAR predicted a 4% drop indicating we are not quite out of the woods yet - but we are getting closer hopefully. We think there is some light around the corner. say a year from now or so and things are looking up in some neighborhoods now.

    The Realtor trade group's latest forecast also anticipates a 4.5 percent annual drop in existing-home sales this year, followed by a 6.3 percent rise in sales in 2009.

    Single-family housing starts are expected to plunge 36.3 percent this year and another 1.8 percent in 2009, NAR reports, with the median new-home price dropping 3.1 percent this year.

    Good news is the pending sales index rising out here in the west. The index that gauges pending sales of resale homes fell 13.1 percent compared to last year, however, but was up 6.3 percent from a record low set last month.

    NAR's Pending Home Sales Index, which is based on home-purchase contracts signed in April, rose 4 percent year-over-year in the West while dropping 22.5 percent in the South, 13.1 percent in the Midwest and 12.2 percent in the Northeast. The index data dates back to 2001. It’s good to live here in Seattle I think.

    The monthly asking price of homes in 10 major U.S. cities dropped 0.3 percent in May, but has risen 0.3 percent in the past three months. Another positive sign.

    For-sale listing prices rose in 15 of 26 market areas tracked by Altos Research in May compared to the previous month, and the largest monthly listing-price rise was in Denver, up 3.7 percent. The largest decline in asking price was in Las Vegas, down 3.7 percent. In the past three months, the asking price dropped 6.3 percent in the Las Vegas market and rose 6.5 percent in the Denver market.

    For-sale inventory rose in 25 of 26 markets in May — inventory declined 1.3 percent in Miami during May and has declined 2.4 percent in the past three months.

    The bottom line seems to be a continued trend with fewer homes actively listed and fewer homes sold over last year. This is certainly true in and around KingCounty here in the SeattleWashington area. It seems that home sellers and home buyers are being cautious, of course we need to remember that buyers are down a bit because loans are just a little more difficult to pick up then in the past.

    Thinking of selling your home? Let’s get a CMA, comparative market analysis, of your home value! This will help you establish an accurate sales price range. Click on CMA - no hassles.