February ’10 – Reiling’s Real Estate Market Report – Greater Seattle / Bellevue / King County Area

Our Greater Seattle real estate market is continuing to look solid on a price basis, and continues to show the usual seasonal inventory patterns through the beginning months of the year. The level of Closed Sales, i.e. purchase transactions completed, continues to be seasonally strong. Closed sales levels for single family homes continue to run more at 2-years-ago levels, and seem to have shaken off the effects of the winter 2008/09 financial crash. As noted last month, some of that buying clearly has been stimulated by the federal First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit, which had been scheduled to expire December 1. With the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit extended to this Spring (accepted offer with signed contract by April 30th), and the new Existing Homebuyer Tax Credit for the same period, it looks like that extra incentive is continuing to boost our ‘normal’ winter/holiday seasonal cycle. Here’s a link to more information on that Existing Homebuyer Tax Credit which I fondly call The Move-Up, Downsize, Move-Around Tax Credit.

The links below provide a graphical summary of Real Estate Market Statistics for the Greater Seattle/Bellevue/King County area over the most recent 3+ years, for single-family homes and for condominiums. The volume of residential sales has seasonally bottomed as usual in January, although at a much higher rate than January of last year for both residential and condominium sales. Median prices seem to be holding steady, and the number of homes available is staying well below 2007 and 2008 levels. Months-Supply has bounced up sharply, for both residential and condominium, as it always does in January when the sellers get ahead of the buyers for a couple of months.
Here’s the charts for the current stats through January: (Required disclaimer: Statistics not compiled, reviewed or verified by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service)