July ‘09 – Reiling’s Real Estate Market Update – Greater Seattle, Bellevue, King County

There’s something interesting going on in our Greater Seattle / Bellevue / Eastside housing market.  It’s hidden inside the statistics and charts, so let’s dive in. 

The links below provide a graphical summary of Real Estate Market Statistics for the Seattle/King County area over the past 3+ years, for single-family homes and for condominiums.  The volume of sales continues to rise, median prices seem to starting to rise, and the number of homes available in the lower prices ranges is dropping significantly.  Months-Supply, a key measure of market health, is (good news) dropping rapidly.  Buyers today are seeing their smorgasbord of choices diminish rapidly, and are going to have to start honing their decision-making skills again.  There is quite a bit of good news in terms of number of new purchase transactions completed, in spite of a continued large Pending backlog as discussed last month.  Here’s the charts for the current stats: (Required disclaimer: Statistics not compiled or published by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service)

Residential Sales Charts      Condominium Sales Charts    

The number of sales transactions closed was up sharply again in June, now four months running and feeling pretty solid, and also now actually above year-ago levels for single-family homes.  People are definitely getting off the fence and starting to buy again, and they are flattening the growth in inventory of houses for sale.  The Months-Supply measure of residential inventory, i.e. houses for sale, is down dramatically from 6 months ago – although that good news is mostly still in the lower part of the price range.   The rise in condominium inventory seems to be blunted too, and condominium Months-Supply is down as well.  This is beginning to look suspiciously like a recovery.  

If you have any questions or just want to swap ideas on any real estate-related topic, we are always available to help you.  And because our business depends on referrals, we appreciate your keeping an ear out for likely candidates to send our way – buyers, sellers, investors or friends who may be in financial trouble and need to consider a short sale – we’ve got a lot of info, and maybe we can help. 

Sincerely,    

       Chuck and Diane