Thursday, September 27, 2007

Washington Market Trends Report

According to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors®, tightening credit standards for those applying for home mortgages will likely dampen home sales in the short term and postpone an expected recovery for existing-home sales until 2008.


Lawrence Yun, senior NAR economist, said unusual disruptions in the mortgage market are dampening the outlook for home sales, notably for August and September. “There’s been an unusual hit to home sales, starting in March when subprime problems emerged and more recently when problems spread to jumbo loans, with many potential home buyers on the sidelines.” He noted, however, that “the volume of existing-home sales this year will be better than 2002, which was the second year of the housing boom.”


Let’s take a look at August sales statistics to see how the market looks in King and Snohomish counties.


Active listings in King County increased a whopping 34% in August 2007 - 13,415 homes were on the market compared to 8,894 in August 2006. Although there are more homes on the market, the number of those homes selling continues to decrease, from 3,975 in August 2006 to 3,210 - a 19% decrease. The increase in inventory has also caused market time to increase 25%, from 40 days last August to 53 days this August.

King County continues to experience rising prices overall, with the average sales price 9% higher in 2007 than 2006, bringing the average year-to-date sales price to $504,036.

Snohomish County continued to experience similar market activity to King County in August 2007. The number of active listings was up 38%, but closed sales decreased 35% in August 2007 compared to August 2006. Like in King County, the rise in inventory in Snohomish County caused the market times to increase from 44 days this time last year to 67 days this August - a 34% increase.

The average sales price increased 6% in August 2007 from August 2006, and year to date they have increased 10%.

As these statistics show, now is a great time to consider buying a King or Snohomish county home. To begin searching for King or Snohomish county homes, please use my complimentary MLS Search, or call me at 425-308-3669. If you are thinking of selling your King or Snohomish county home, please call me or visit WashingtonHomeValues.net to receive your complimentary comparative market analsys. I will work to make sure you get a great deal!

Statistics compiled by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service and are deemed accurate but not warranted.

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