December 2010
Puget Sound Single Family Sales Trends
King County
Single family sales in King County were 1,458 in December which was up from the 1,092 in November but was about equal to the 1,462 in Dec 2009. The number of pending sales seasonally dropped indicating somewhat slower January closings. The median home price moved up last month to $370,000 but is down 2.6% from a year ago. There were 133 Short Sales (9.7%) and 254 Bank Owned sales (18.5%) for a combined 28.2% in distressed sales: without these types of sales the median home price was $415,000. Of the 7,364 MLS listed homes 33.9% or 2,501 were listed as a Short Sale or Bank Owned. With 387 sales last month in this category it indicates a 6.4 month inventory, however many foreclosures were deferred over the holidays. The Good News: Overall with 1,458 in total sales and 7,364 listed it indicates just a 5.1 month inventory - the best since Oct 2009.
Snohomish County
There were 588 closed purchases in December with somewhat fewer 3,640 active listings indicating an 6.2 month inventory. However, the pending sales fell to 626 last month and the median home sales price was $265,250 which thankfully was up from November but down 30.5% from the all time high of $381,719 in June 2007. The average time on the market for SFR closed sales was 94 days. At the end of the month of the 3,640 homes listed 617 were bank owned and 858 were Short Sales for a total 1,475 distressed properties or 40.5% of the total. Condo Comment: of the 898 condos listed for sale, 449 or 50.0% were either bank owned or listed as a Short Sale. The Good News: The median home price moved up!
Pierce County
The median home price at $219,990 has stayed in a very narrow range since February this year but was up 2.3% from a year ago. The pending sales were 718 moderating the improving trend but still 3.0% higher than Dec last year. There were 668 closed sales in December which was down 8.7% from the 732 sales last year at this time. The total number of listings for Pierce County at 4,717 was up 2.3% from Dec 2009, and of these 722 were bank owned and 1,066 were listed as Short Sales - which meant 37.9% were distressed listings. It took an average of 96 days to sell a home in Pierce County this last month compared to 84 days a year ago. The Good News: The median home price is inching upward and the inventory level improved to 7.1 months.