WA Pending Sales Drop Slightly

Pending Sales Drop Slightly, But Prices for Western Washington Homes Still Rising

KIRKLAND, Wash. (Dec. 6, 2005) – Housing activity in Western Washington showed mixed results in November, with the volume of pending sales declining slightly from 12 months ago – but prices continued to rise.
According to just-released figures from Northwest Multiple Listing Service, brokers across 15 counties reported 7,649 pending sales during November -- 97 fewer pending transactions (offers made and accepted, but not yet closed) than the same month a year ago. That amounts to a decline of 1.25 percent, marking the first drop in pending sales since January 2004.
Nine of the 15 counties in the MLS market area experienced drops in the volume of pending sales last month. (Two other counties, Okanogan and Whatcom, became part of NWMLS earlier this year but are excluded from the year-ago comparisons.)
Other key indicators tracked by the multiple listing service showed gains compared to 12 months ago:
MLS members added 345 more new listings of single family homes and condominiums to inventory compared to a year ago, for a 4.4 percent increase.
A comparison of total active inventory of single family homes and condominiums shows there are 296 more listings area-wide than at this time a year ago (22,013 versus 21,717).
Brokers reported a 4.7 increase in the number of closed sales compared to 12 months ago.
Prices are up 16.45 percent from a year ago.
Of the six counties reporting increases in pending sales from a year ago, San Juan County claimed the largest percentage increase (35.7%), followed by Grant (27.7%), Cowlitz (14.3%) and Snohomish (9.3%).
Five counties reported double-digit improvement in inventory (Grays Harbor, Kitsap, Pierce, Skagit and Thurston); five other counties had single-digit gains and five counties had declines from a year ago.
The selection remains smaller than year-ago levels in Grant, King, Kittitas, San Juan and Snohomish counties. In King County, where about one-third of the MLS inventory is located, the number of active listings is down about 12.7 percent from a year ago.
Condominium inventory is down sharply from a year ago. At month end, there were 2,440 condo listings in the MLS system, 579 fewer offerings than a year ago (down 19.2 percent). The selection in King County is at about 70 percent of year-ago levels.
All but one county in the NWMLS system reported double-digit price jumps for homes that sold and closed last month compared to 12 months ago. In the four-county Puget Sound region, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties all reported gains of around 20 percent, while in King County prices rose around 14.7 percent.
The median price for last month’s completed sales of homes and condominiums in King County rose from $305,000 a year ago to $350,000. For single family homes only (excluding condominiums), the median selling rice was $389,000, up about $53,000 (15.8 percent) from a year ago.
Affordability continues to be a concern for local brokers. According to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) for the third quarter of 2005, only 34.7 percent of homes in Seattle that sold during that period were affordable to families earning that area’s median income of $73,000. That survey pegged the median sales price at $325,000.
Northwest Multiple Listing Service, based in Kirkland and owned by its member brokers, serves 17 counties, mostly in Western Washington, plus Grant, Kittitas and Okanogan counties in the central part of the state. It encompasses more than 2,000 companies with approximately 25,000 sales associates.