Snohomish County Market Stats December 2007

Homes sold in 13 of 19 counties in December
in Northwest MLS System

December brought few surprises in housing activity around Western Washington, with above-normal precipitation and floods contributing to the expected seasonal slowdown, according to officials from Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

As December came to its soggy close (marked by a month with 25 days of precipitation for Seattle), brokers had an optimistic outlook, citing pent-up demand, positive job growth, stable prices, brisk activity at open houses, and other indications of an improving market.

Brokers reported 3,950 pending sales (offers made and accepted but not yet closed) system-wide during December, lagging November's total of 5,194 transactions. When compared to the same month a year ago, the number of pending sales dropped by about 31 percent (5,744 versus 3,950).

Prices overall were comparable to twelve months ago, with 13 of the 19 counties in the MLS market area reporting increases (including seven counties with double-digit gains). During the month, there were 4,634 closed sales of single family homes and condominiums with an area-wide median selling price of $313,325. That's down slightly (0.53 percent) from the year-ago median sales price of $315,000.

Comparing counties in the Northwest MLS market area, the median sales price ranged from a low of $146,500 in Grant County to a high of $594,500 in San Juan County. For the four-county Puget Sound region, the median sales price for last month's closed sales of single family homes and condominiums was $342,000.

For single family homes (excluding condominiums), prices slipped less than a percentage point, from the year-ago figure of $330,000 to last month's price of $326,950 (down 0.92 percent). In King County, the median sales price of $435,000 matched November.

For 2007, the median price for all homes and condos sold and closed by members of Northwest MLS was $325,000, a gain of 5.8 percent compared to closed sales for 2006.

Condominium prices continued trending upward, registering a 5.4 percent increase from year-ago figures. Area-wide, last month's condos had a median sales price of $252,900, which compares to a year-ago figure of $240,000. In King County, which accounted for 65 percent of the volume, the median sales price for December's closed sales of condominiums was $290,000, up more than 7.4 percent from a year ago when the median price was $269,950.

MLS members added 5,543 new listings to the inventory during December, slightly more than a year ago when they added 5,357 new listings. With those additions, the number of active listings of single family homes and condos at month end totaled 38,440. That's down from November's inventory of 44,399 active listings, but up almost 36 percent from a year ago when there were 28,307 residences offered for sale.

For the first week of January, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate was 6.14 percent, according to the Bankrate.com national survey of large lenders. One year ago, the mortgage index was 6.24 percent.

"Given the positive job growth, strong regional economic outlook and the fact that buildable land is still scarce, the return of a reasonably hot market is likely, making this an optimum time to buy," said Ron Sparks, a vice president at Coldwell Banker Bain in Bellevue.

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