Market Update From www.SeattleAreaHomes.com
Seattle Real Estate Market News from Amie and David Sprague
September 2007
Inventories are up but prices contiue to rise overall
Overall the Seattle area real estate market remains strong as compared to the rest of the country.
Only five of the cities surveyed for S&P’s 20-city index showed a year-over-year increase in prices in June. Seattle led the way with a 7.9 percent price rise, followed by Charlotte (6.8 percent) and Portland (4.5 percent). Atlanta and Dallas (1.6 percent each) rounded out the group.
Prices in Boston dropped in June at a slower rate than they did in May, continuing a trend that started at the beginning of the year. In April 2006, Boston was the first metropolitan area to show a year-over-year decline, so any turnaround there could be an early sign of recovery!
After years of rapidly rising home prices, the national real estate market stalled last year, with prices holding steady or falling as sales slowed. Since then, lenders have made it more difficult for some people to get mortgages by tightening standards just as foreclosures rise and some who borrowed at adjustable rates are facing higher payments they can’t meet.
Problems have spread from those with poor credit repayment histories to more creditworthy borrowers
Numbers just out from the Seattle MLS and Bellevue MLS show dramatic increases of available homes for sale for the month of July 2007. There are 9947 homes for sale in King County or 44% more homes available as compared to the sale time last year. This is actually a 16 year high. We had to look back to 1991 to find these numbers of available properties. It is no longer a “sellers” market. There has been a significant rise in the number of available condos, 2955 for sale now, an increase of 80% more available condos as compared to the same time last year.
The national real estate markets have slowed significantly with sales at about half of what they were last year. The change in available home mortgages has prompted this current national slow down.This is the 5th straight month of slipping home sales nationally. Even though the Puget Sound area is economically strong that the rest of the nation, those numbers do effect the market here.
Investors last week gained a sense that the subprime and credit market problems were not going to sink our national economy.
That realization, however, makes the likelihood of an interest rate cut at the Federal Reserves’ next meeting less certain than it appeared 2 weeks ago.
With interest rates having to go nowhere but up (they are at historical lows) we are encouraging our buyers to purchase asap. Don’t wait for interest rates to rise.
Contact us if you have any questions, David Sprague 425-250-3200 assc Broker
RE/MAX Realty Professionals
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