Monday, August 14, 2006
Waterfront and View Property Trends in Kitsap County
In our last Market Update I spoke about trends in the general Kitsap County Market Real Estate Market. I want to follow up regarding some aspects of the waterfront and view specialty home markets in Kitsap County.
Residential Highlights...
I have statistics for waterfront listings. Kitsap County’s waterfront residential inventory in July (102 active listings) was up about 1% from 2005 (compared with a 48% increase in inventory in the general market). Bainbridge Island’s waterfront inventory was 22% lower than last year. The number of closed waterfront sales (114) is down 31% from a year ago. The number of closed view properties sales (95) is down about 25% from a year ago. These closed sale statistics compare with the year to date closed sales in the general market being down only about 8% compared to a year ago.
Looking across the price ranges you might expect that sales in the higher price ranges are suffering the most; however, waterfront sales over $1 million are nearly the same as last year to date (14 this year vs 15 last year), whereas most of the reduction in volume has taken place in the price range under $600k (61 this year vs 94 last year).
Appreciation Continues...
The median sales price of $270,000 countywide was up 11% from a year ago, (13% last month). For waterfront the median sales price is $594,500, up 13% from a year ago. For view properties the median sales price is $317,000, up less than 1% from a year ago, which is certainly inconsistent with other trends.Residential Highlights…
I have statistics for waterfront listings. Kitsap County’s waterfront residential inventory in July (102 active listings) was up about 1% from 2005 (compared with a 48% increase in inventory in the general market). Bainbridge Island’s waterfront inventory was 22% lower than last year. The number of closed waterfront sales (114) is down 31% from a year ago. The number of closed view properties sales (95) is down about 25% from a year ago. These closed sale statistics compare with the year to date closed sales in the general market being down only about 8% compared to a year ago.
Looking across the price ranges you might expect that sales in the higher price ranges are suffering the most; however, waterfront sales over $1 million are nearly the same as last year to date (14 this year vs 15 last year), whereas most of the reduction in volume has taken place in the price range under $600k (61 this year vs 94 last year).
Friday, August 04, 2006
Kitsap Real Estate Market Trends
Kitsap County Market Activity is softening more noticeably than earlier this year.
Residential Highlights…
Kitsap County’s residential inventory in July (1715 active listings) was up 5% from June. The July inventory was 48% higher than a year ago, down from 52% higher last month. Even the exception in Kitsap County’s rising inventory, Bainbridge Island, has a rising inventory with an 7% increase (it was up 13% last month). The number of YTD pending sales in July was down 10% compared to a year ago - about the same as last month. Note that Bainbridge Island pending sales YTD are down 23% from a year ago. The number of YTD closed sales is down by 8% compared to a year ago - a little worse than last month (when it was 6% lower). Bainbridge Island closed sales YTD are down 26% from a year ago. Inventory is up substantially while actual sales are behind last year’s numbers. If you look just at last month’s closed sales, they are down 15% compared to a year ago, and on Bainbridge Island last month’s sales were down 45%. It looks like the market is continuing to slow down.
Appreciation Continues…
Average sales prices continue to appreciate. The median sales price of $270,000 countywide was up 11% from a year ago, (13% last month). We expect appreciation to level off in the coming months, but since January the median sales price has risen 5.1%.
Seller Expectations…
The median list price has risen 6.7% since January, so you can see that the sellers and agents have expected prices to rise faster than actual results (closed sales have only risen 5.1%). The inventory turnover of homes on the market, as calculated by total number of homes on the market divided by number sold last month, is 4.4 months. A year ago this number was 2.5 months. Based on this a seller’s home has a 23% chance of selling in any given month now versus a 40% chance a year ago. Competitive pricing is much more of a factor now than last year.
Statistics not compiled or published by NWMLS
