Friday, March 09, 2007
Kitsap Real Estate Market Report - February 2007
The slow turnover of inventory continues but may be improving. Both list and sale prices are remaining steady. A surprising rise in the number pending sales gives further assurance that the market is stable. The biggest gains in pending sales have occurred in markets that declined the most last year.
Residential Highlights
Kitsap County residential inventory in February (1632 listings) was up 3% from January. The February inventory was 40% higher than last year, down from 45% higher last month. The number of year to date pending sales was up 1% compared to a year ago - this is a surprise and deserves more comment below. Bainbridge Island pending sales are up 34% from a year ago (they were up 12% last month). The number of YTD closed sales is down by 12% compared to a year ago - down from 8% last month. Bainbridge Island closed sales were down 11% from a year ago after being up 38% last month. When the numbers are small there can be large fluctuations in the data.
Prices are stable...
The median sales price of $281,703 increased about half a percent from the previous month. This is up 9% from a year ago.
Seller expectations...
The median list price for the year remained essentially steady at $350,000, about the same as last month. This is about 8% higher than a year ago. The inventory turnover (total homes on the market divided by number sold last month) is 7.8 months, up from 7.4 months in January. A year ago this number was 4.7 months, already reflecting a market slowdown from its 2005 levels. Today a seller has a 13% chance of selling his/her home in a given month. Competitive pricing is essential, and most offers we see presented are negotiating on price.
Does the pending sales data mean that prospects are improving for sellers? We recommend caution - the surge in February may be partially because bad weather depressed sales in January. Also last year’s February pending sales were off 10% from a year before, so unlike in previous months we are now starting to compare the current market with past sales that were already slumping. It appears that the inventory turnover is getting better. The coming months will show whether this trend continues.
The distribution of pending sales increases varied widely in the County. Areas where sales were depressed the most last year (Bainbridge, Poulsbo) appear to have benefitted most from the spurt in sales. Here is a snapshot:
Bainbridge Island +35%
Poulsbo +11%
Bremerton 0%
Kingston -7%
Silverdale +6%
Port Orchard +9%
Olalla -14%
Statistics not compiled or published by NWMLS
