Monday, July 23, 2007
Kitsap Real Estate Local Markets in June
The Kitsap County real estate market has some significant variation between regions. The hot market in Bremerton has cooled and inventory has risen dramatically, while the Poulsbo inventory is actually lower now than last year. The Bainbridge Island market looks relatively good.
Bainbridge Island Real Estate
Homes on Bainbridge Island were selling for a median price of about $670,000 at the end of June, up about 5% from a year ago. Kitsap County median prices were up about 9% over the past year. The YTD number of Bainbridge closed sales is up 7% from a year ago, and the YTD number of pending sales is up 16%. These are comparatively good numbers - the number of closed sales is down 14% Countywide from a year ago. The number of active listings (240) is up 45% from a year ago, and the inventory turnover (total homes on the market divided by number sold last month) is 5 months.
Bremerton Real Estate
Homes in Bremerton were selling for a median price of about $214,000 at the end of June, up about 11% from a year ago. Kitsap County median prices were up 9% over the past year. The YTD number of closed sales is down 28% from a year ago, and the YTD number of pending sales is down 26%. One must recall that the Bremerton real estate market was much better than most other parts of the County last year - essentially it had the same numbers as in 2005 with 10% appreciation - so the decline in Bremerton still represents a healthier market than in some other parts of the County. The number of active listings (246) is up 71% from a year ago, and the inventory turnover (total homes on the market divided by number sold last month) is 7.2 months. Bremerton is a buyers market.
North Kitsap Real Estate
Using the example of Kingston - the largest housing market in North Kitsap - homes were selling for a median price of about $382,154 at the end of June, up about 14% from a year ago. Kitsap County median prices were up 9% over the past year. The YTD number of closed sales is down 4% from a year ago, and the YTD number of pending sales is down 18% These were both up last month. The number of closed sales is down 14% Countywide from a year ago. The number of active listings (100) is up 49% from a year ago, and the inventory turnover (total homes on the market divided by number sold last month) is 14.2 months - highest in our group. Kingston activity has slowed noticably in the last month.
Poulsbo Real Estate
Homes in Poulsbo were selling for a median price of about $355,660 at the end of June, up about 11% from a year ago. Kitsap County median prices were up 9% over the past year. While Poulsbo had the 2nd highest median sales price in the County at the start of 2007, other areas have now moved ahead, and the relatively lower prices in Poulsbo have resulted in more sales. The number of closed sales YTD has increased 14% compared to last year, and the number of YTD pending sales has increased 45%, though a large portion of that increase is from presales of one moderately priced new construction development - homes that never appreared as active listings. The listing inventory has fallen by 15% compared to a year ago - everywhere else inventory is rising. The inventory turnover (total homes on the market divided by number sold last month) is 5.9 months, better than most other areas.
Silverdale Real Estate
Homes in Silverdale were selling for a median price of about $305,000 at the end of June, down 3.1% from a year ago. Most other areas still show an increase in sales price from the previous year (up 9% overall), so the market pressure has been taking more of a toll in Silverdale. The number of YTD closed sales was 10% higher than a year ago, compared to a drop in closed sales of 14% for the County as a whole. The number of pending sales YTD is up 1.5% compared to a year ago. The number of active listings (138) is up 50% compared to a year ago, and and the inventory turnover (total homes on the market divided by number sold last month) is 5.75 months.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Mid July Kitsap Real Estate Outlook
A Seattle Times report earlier this month indicated that the Seattle market is now a buyers market, as predicted by the percentage of homes selling in a given month finally falling below 30%, which was their criteria for differentiating between a neutral and a buyers market. In Kitsap County, this number currently hovers at about 15% - well into buyers market territory. Nationally there has been more news about the impact on the larger economy of defaults in the subprime mortgage market, as well as information showing that in some areas the high end markets are thriving compared to the market for moderately priced homes. How is the market in Kitsap County looking at mid month?
As you'll see below, the pace of existing home sales has slowed remarkably in the past month, though we are still seeing activity on properties that have reduced in price or come on the market aggressively priced to sell. Activity in the first part of July was no doubt also slowed by the 4th of July holiday and the vacation season. We are expecting activity in the second half of the month to pickup. Listing inventory continues to rise.
Here are the current statistics for Subject To Inspection (STI) and Active Listings (comparing the number in mid July to the number in mid June). You'll recall that STI represents a newly signed around contract prior to the buyer and seller agreeing on the home inspection. Below we show the number of STI contracts signed around in the first 2 weeks of the month. The number of STI contracts is the best gauge for telling us in near real time how many sales are occurring. Some of these sales will fall apart before they become pending sales.
| Area | STI 7/15 | STI 6/15 | Active Listings 7/15 | Active Listings 6/15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S. Kitsap W. of HWY 3 | 0 | 8 | 173 | 180 |
| S. Kitsap E. of HWY 3 | 5 | 11 | 158 | 164 |
| Port Orchard | 5 | 7 | 198 | 179 |
| Retsil/Manchester | 4 | 5 | 138 | 130 |
| Seabeck/Holly | 5 | 2 | 132 | 123 |
| Chico | 0 | 1 | 35 | 36 |
| Silverdale | 2 | 7 | 132 | 115 |
| W. Bremerton | 6 | 8 | 215 | 210 |
| E. Bremerton | 2 | 4 | 120 | 100 |
| E. Central Kitsap | 4 | 3 | 154 | 143 |
| Hansville | 0 | 4 | 39 | 37 |
| Kingston | 2 | 3 | 89 | 81 |
| Port Gamble | 0 | 1 | 20 | 19 |
| Lofall | 0 | 0 | 39 | 38 |
| Finn Hill | 4 | 4 | 70 | 68 |
| Poulsbo | 2 | 4 | 120 | 98 |
| Suquamish | 5 | 1 | 34 | 43 |
| Indianola | 2 | 4 | 44 | 36 |
| Bainbridge | 10 | 17 | 220 | 201 |
| Totals | 56 | 94 | 2130 | 2010 |
‘STI’ deals in July dropped by 40% compared to the first two weeks in June - this a huge decrease in activity. The residential inventory has continued to grow significantly, up another 6% since last month. The ratio of sales to number of active listings decreased from 4.7% to 2.6%. Sales fell in almost every area, though Suquamish and Seabeck both saw significant improvement, and Bainbridge Island sales continue at a respectable pace, though slower than last month.
Properties are selling, but as you can see it is very competitive with the huge increase in inventory and significant decline in closed sales. Properties priced for the market in January are often no longer competitive. Many sellers are choosing to reduce price to remain competitive, and we are seeing some homes come on the market at prices significantly below properties already listed in the same neighborhoods, reflecting that buyers are continuing to be more selective and only the best valued homes are being chosen. Some sellers are now choosing to take their properties off the market rather than reduce price further.
July’s APR is 6.860% on a 30-Year and 6.757% on a 15-Year, both Conforming. June’s APR was 6.987% on a 30-Year and 6.757% on a 15-Year, both Conforming. The 30 rate has fallen a bit from the big increase last month. The 15 year rate is unchanged. To check the daily rate you can contact your lender or preview web sites such as this one - http://www.wellsfargo.com/mortgage/rates.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Download the July 2007 Prowse and Company Waterfront Update
Download the July Waterfront Update
Statistics not compiled or published by NWMLS
