Monday, September 10, 2007
Kitsap Real Estate Market Report - August 2007
Last month we wrote about divergence of the real estate market sales for homes above $500k from those below $500k. Sales of the higher priced homes were up while sales of lower priced homes are down. This month the continuing waves of bad news about home sales, mortgages, mortgage defaults, and the various effects these have had on employment and financial markets has further reduced the real estate activity in our area. Some buyers are driving a very hard bargain with sellers who need to sell quickly. Inventory continues to rise, and the rise in prices continues to slow. While subprime and jumbo mortgage customers are seeing higher rates and more difficult lending terms, the conventional mortgage rates have fallen about a quarter point recently.
Residential Highlights
Kitsap County residential inventory in August (2485 listings) was up 2.4% from July. Inventory has risen 73% since the start of 2007 and was 37% higher than a year ago. Inventory levels in Kitsap County have not been this high since 1997. The number of year to date pending sales was down 11% compared to a year ago - down from minus 9% last month. Countering the downward trend, Poulsbo YTD pending sales are up 46% compared to a year ago. Of 77 current pending sales in Poulsbo, 71 are new construction, and most of these are presales that never appeared as active listings. Bainbridge Island year to date pending sales are up 7% from a year ago (they were up 13% last month). The number of YTD closed sales Countywide is minus 15% compared to a year ago - about the same as last month. Poulsbo YTD closed sales are up 16% from a year ago. Bainbridge Island closed sales were up 8% from a year ago.
Prices are rising…
The YTD median sales price of $295,000 in August was essentially the same (up $50) as in July. This is up 7.7% from a year ago. It’s still important for sellers to be striving to be most competitively priced among their competition.
Seller expectations…
The median list price for the year remained steady at $354,900. This is about 1.7% higher than a year ago - a gap that continues to narrow. The inventory turnover (total homes on the market divided by number sold last month) is 8.3 months, up from 7.3 months in July. This number has been steadily going up for the past several months. A year ago this number was 4.6 months, and that was already reflecting a market slowdown from its 2005 levels. Today a seller has a 12% chance of selling his/her home in a given month. Competitive pricing is essential, and almost every offer we see presented is negotiating on price.
The statistics for pending sales (compared to year-to-date sales last year) varied for different parts of the County. Here is a snapshot:
Bainbridge Island +7% (+16% last month)
Poulsbo +46% (+52% last month) - 71 of 77 pending are new construction
Bremerton -22% (-24% last month)
Kingston -11% (-8% last month)
Silverdale 0% (-6% last month)
Port Orchard -10% (-6% last month)
Olalla -18% (-21% last month)
Statistics not compiled or published by NWMLS
