Friday, October 05, 2007
Kitsap Real Estate Market Report - September 2007
In September the US residential real estate market opened a new chapter in its 2 year fall from peak levels. Mortgage lending standards have become much tighter for subprime borrowers, and liquidity problems have caused much more uncertainty and volatility in financial markets, reducing public confidence in our economy. Both of these factors have acted to further reduce the pool of eligible buyers competing for the largest inventory of homes we have seen in 10 years. The Fed cut interest rates late in the month, resulting in a rebound in stock prices but not home sales. The national supply of homes for sale reached 10 months, and our supply in Kitsap County is nearly the same. The problems plaguing the national real estate market are also affecting Kitsap County. It is significant that the rise in listing inventory has stopped, as it did last year, as sellers take their property off the market until after the holidays. Also, the rise in median list price has been less than one percent over the past year, despite the continuing slow rise in median sales prices.
Residential Highlights
Kitsap County residential inventory in September (2417 listings) was down 2.7% from August - the first month to month drop since October 2006. Inventory has risen 68% since the start of 2007 and was 28% 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 12% compared to a year ago - down from minus 11% last month. Countering the downward trend, Poulsbo YTD pending sales are up 45% compared to a year ago. Of 82 current pending sales in Poulsbo, 72 are new construction, and most of these are presales that never appeared as active listings. Bainbridge Island year to date pending sales are up 3% from a year ago (they were up 7% last month and have been falling for several months now). The number of YTD closed sales Countywide is minus 17% compared to a year ago - down from minus 15% last month. Poulsbo YTD closed sales are up 18% from a year ago. Bainbridge Island closed sales were up 6% from a year ago.
Prices are steady…
The YTD median sales price of $296,000 in September was up less than a percent from August. It has been flat for 3 months now. This is up 8% from a year ago. It’s still most 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 $350,000. This is a drop of 1.4% since last month and is less than 1% higher than a year ago. This is ample evidence that with the rise in inventory, most sellers are having to drop price to obtain an offer. The inventory turnover (total homes on the market divided by number sold last month) is 9.4 months, up from 8.3 months in August. This number has been steadily going up for the past several months. A year ago this number was 5.6 months, and that was already reflecting a market slowdown from its 2005 levels. Today a seller has a 11% 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 +3% (+7% last month)
Poulsbo +45% (+46% last month) - 72 of 82 pending are new construction
Bremerton -24% (-22% last month)
Kingston -7% (-11% last month)
Silverdale -2% (0% last month)
Port Orchard -6% (-10% last month)
Olalla -23% (-18% last month)
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Download the October 2007 Prowse and Company Newsletter
Download the Newsletter. Meet our new agent Noelle Osborn and learn about all the different web sites where you can find our listings.
Statistics not compiled or published by NWMLS
