Kitsap Real Estate Local Markets in August
The Kitsap County real estate market has some significant variation between regions. The Bainbridge Island market has lost some steam in the past month, perhaps seeing some effect of higher cost of jumbo mortgages. Generally inventory turnover is slowing significantly in most areas. Listing inventory has started to stabilize. Here is a breakdown by area.
Bainbridge Island Real Estate
Homes on Bainbridge Island were selling for a median price of about $680,000 at the end of August, up about 9% from a year ago. Kitsap County median prices were up about 8% over the past year. The YTD number of Bainbridge closed sales is up 8% from a year ago, and the YTD number of pending sales is up 7%. These are comparatively good numbers though the market is showing signs of slowing. The number of closed sales is down 16% Countywide from a year ago. The number of active listings on Bainbridge (262) is up 37% from a year ago, and the inventory turnover (total homes on the market divided by number sold last month) is 7.1 months. Bainbridge Island is a buyers market.
Bremerton Real Estate
Homes in Bremerton were selling for a median price of about $215,000 at the end of August, up about 8% from a year ago. Kitsap County median prices were up 8% over the past year. The YTD number of closed sales is down 30% from a year ago, and the YTD number of pending sales is down 28%. 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 (249) is up 45% from a year ago, and the inventory turnover (total homes on the market divided by number sold last month) is 7.3 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 $350,000 at the end of August, up about 4.5% from a year ago. The median price has fallen significantly in the past 2 months (from $382,154 in June). Kitsap County median prices were up 8% over the past year. The YTD number of closed sales is down 13% from a year ago, and the YTD number of pending sales is down 11%. The number of closed sales is down 16% Countywide from a year ago. The number of active listings in Kingston (107) is up 45% from a year ago, and the inventory turnover (total homes on the market divided by number sold last month) is 13 months, worst among areas in our sample.
Poulsbo Real Estate
Homes in Poulsbo were selling for a median price of about $355,660 at the end of August, up about 1.6% from a year ago. Kitsap County median prices were up 8% over the past year. The number of closed sales YTD has increased 16% compared to last year, and the number of YTD pending sales has increased 46%, though a large portion of that increase is from presales of one moderately priced new construction development - homes that never appeared as active listings. The Poulsbo listing inventory (143) has risen by 1.5% compared to a year ago. The inventory turnover (total homes on the market divided by number sold last month) is 10 months.
Silverdale Real Estate
Homes in Silverdale were selling for a median price of about $315,000 at the end of August, about the same as a year ago. Most other areas still show an increase in sales price from the previous year (up 8% overall). The number of YTD closed sales was down 2.4% from a year ago, compared to a drop in closed sales of 16% for the County as a whole. The number of pending sales YTD is about the same as a year ago. The number of active listings in Silverdale (151) is up 72% compared to a year ago, and and the inventory turnover (total homes on the market divided by number sold last month) is 8 months.
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