Kitsap Real Estate Market Report - March 2007
Residential Highlights
Kitsap County residential inventory in March (1735 listings) was up 6% from February. The March inventory was 47% higher than last year, up from 40% last month and reversing the trend. The number of year to date pending sales was down 1% compared to a year ago - this reverses the the trend of improved pending sales from last month. Bainbridge Island pending sales are up 21% from a year ago (they were up 34% last month). The number of YTD closed sales is down by 5% compared to a year ago - up from minus 12% last month. This reflects the improvement in pending sales we saw last month, a trend that has reversed this month. Bainbridge Island closed sales were up 17% from a year ago after being minus 14% last month. This again reflects the rise reported last month in Bainbridge Island pending sales - a trend that has now reversed.
Prices are rising…
The YTD median sales price of $285,000 increased slightly more than 1 percent from the previous month. This is up 9.6% from a year ago. Our market continues to sacrifice sales for price stability. Many sellers read of rising prices in the media and interpret this as a need to raise their price. However, in general fewer homes within any given bracket of price and amenities are selling, so sellers should be striving to be most competitively priced among their competition.
Seller expectations…
The median list price for the year remained essentially steady at $350,000, about the same as the last 2 months - list prices are not going up. This is about 7.5% higher than a year ago. The inventory turnover (total homes on the market divided by number sold last month) is 5.22 months, down from 7.8 months in February. A year ago this number was 3.79 months, and that was already reflecting a market slowdown from its 2005 levels. Today a seller has a 19% chance of selling his/her home in a given month. Competitive pricing is essential, and most offers we see presented are negotiating on price.
As we’ve said above, we think that the trend of improved pending sales has reversed. At mid month in March we reported that STI (subject to inspection) sales had declined significantly in the first two weeks of March - a harbinger of future pending sales. The number of STI’s improved somewhat the second half of March, but the forecast for April pending sales still appears to be down significantly.
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 benefited most from the spurt in sales. Here is a snapshot:
Bainbridge Island +22% (+35% last month)
Poulsbo +19% (+11% last month)
Bremerton -10% (0% last month)
Kingston +45% (-7% last month - wow!)
Silverdale -6% (+6% last month)
Port Orchard +9% (unchanged from last month)
Olalla -30% (-14% last month)
Note: Statistics not compiled or published by NWMLS
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