Kitsap Market Report

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.

Posted by on 07/22 at 02:27 PM

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