Number of vacant listings and regional market differences in Kitsap County
There are two market issues we wanted to publish ahead of our January market report, one to comment on how the local markets in Kitsap County varied in 2006, and one to address the concern reported in yesterday’s Wall St Journal about the number of vacant homes on the market.
In 2006 the median sales price of residential property in Kitsap County ($275,000) rose 10%, while the number of closed sales declined 12%. These sales figures varied substantially between different communities within the County. Here is a snapshot:
Bainbridge Island - Homes on Bainbridge Island were selling for a median price of about $661,000 at the end of 2006, up about 16% from a year ago. The number of closed sales was down 21% from 2005. Bremerton - Homes in Bremerton were selling for a median price of about $199,950 at the end of 2006, up about 10% from a year ago. The number of closed sales was almost the same as in 2005. The Bremerton market continues to thrive! North Kitsap - To use the example of Kingston - the largest housing market in North Kitsap - homes were selling for a median price of about $335,000 at the end of 2006, up about 20% from a year ago. The number of closed sales was down 19% from 2005. Poulsbo - Homes in Poulsbo were selling for a median price of about $350,000 at the end of 2006, up about 15% from a year ago. The number of closed sales was down 27% from 2005, the largest drop in Kitsap County. Poulsbo has become the second most expensive place in the County to live. Silverdale - Homes in Silverdale were selling for a median price of about $315,000 at the end of 2006, up about 10% from a year ago. The number of closed sales was 22% lower than in 2005.
Yesterday’s Wall St Journal had an article that raised the specter of falling prices to move the large inventory of vacant homes listed for sale. The article stated that the inventory of vacant homes for sale is now 2.7% of the total home inventory. This figure had never previously exceeded 2%. The overhang of vacant housing stock could erode existing home values as sellers slash prices to move their vacant properties. It also acts as a disincentive for new construction, which is significant for the Poulsbo area since several developments with a total of more than 700 new homes are being planned for the near future. Although a local comparison with these figures is somewhat difficult, we checked the current number of vacant active listings in Kitsap County (781 including condos) and divided by the number of owner occupied residential and condo land use units in the County (50,009) to arrive at a local vacancy rate of 1.6%. This is well below the regional number of 2.4% reported by the Wall St Journal for western states.
Stay tuned - we’ll have a January market report in a few days.
Next entry: Kitsap Real Estate Market Report for January 2007
Previous entry: The Market Is Holding Steady
