Uptown Seattle Blog

Seattle Real Estate

April 22, 2010 // 1 Comment »

The Seattle real estate market is facing mixed signals, with some indicators pointing towards an improvement in the economy and others suggesting continued decline. According to a March 4, 2010 article in the Puget Sound Business Journal, “Last month, there were 2,621 pending home sales in King County, up from 2,211 a month earlier. According to the Northwest Multiple Listing Services, the average home sale price in King County rose to $429,288 last month from $420,536 a month earlier, although the median price (half sold for more, half sold for less) dipped to $343,500 from $350,000 in January.” According to that piece, “In all 21 Western Washington and Central Washington counties surveyed by the NWMLS, the number of pending sales jumped to 6,590 in February from 5,579 in January, and the median price rose slightly to $260,000 from $259,904 a month earlier.”

The average price of Seattle homes for sale declined slightly between the end of 2009 and 2010, according to a March 30, 2010 blog post in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The article noted that “Despite modest gains in most parts of the country, home prices in Seattle dropped 0.6 percent from December to January on a seasonally adjusted basis and 6 percent from a year ago, according to the latest Standard & Poor’s/Case Shiller 20-city home price index.” The piece, posted by Gerry Spratt, continued to say that “Nationally, prices were up 0.3 percent, led by a strong rally in the California market…The increase was the eighth consecutive month-over-month gain. But not all observers are confident that the recovery will continue.”

This same trend was also observed by a March 30, 2010 article in the Puget Sound Business Journal, which found that “The one-year decline in home sale prices in Seattle was the third worst in the U.S. in January, according to a new study. Only home sale prices in Las Vegas and Tampa, Fla. fell more during that time. In the year from January 2009 to January 2010, home prices in Seattle fell 6 percent, according to the latest monthly report that tracks home prices in 20 major U.S. cities…Seattle’s level fell to an all-time low of 145.09 in January, down 1.7 percent from December’s previous all-time low…”

Posted in Real Estate