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November Report

The weather has certainly taken a turn for the “winter”.  Temperatures below freezing are expected to continue this week.  A rumor of snow has been floating around but so far it’s just cold, sunny & bright!

I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving.  Charlie was recovering from a nasty cold so we were quarantined for the day.

This report is a bit different than what I normally send but I’m trying to keep everyone up-to-date on what the market is doing not only here in Pacific County, but in other areas covered by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

KIRKLAND, Wash. (Dec. 3, 2009) – Home sales continued to outperform year-ago totals and prices continued to show signs of stabilizing, according to the latest report from Northwest Multiple Listing Service. Brokers credit move-up buyers as one factor for the positive activity.  “This winter will not be ‘business as usual’ for the housing market,” proclaimed the CEO of one brokerage while expressing optimism for 2010.

Pending sales for November tapered off from October’s surge during the rush to beat a looming tax credit deadline, but compared to November 2008, home sales jumped more than 31 percent. Members notched 4,888 pending sales (mutual acceptance of an offer) last month, which compares to 3,727 pendings for the same period a year ago.

Closed sales of single family homes and condominiums (combined) for November outgained year-ago totals by an impressive 76 percent, rising from 2,937 completed transactions to 5,168 closings across the NWMLS service area. Last month’s total number of closings (5,168) exceeded the number of pending sales (4,888), a ratio that had not occurred since October 2008.  The median sales price area-wide was down about 7 percent from a year ago, the lowest percentage decline all year. Prices had been off every month this year by double digits until June (down 9.5 percent) and August (down about 8.8 percent), but for past three months the decline has been under 7.5 percent.

(Last month, Congress passed new legislation that extends the first-time home buyer tax credit of up to $8,000 to buyers who purchase by April 30, 2010. The legislation also authorized a tax credit of up to $6,500 for qualified repeat home buyers.)

Holidays can be favorable time to buy, sell

Although seasonal slowdowns are typical for housing activity, industry experts say now can be a good time for both sellers and buyers. Buyers tend to encounter less competition for the most desirable homes. Also, qualified buyers can expect above-normal attention from service providers who are experiencing a slowdown in their business, including lenders, home inspectors, appraisers and title companies. Lenders may even be willing to extend very favorable mortgage terms or forgo some fees as they vie for business.

Locally, there were 18 home sales and 8 vacant land sales in November.  Interestingly, of the total sales recorded, 11 of those were listed by real estate companies.  I’m happy to say that of the home sales in November, Discovery Coast Real Estate ranked #4 out of 10!

Home sales ranged in price from $38,500 to $333,000 and land sales were $14,108 to $71,200.