Time for the monthly reporting roundup, where you can read my wry commentary about the news instead of subjecting yourself to boring rehashes of the NWMLS press release (or in addition to, if that’s what floats your boat).
Unfortunately, the NWMLS’ full press release still hasn’t been posted to their website anywhere that I can find. When they do get around to posting it, it should be here.
Since we don’t have the usual block quote from a press release to put here, enjoy this appropriate warning sign of what the market is headed for this month.
So what do the local papers have to say about this month’s release? Read on to find out.
Eric Pryne, Seattle Times: King County pending home sales drop as incentive peters out
…more sales came out of the pipeline, but fewer went in. The pattern was the same for King County condos and Snohomish County single-family homes.
“We’re talking about a relatively stable level of activity,” said Glenn Crellin, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at Washington State University. “It’s just lower than it was with the [tax-credit] stimulus.”
Glenn is right when he says “it’s just lower.” As in, the lowest level of summer sales on record. But hey, at least it’s relatively stable, right?
Aubrey Cohen, Seattle P-I: The housing market also was cold in June
“In general consumers seem to be stuck in uncertainty surrounding the world’s economic concerns, our lack of jobs and the roller coaster of the stock market,” Frank Wilson, a listing service director and managing broker at John L. Scott, Inc. Poulsbo, said in the news release. “They seem to be hunkering down despite the lowest interest rates in years.”
Nope, consumers aren’t “stuck in uncertainty.” They’re plenty certain that Seattle-area home prices are still largely out of whack with the economic fundamentals, and when the government isn’t throwing cash in their face to “incentivize” oversized mortgages, they’re certain that they can wait to buy a home until the market finishes correcting.
Mike Benbow, Everett Herald: County home sales slide as tax credit ends
Pending home sales in Snohomish County plummeted in June as buyers no longer were tempted by government tax credits.
Pending sales, sales begun but not completed by the end of the month, fell 31 percent in the county in comparison to a year ago, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported Tuesday.
Pat Grimm, a Seattle broker on the listing service board, said it’s hard to tell at this point whether buyers are just taking a break or that the June slump was a “hangover from the tax credit.”
Oh yeah. It’s really “hard to tell.” Maybe everyone just decided—all at once—to take a two-month break from home shopping. Yeah, that’s probably a better explanation than the yarn that the tax credit pulled forward demand.
Beth Potter, Tacoma News Tribune: Pierce County homebuyers still wary
If it’s summer, it must be homebuying season.
That’s what area real estate agents are hoping, anyway. In general, the number of homes for sale is up in June and prices are slightly lower than the month before, according to statistics released Tuesday from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
…
But across the state, not even the lowest interest rates in decades could get wary buyers to bite, according to the Northwest MLS statistics. Pending sales of single-family homes and condos dropped 28 percent from the same month a year ago, but rose 5.8 percent from May, statistics showed.
Hey, if you can blame a lack of sun for depressing home sales in rainy months, the same has to work in reverse, right? The sun is out now, dangit, so get to buying homes!
The only story I was able to find from The Olympian was a copy of the New-Tribune story. If they publish a more Thurston-centric piece later, I’ll update this post at that time.
(Eric Pryne, Seattle Times, 07.06.2010)
(Aubrey Cohen, Seattle P-I, 07.06.2010)
(Mike Benbow, Everett Herald, 07.07.2010)
(Beth Potter, Tacoma News Tribune, 07.07.2010)