As promised on yesterday, it’s time to check up on median home sale prices broken down by distress status: Non-distressed, bank-owned, and short sales.
As of January, the non-distressed median price for King County single family home sales sits at $407,000, up 3.8% from a year earlier and virtually flat from December (down $1,000).
This is quite a contrast to the $30,000 drop in the raw median price, and demonstrates that the big drop in price was due almost entirely to the shift toward more distressed sales.
The bank-owned median sale price was at $199,900 in January, down just $100 from a year earlier. The short sale median price came in at $248,000 in January, up 5.5% from 2012.
Rate this post:
+60
Quick questions to real estate pros here
1. Is there any safety risk in buying a bank owned property? I see properties partially damaged by the old owner but will he come back after we buy the property? I know I am paranoid :)
2. People always say bellevue school district is good. But if I see redfin most of bellevue schools have sucky rating vs Sammamish or bothell or issaquah. what is the authoritative place to get ratings?
Rate this comment:
0 
0
So this is what comes of multiple offers and record low inventory? Flat prices? This market is hotter than an armadillo on I-10.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
By renter @ 1:
You should change the locks immediately upon buying any property, even though on an REO they probably already changed them at least once.
As to the old owner coming back, you could have that type of situation with any property. Maybe the crazy girlfriend of the prior owner will come back, not knowing they’ve left. That type of concern wouldn’t be the biggest concern on my list.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Fwiw, I have a friend who “owns” and lives in his/her house within the Seattle city limits that has not made a house payment in over four years. The bank was finally wrapping up the situation and was definitely going to be foreclosing in the next couple months. This was in
February of 2012.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
RE: Robroy @ 4 – Is your friend still living there, or did the bank foreclose as expected?
Rate this comment:
0 
0
[...] is still worth pointing out that home prices are not really “surging,” with the non-distressed median price only up 3.8% as of January. That said, the market right now is definitely not [...]
Rate this comment:
0 
0