November numbers were released today by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. You can check out the raw numbers here in PDF format, or you’ve got your pick of four local papers and their commentary on what the numbers “mean”:
Much like the movie “Groundhog Day,” the latest news on local home sales may sound like a rerun of the previous months — no slowdown in the market despite fierce competition, rising prices and higher interest rates.
But the number of properties that buyers can choose from is down substantially from last year. These are not the conditions that foretell the bursting of a real-estate bubble.
Executive summary: Prices still 15% higher than a year ago, but stagnating since about August of this year, with combined sales of $349,950 in August, and $350,000 in November. I probably have just as much qualification to offer analysis of these numbers as any of the newspaper reporters writing these articles, which is to say “none at all.” I guess we’ll just see what happens.
(Elizabeth Rhodes, Seattle Times, 12.06.2005)
(Kristen Millares Bolt, Seattle P-I, 12.06.2005)
(Clayton Park, King County Journal, 12.06.2005)
(Barbara Clements, Tacoma News-Tribune, 12.05.2005)