It looks like the local rags are finally going to get around to reporting on the August NWMLS figures. In preparation, the P-I is already practicing their anti-bubble spin with the pre-report report.
Real estate experts expect to see slowing sales and price gains and increased inventory, but nothing resembling a bursting bubble, when the Northwest Multiple Listing Service releases its August numbers today.
“I’m eager to see what the statistics are going to show,” said Glenn Crellin, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at Washington State University.
Windermere Real Estate President Jill Jacobi Wood said she is looking forward to having local numbers to balance the grim news from areas such as California.
“It’s kind of dismal in some of these places,” she said Monday.
…
There are still a lot of buyers out there, Jacobi Wood said. “Our prices are still below the cities that are as desirable as ours.”
I guess Glenn Crellin should be reading Seattle Bubble, where we’ve known for nearly a week now what the statistics show. Although, I wouldn’t exactly call the numbers all that much of a “balance” to what’s going on in parts California. To me the local numbers appear to be neutral and trending down.
Apparently they wait until the “recap” sheet is released to write their stories. If there are any significant differences in the numbers between the summary sheet I reported on last week and the recap sheet, I’ll let you know.
Update: The August recap sheet has been posted. There are no significant differences as far as I can tell.
(Aubrey Cohen, Seattle P-I, 09.12.2006)