Granted, I missed the pre-NWMLS stats window, but I’d still like to post the stats preview charts for May. Most of the charts below are based on broad county-wide data that is available through a simple search of King County and Snohomish County public records. If you have additional stats you’d like to see in the preview, drop a line in the comments and I’ll see what I can do.
First up, total home sales as measured by the number of “Warranty Deeds” filed with King County:
Another big gain in May, shooting to a new two-year high and almost a five-year high. The last time warranty deeds came in above 3,000 was October 2007.
Here’s a look at Snohomish County Deeds, but keep in mind that Snohomish County files Warranty Deeds (regular sales) and Trustee Deeds (bank foreclosure repossessions) together under the category of “Deeds (except QCDS),” so this chart is not as good a measure of plain vanilla sales as the Warranty Deed only data we have in King County.
Not quite as big a boost in Snohomish, but still coming in above last year.
Next, here’s Notices of Trustee Sale, which are an indication of the number of homes currently in the foreclosure process:
Both counties ticked up month to month, with King County turning in the higheest level since last August. Snohomish fell short of the high set in March.
Here’s another measure of foreclosures for King County, looking at Trustee Deeds, which is the type of document filed with the county when the bank actually repossesses a house through the trustee auction process. Note that there are other ways for the bank to repossess a house that result in different documents being filed, such as when a borrower “turns in the keys” and files a “Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure.”
Slight uptick after five straight months of declines.
Lastly, here’s an update of the inventory charts, updated with the inventory data from the NWMLS.
Although King County got a tiny boost in listings, Snohomish continued to fall.
Stay tuned later this month a for more detailed look at each of these metrics as the “official” data is released from various sources.