Let’s take an updated look at how King County’s sales are shifting between the different regions around the county, since geographic shifts can and do affect the median price.
In order to explore this concept, we break King County down into three regions, based on the NWMLS-defined “areas”:
- low end: South County (areas 100-130 & 300-360)
- mid range: Seattle / North County (areas 140, 380-390, & 700-800)
- high end: Eastside (areas 500-600)
Here’s where each region’s median prices came in as of May data:
- low end: $223,900-$365,000
- mid range: $320,000-$685,000
- high end: $459,576-$1,175,000
First up, let’s have a look at each region’s (approximate) median price (actually the median of the medians for each area within the region).
The low end regions were actually the only ones to see a significant increase in the median price between April and May. The mid-range regions fell slightly, while the high end was basically flat.
Next up, the percentage of each month’s closed sales that took place in each of the three regions. The dotted line is a four-month rolling average.
Month over month the low end regions took a big dip while the mid-range spiked up. The high end gained a little share. As of May 2013, 32.3% of sales were in the low end regions, 34.7% in the mid range, and 33.0% in the high end. A year ago the low end regions had more of the share and the high end less: In May 2012 the low end made up 34.0% of the sales, the mid range was 34.3%, and the high end was 31.7%.
Here’s that information in a visual format:
Finally, here’s an updated look at the percentage of sales data all the way back through 2000:
If this month’s spike sales share for the mid-range regions keeps up we’ll definitely see the county-wide median price show some strong increases as well, even if ovoerall home values simply hold steady.