Now that January is done, let’s look at our regular monthly “preview” charts. I apologize for the delay in this post. Our inventory tracker from Estately is down and I was hoping it would come back up, but so far no luck there.
Here’s the summary for January: Yet another new all-time low point for inventory in both counties. Sales were lower than a year earlier, but not dramatically. Foreclosures are still basically zero.
Here’s the snapshot of all the data as far back as my historical information goes, with the latest, high, and low values highlighted for each series:
So far there are no glimmers of hope for buyers as 2018 kicks off.
Next, let’s look at total home sales as measured by the number of “Warranty Deeds” filed with King County:
Sales in King County decreased thirty percent between December and January (a year ago they fell twenty-three percent over the same period), and were down nine percent year-over-year.
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.
Deeds in Snohomish decreased twenty-two percent month-over-month (vs. an eighteen percent decrease in the same period last year) and were down six percent from a year earlier.
Next, here’s Notices of Trustee Sale, which are an indication of the number of homes currently in the foreclosure process:
Foreclosure notices in King County were down thirty-two percent from a year ago and Snohomish County foreclosure notices were down fifty-five percent from last year. The monthly number of foreclosures never really historically goes lower than it is right now.
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.”
Trustee Deeds were down thirty-seven percent from a year ago. The number edged up from December, but is still near historic lows.
Lastly, here’s an update of the inventory charts, updated with previous months’ inventory data from the NWMLS.
Inventory rose four percent between December and January in King County, but was still down twenty-three percent from a year earlier.
In Snohomish County listings were up seven percent month-over-month and down fifteen percent year-over-year.
Note that most of the charts above 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.
Stay tuned later this month a for more detailed look at each of these metrics as the “official” data is released from various sources.