local real estate news, statistics, and commentary without the sales spin.
Sales dropped off a decent amount month-over-month, during a time when they rose a year ago, so the year-over-year growth fell off dramatically. Meanwhile inventory in both counties saw another year-over-year decline that was the biggest in two and a half years. Foreclosure notices in both counties were down slightly month-over-month and year-over-year.
Let’s check out the three price tiers for the Seattle area, as measured by Case-Shiller. Remember, Case-Shiller’s “Seattle” data is based on single-family home repeat sales in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties. Note that the tiers are determined by sale volume. In other words, 1/3 of all sales fall into each tier. For more details…
Let’s have a look at the latest data from the Case-Shiller Home Price Index. According to August data that was released today, Seattle-area home prices were: Up 0.3 percent July to August Up 7.6 percent YOY. Down 4.4 percent from the July 2007 peak Last year at this time prices were flat month-over-month and year-over-year…
This is rich. I spotted the ad at right this morning. I laughed out loud when I read it. Specifically the first word there: “keep.” If you’re not wealthy, Seattle is already unaffordable by nearly any metric. Rents are soaring, home prices are hitting new all-time highs, and inventory of both rentals and for-sale homes…
I’d like to introduce a new chart. The “Residential Real Estate Heat Index” is an index I’ve been calculating for a few years, that originally was part of the now-defunct Sound Housing Quarterly newsletter. It rolls changes in the median price, new listings, total inventory, pending sales and closed sales all into a single number to measure the relative “heat” of the market.
Here’s what it looks like for King County single-family homes and condos…