{"id":28262,"date":"2014-02-06T14:33:06","date_gmt":"2014-02-06T22:33:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seattlebubble.com\/blog\/?p=28262"},"modified":"2014-02-06T14:33:06","modified_gmt":"2014-02-06T22:33:06","slug":"january-reporting-roundup-full-recovery-mode-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seattlebubble.com\/blog\/2014\/02\/06\/january-reporting-roundup-full-recovery-mode-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"January Reporting Roundup: “Full Recovery Mode” Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s time once again for the monthly reporting roundup, where you can read my wry commentary about the news instead of subjecting yourself to boring rehashes of the NWMLS press release (or in addition to, if that’s what floats your boat).
\nTo kick things off, here’s an excerpt from the NWMLS press release<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Western Washington housing market "definitely in full recovery mode"<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Lots of buyers and not enough of the right inventory to satisfy our buyers’ wants and needs,” was how [CEO and president of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Northwest Real Estate Mike]<\/span> Gain described current conditions. “Following the worst year for inventory I have seen in my 35 years of practicing real estate locally, we are expecting the number of homes for sale to increase in 2014,” Gain added, emphasizing there is pent up demand and “a very active market is anticipated once the number of listings increases.” <\/p>\n

J. Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate agreed. “Available inventory remains tight with shortages or low inventory where 90 percent or more of the sales activity is taking place,” he remarked.
\n…
\nThirteen counties have more listings than a year ago, but eight counties are reporting declines in total inventory. “We are literally starving for inventory. We need more homes to sell, especially in the most desirable neighborhoods,” Gain stated.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Literally starving, you guys. Literally<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Read on for my take on this month’s local news reports.<\/p>\n

Seattle Times<\/h3>\n

Sanjay Bhatt<\/em>: Thin inventory puts pressure on King County home prices<\/a><\/p>\n

In general, many houses that are listed are overpriced because those sellers are incorrectly comparing their homes with others in top condition and top locations, said Deidre Haines, principal managing broker for South Snohomish County at Coldwell Banker Bain.<\/p>\n

\u201cSellers need to pay better attention to what their brokers are telling them about the value of their homes, and not think that Zillow knows,\u201d Haines said, referring to the Seattle-based online real-estate marketplace.<\/p>\n

Zillow\u2019s algorithm for estimating a home\u2019s value is a great starting point, she said, but isn\u2019t incorporating all factors.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t smell it, you don\u2019t know what condition it\u2019s in, you don\u2019t know if it\u2019s been updated, you don\u2019t know if the neighborhood has parked cars in the front yard,\u201d Haines said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I love that. Not only is Zillow terrible for home buyers thanks to intentionally incomplete data<\/a>, but it’s bad for sellers because “you can’t smell it on Zillow.”<\/p>\n

Another interesting note from the Seattle Times article:<\/p>\n

Starting with Wednesday\u2019s report, the listing service said it was changing how it reported the months of supply, using closed sales instead of pending sales, relative to total active listings. The service said it wanted its supply ratio to be comparable to those calculated by the National Association of Realtors and other groups.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I may switch to this method in these posts as well, just to be consistent with what shows up in other media.<\/p>\n

Seattle P-I<\/h3>\n

Aubrey Cohen<\/em>: Area home inventory picked up in January<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s getting a little easier for Seattle-area home shoppers to find a place, according to a new report.<\/p>\n

King County had just under 2.4 months worth of houses for sale at the current sales pace in January, the highest inventory since June 2012, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported. That said, he inventory level is still well below the 4- to 6-month range considered balanced between supply and demand. Seattle had 2 months of inventory in January.<\/p>\n

“It’s still a situation with an inventory that isn’t as robust as it needs to be,” said Glenn Crellin, associate director for research at the University of Washington’s Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Despite the slow growth of inventory, we’re still near record lows. For buyers’ sake, let’s hope this spring sees a big bump in the inventory of homes for sale.<\/p>\n

Tacoma News Tribune<\/h3>\n

Kathleen Cooper<\/em>: Home prices continue climb in Pierce County<\/a><\/p>\n

The residential real estate market in Western Washington continued to heal in January, with most counties seeing an increase in sale prices and overall sales.<\/p>\n

Pierce County\u2019s median sale price increased almost 12 percent from January 2013, to $212,500, according to data released Wednesday by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
\n…
\nPricing also is a concern. \u201cMany listings are overpriced,\u201d said Deidre Haines, regional managing broker in Snohomish County for Coldwell Banker Bain. \u201cBuyers are not interested in making offers on those properties,\u201d she said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Isn’t that true in every<\/em> market though? There are always a lot of overpriced listings…<\/p>\n

The Olympian<\/h3>\n

Kathleen Cooper<\/em>: Thurston home prices mysteriously slip a bit<\/a><\/p>\n

Thurston County\u2019s median sale price took a tiny dip, dropping almost 3 percent from the same time a year ago, to $208,250, according to data released Wednesday by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. The reason for the drop wasn\u2019t immediately clear. Other data indicate market strength, including a 27 percent increase in closed sales and about 4.5 months worth of inventory.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really don\u2019t understand it,\u201d said Randy Reynolds, president of the Thurston County Realtors Association. \u201cI haven\u2019t truly analyzed it yet, but what I\u2019m feeling is that we\u2019re seeing more investors picking up properties at the low end\u201d of the price range, which would drive that median point down a bit.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I highly doubt we’re seeing an up tick<\/em> of investor activity. Most of the investors bought lots of homes in 2012 and early 2013. Investor activity has been on the decrease<\/em> lately.<\/p>\n

(Sanjay Bhatt, Seattle Times<\/a>, 02.05.2014<\/em>)
\n(Aubrey Cohen, Seattle P-I<\/a>, 02.05.2014<\/em>)
\n(Kathleen Cooper, Tacoma News Tribune<\/a>, 02.06.2014<\/em>)
\n(Kathleen Cooper, The Olympian<\/a>, 02.06.2014<\/em>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s time once again for the monthly reporting roundup, where you can read my wry commentary about the news instead of subjecting yourself to boring rehashes of the NWMLS press release (or in addition to, if that’s what floats your boat). To kick things off, here’s an excerpt from the NWMLS press release: Western Washington…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"On the blog: January Reporting Roundup: \"Full Recovery Mode\" Edition http:\/\/wp.me\/pe2Bv-7lQ","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[612,198],"tags":[872,292,18,455,127,36,196,6,103,118,459,19,31,34],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-28262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-bhatt","tag-bottom-calling","tag-cohen","tag-cooper","tag-crellin","tag-everett_herald","tag-johnlscott","tag-nwmls","tag-olympian","tag-reporting_roundup","tag-scott","tag-seattle_pi","tag-seattle_times","tag-tacoma_tribune"],"yoast_head":"\nJanuary Reporting Roundup: "Full Recovery Mode" Edition \u2022 Seattle Bubble<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/seattlebubble.com\/blog\/2014\/02\/06\/january-reporting-roundup-full-recovery-mode-edition\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"January Reporting Roundup: "Full Recovery Mode" Edition \u2022 Seattle Bubble\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"It’s time once again for the monthly reporting roundup, where you can read my wry commentary about the news instead of subjecting yourself to boring rehashes of the NWMLS press release (or in addition to, if that’s what floats your boat). 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