Time for our monthly check on the local papers (or digital former papers, as the case may be) to see how creatively this month’s NWMLS press release is rehashed.<\/p>\n
First up, here’s the source material: the NWMLS press release that accompanied yesterday’s numbers: Pending sales in Western Washington rise with improved affordability, buyer incentives<\/a><\/p>\n Northwest Multiple Listing Service members reported pending sales for April surged 11.4 percent compared to twelve months ago \u2013 and rose 21.3 percent from March.<\/p>\n Brokers reported 6,918 pending sales during April across the 19 counties that make up the Northwest MLS market area. That’s up from the year-ago total of 6,208, and the March figure of 5,701 pending sales (offers made and accepted, but not yet closed).<\/p>\n For the four-county Puget Sound area (King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish), brokers notched 5,372 pending sales, the highest total since August 2007 and a jump of 26 percent from March. It’s all about the “pendings” this month. Forget the fact that recent trends show over a third of “pendings” never seem to actually become a closed sale. If we just repeat the phrase “pendings were up” enough times, the housing bubble will return, and we’ll all be rich!<\/p>\n So, will the local press ignore the growing story of pendings that never materialize in the closed sales statistics, or will they actually branch out and do more than repeat the positive spin fed to them in the NWMLS press release? Read on to find out…<\/p>\n Eric Pryne, Seattle Times<\/em>: Pending sales of single-family homes in King County surged in April<\/a><\/p>\n If the Seattle residential real-estate market is coming back to life \u2014 and that’s still a big if, despite a relatively upbeat monthly report Tuesday \u2014 it’s because of people like Lori Gifford. Skahen and Matt Deasy, general manager of Windermere’s Eastside operations, said that’s probably because of the large number of “short sales” \u2014 sales for less than the amount the owner owes to lenders \u2014 now in the works. They can take three to four months to close, the brokers said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I am becoming more impressed with Eric Pryne’s reporting lately. Last month<\/a> he came around and referred to falling prices as “attractive” rather than “bleak,” and now this month he actually picks up on the big story in the numbers that was intentionally ignored by the NWMLS press release—the huge disparity between pending and closed sales.<\/p>\n Aubrey Cohen, Seattle P-I<\/em>: Area home sales sprang up in April<\/a><\/p>\n Pending sales of houses and condos, combined, in the city and county rose 28.6 percent from March. This is not a seasonal trend, as sales often have dropped in recent years from March to April. “I’m tired of kind of the black hole of rent,” Wong said. “It was a good time to finally buy, where (prices) are a little more realistic.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Say goodbye to the black hole of rent, and say hello to the black hole of mortgage interest.<\/p>\n Recent increases in pending sales have not yet brought corresponding bumps in closed sales in following months, noted Glenn Crellin, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at Washington State University.<\/p>\n “While the pending numbers are up, I’m not sure how many of those are making it to the closing table,” he said. “Either that or they’re taking a devil of a long time to close.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Kudos to Aubrey for also not ignoring the gap between pending and closed sales.<\/p>\n Michelle Dunlop, Everett Herald<\/em>: Hopeful sign for housing market<\/a><\/p>\n Snohomish County’s housing market showed signs of a spring thaw as pending single-family home sales rose 28.3 percent in April compared with the previous year.<\/p>\n “Buyers are starting to relax and realize this is a good time to buy,” said Meribeth Hutchings, broker and owner of Windermere Real Estate in Lake Stevens and a director of the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. “One of the most positive signs is that we finally have an increase in pending sales,” Hutchings said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Ms. Dunlop makes only one cursory mention of closed sales, and otherwise simply repeats the positive spin from the NWMLS press release.<\/p>\n Kelly Kearsley, Tacoma News Tribune<\/em>: Pierce County home prices tumble 14.5 percent<\/a><\/p>\n Pierce County\u2019s median home price fell to $225,000 in April, a 14.5 percent decrease when compared to a year ago, according to figures released Tuesday by the Northwest Multiple Listings Service.<\/p>\n That\u2019s one of the largest year-over-year drops the county\u2019s seen since the real estate market started its downward march almost two years ago. Foreclosures and short sales \u2013 homes being sold for less than is owed on the loan \u2013 are taking their toll on the market.<\/p>\n And many of the homes that are selling are in the lower prices ranges \u2013 often $200,000 or less \u2013 as first-time home buyers take advantage of low interest rates and tax credits, said Theresa Bastian, operating partner with Keller Williams Realty Tacoma. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n Interestingly, Kelly Kearsley focuses in on continuing price declines, and barely mentions either pending or closed sales.<\/p>\n Kelly Kearsley, The Olympian<\/em>: Thurston median home price down 11.5 percent<\/a><\/p>\n Thurston County\u2019s median home price declined to $232,600 in April, an 11.5 percent drop compared with the same month last year, according to figures released Tuesday by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. Apparently Rolf Boone is out on vacation or something, because this month’s article for Thurston County was penned by the Tacoma News-Tribune’s Kelly Kearsley, and was little more than a slight rewrite of the above article on the Tacoma market.<\/p>\n (Eric Pryne, Seattle Times<\/a>, 05.05.2009<\/em>) Time for our monthly check on the local papers (or digital former papers, as the case may be) to see how creatively this month’s NWMLS press release is rehashed. First up, here’s the source material: the NWMLS press release that accompanied yesterday’s numbers: Pending sales in Western Washington rise with improved affordability, buyer incentives Northwest…<\/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":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[198],"tags":[432,18,127,154,36,196,263,103,311,118,459,19,31,34],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-5449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-beeson","tag-cohen","tag-crellin","tag-dunlop","tag-everett_herald","tag-johnlscott","tag-kearsley","tag-olympian","tag-pryne","tag-reporting_roundup","tag-scott","tag-seattle_pi","tag-seattle_times","tag-tacoma_tribune"],"yoast_head":"\n
\n…
\nLower prices, record low mortgage interest rates, improving consumer confidence, the $8,000 first-time buyer tax credit and other incentives for buyers are credited with spurring activity.
\n…
\nAnother MLS director reported a “terrific increase” in first-time buyer activity in Seattle’s close-in neighborhoods, calling it the best it’s been in almost two years.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n…
\nPending sales usually close a month or so after offers are accepted. But the number of closed single-family home sales in King County in April \u2014 1,004 \u2014 represented just 60 percent of the pending sales reported in March, an unusually low share.<\/p>\n
\n…
\nDr. Winnifred Wong just finished her internship in Florida and is moving to Seattle in June to start her residency at the University of Washington. She just struck a deal to buy a condo in Queen Anne.<\/p>\n
\n…
\n…the number of pending sales, deals begun but not completed, for both single-family homes and condos increased 23.2 percent compared with April 2008.<\/p>\n
\n…
\nLocal real estate agents attribute the price decline to a number of factors.<\/p>\n
\n…
\nThe number of closed and pending sales both were down compared with the previous year, as was the area\u2019s inventory. The latter usually is regarded as good news, as a shrinking inventory can help stabilize home prices.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n(Eric Pryne, Seattle Times<\/a>, 05.06.2009<\/em>)
\n(Aubrey Cohen, Seattle P-I<\/a>, 05.05.2009<\/em>)
\n(Michelle Dunlop, Everett Herald<\/a>, 05.06.2009<\/em>)
\n(Kelly Kearsley, Tacoma News Tribune<\/a>, 05.06.2009<\/em>)
\n(Kelly Kearsley, Olympian<\/a>, 05.06.2009<\/em>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"