Seattle January 2008 Home Sales
March 14, 2008
Seattle area homes sold last month at the slowest pace for a
January in 13 years. The region's median sale price continued to hold up
relatively well, but rose only barely -- less than 1 percent -- above a year
ago. It was the smallest annual gain for the median since 2001.
A total of 2,779 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro area encompassing King, Snohomish
and Pierce counties. That was down 23.4 percent from 3,627 in December and down
34.2 percent from 4,223 in January 2007, according to DataQuick Information
Systems of La Jolla, Calif. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via
public property records.
Last month's sales total was the lowest for a January since 2,439 homes sold
in January 1995. Regional sales have fallen on a year-over-year basis for 20
consecutive months.
The median price paid for all metro area homes combined in January was
$345,216. That was down 1.2 percent from $349,558 in December and up 0.6 percent
from $343,000 in January 2007. Last month's median was 5.5 percent lower than
the peak $365,200 median in June 2007. The January median's 0.6 percent
year-over-year increase was the smallest since it was also 0.6 percent in
October 2001.
Another home price measure, the median price paid per square foot for resale
houses, fell to $215 in January, down 2.7 percent from a year ago and 10.6
percent below its $240 peak in July 2007. The median price per square foot has
fallen on a year-over-year basis for three consecutive months.
Sales and median prices in Seattle and other Western markets have been
impacted in recent months by the credit crunch, which made "jumbo" loans over
$417,000 pricier and harder to obtain. In the Seattle area, the number of home
purchases financed with jumbo mortgages fell 61 percent in January compared with
a year ago, while sales financed with "conforming" loans not exceeding $417,000
fell 33 percent. Before the credit crunch hit last August, jumbo-financed home
purchases represented about 16 percent of all Seattle region sales, while in
January jumbo-financed deals were 8.7 percent of all sales.
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA MSA
|
|
# of
Sales |
Median
Price |
|
Jan-07 |
Jan-08 |
% Chg |
Jan-07 |
Jan-08 |
% Chg |
| Resale houses |
2,571 |
1,621 |
-37.0% |
$355,000 |
$355,000 |
0.0% |
| Resale condos |
615 |
419 |
-31.9% |
$256,340 |
$257,000 |
0.3% |
| New homes |
1,037 |
739 |
-28.7% |
$359,950 |
$386,960 |
7.5% |
| All homes |
4,223 |
2,779 |
-34.2% |
$343,000 |
$345,216 |
0.6% |
Media calls: Andrew LePage (916)456-7157 or John Karevoll (909) 867-9534
Copyright 2005 DataQuick Information Systems. All rights reserved.