June Seattle MSA Home Sales and Median Prices

June sales of existing single-family houses in the Seattle region climbed higher than a year ago for the first time since sales began falling on a year-over-year basis in late 2005. Though still below last year, various home price measures rose from the prior month for the third consecutive month, reflecting the recent fading of foreclosure resales as a market force as well as an uptick in the share of sales above $500,000, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 4,118 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in June in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metropolitan statistical area encompassing King, Snohomish and Pierce counties. Last month's sales rose 31.1 percent from the prior month but fell 0.8 percent short of a year earlier, according to MDA DataQuick of San Diego. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.

Last month's sales total was the highest for any month since June last year but was still the lowest for any June since at least 1994, when DataQuick's complete Seattle-area statistics begin. Total sales have fallen on a year-over-year basis for 37 consecutive months. New-home sales, which increased 22 percent from May, were the lowest for a June since 1994.

Sales of existing (not new) single-family detached houses rose to 2,797, up 7.9 percent from a year ago to the highest level for any month since August 2007. It was the first month in which existing single-family house sales had risen on a year-over-year basis since November 2005, when 4,412 existing houses sold.

Resales of single-family detached houses have likely posted their annual gain in response to a combination of factors, including favorable mortgage rates, price reductions - hence increased affordability - and home buyer tax incentives. In recent months the percentage of total sales above $500,000 has risen slightly, from about 16 percent in April and May to 19 percent in June. This suggests that buyers at that level are not only finding better deals or sensing that a price bottom might be near, but are having at least a slightly easier time securing "jumbo" financing.

The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos combined in June was $312,000, up 1.3 percent from $308,000 in May but down 9.6 percent from a year earlier. Last month's median was the highest for any month since last December, when it was $318,000, but was 14.6 percent lower than the Seattle area's peak $365,200 median in June 2007.

The median has fallen on a year-over-year basis for 17 straight months. However, it has risen on a month-to-month basis for each month since April, which rose 2 percent over March, followed by May's 1 percent gain over April.

The median's modest increases of late are likely the result of a lower concentration of foreclosure resales, which tend to sell at the biggest discounts, combined with the mild rise in the portion of total sales occurring above $500,000. The latter is consistent with the expected seasonal increase in the number of traditional homebuyers - including move-up buyers - who are looking not just for a bargain but for the right house in the right neighborhood, and who want to move before school starts again.

The median paid for resale single-family detached houses last month was $320,000, up 4.2 percent from $307,000 in May but down 12.3 percent from a year ago and down 18.9 percent from the $394,500 peak in June 2007. The median for resale single-family detached houses has risen on a month-to-month basis since April, when it was $302,500.

Another price measure for resale single-family detached houses, the median price paid per square foot, has also risen on a month-to-month basis since April. In June it was $174, up from $169 in May and $167 in April. June's figure was the highest since the median paid per square foot was $179 last December, but it was still down 21.5 percent from a year ago and down 27.6 percent from the peak $240 median paid per square foot in July 2007. The per square foot median has fallen on a year-over-year basis for 20 consecutive months.

Gains in all of the various price measures are at least partly the result of foreclosures playing a lesser role in the resale market. Last month 16.9 percent of all resales were houses or condos that had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months, down from 19.2 percent in May and a peak of 23.9 percent in January this year.

However, there are more foreclosure resales on the way, and they will continue to weigh on home prices for the foreseeable future. In June, lender repossessions spiked: 863 houses and condos were lost to foreclosure in the three-county Seattle region, up nearly 37 percent from May and up 119 percent from a year ago. It was the highest monthly total since foreclosures began to surge in 2006. The figures are based on the number of trustees deeds filed with the county recorder's office. The document signals that a home was lost to foreclosure.

The Seattle region will continue to rely on first-time buyers and investors to absorb many of its foreclosures. Last month about 37 percent of all buyers used government-insured FHA loans, a popular choice among first-time buyers, according to an analysis of public property records. Absentee buyers made up 13.5 percent of all purchases - a relatively low percentage in the West. Absentee buyers include investors, mainly, as well as others who will have their property tax bills go to an address other than the one for the home they just purchased.

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA MSA

Number of sales	Jun-08	Jun-09	%Chng
Resale houses	2,593	2,797	7.90%
Resale condos	653	588	-10.00%
New homes	905	733	-19.00%
All homes	4,151	4,118	-0.80%

Median sale price	Jun-08	Jun-09	%Chng
Resale houses	$365,000	$320,000	-12.30%
Resale condos	$280,000	$246,600	-11.90%
New homes	$364,950	$329,950	-9.60%
All homes	$345,250	$312,000	-9.60%

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157