Seattle Region July Home Sales

Seattle-area home sales plunged in July to the lowest level for that month in at least 16 years amid a soft economy and the expiration of federal home buyer tax credits. The median sale price rose slightly as the share of transactions above $300,000 increased, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 2,983 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow during July in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metropolitan statistical area encompassing King, Snohomish and Pierce counties. July sales dove 33.9 percent from 4,513 in June and fell 30.0 percent from 4,262 in July 2009, according to MDA DataQuick of San Diego. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.

Last month's year-over-year drop in sales followed 12 consecutive months of year-over-year sales gains. July sales were 48.2 percent below average for the month and were the lowest for any July since at least 1994, when DataQuick's complete Seattle-area statistics begin.

The 419 newly built homes that sold last month represented the lowest new-home tally on record for a July, as did the 2,564 sales of existing houses and condos.

When viewed by price segments, last month's transactions showed a significant shift: Sales above $300,000 rose from 48.9 percent of all transactions in June to 52.6 percent in July - the highest level since June 2009.

Sales of $1 million-plus abodes held up relatively well last month. The 111 homes that sold for over $1 million represented a 12.6 percent drop from June but a 13.3 percent increase from a year earlier. The figures are based on an analysis of public records that identifies transactions with either a sale price or loan amount of $1 million or more.

The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos combined in July rose to $310,000, up 4.7 percent from June and up from 3.3 percent from $300,000 a year earlier.

July's median was 15.1 percent lower than the Seattle area's peak $365,200 median in June 2007. Before July, the overall median had fallen on a year-over-year basis for 29 straight months.

Another key price measure, the median paid per square foot for resale single-family detached houses, dipped slightly from $187 in June to $186 in July. Last month's figure was 2.2 percent higher than a year ago, but still 22.2 percent lower than the peak $239 median paid per square foot in June 2007.

Sales of foreclosed properties in July represented 20.1 percent of the resale market, up from 18.7 percent in June and 16.9 percent a year earlier. So far, the peak for foreclosure resales was 28.5 percent in January this year.

In July, 1,005 single-family houses and condo units were foreclosed on in the region, up 15.9 percent from June and up 16.7 percent from a year earlier. For the first six months of this year, foreclosures are up 20.6 percent compared with the same period last year. The figures are based on the number of trustees deeds filed with county recorder offices.

In July, 30.4 percent of all purchase mortgages were government-insured FHA loans, down from 38.1 percent in June and 36.2 percent a year ago.

Absentee buyers accounted for 14.7 percent of July home sales, up from 13.1 percent in June and 13.1 percent a year earlier. Absentee buyers, who paid a median $255,000 last month, are mainly investors and second-home buyers. Those who appeared to be using cash to purchase their homes made up 19.7 percent of all buyers in July - up from 16.5 percent in June and 13.8 percent a year ago - and paid a median $278,750.

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA MSA

Number of sales	Jul-09	Jul-10	% Chng
Resale houses	2,923	2,170	-25.80%
Resale condos	643	394	-38.70%
New homes	696	419	-39.80%
All homes	4,262	2,983	-30.00%

Median sale price	Jul-09	Jul-10	% Chng
Resale houses	$310,000	$325,000	4.80%
Resale condos	$247,625	$237,800	-4.00%
New homes	$320,000	$319,900	0.00%
All homes	$300,000	$310,000	3.30%

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157