Happy Friday Gang,
Some positive news for our area: Pending sales are up 45% over last year at this time. Closed transactions are up 33.5% over this same span. (The ninth straight month of year over year gains). In addition, prices in Seattle inched up 1.4% in February, the second month in a row of gains, after nearly two years of declines.
While prices are improving in Seattle, values in South King County continue to fall due to higher levels of foreclosures and short sales, (26% of all active listings in this area fall under these catagories). Snohomish County is a mixed bag as sales are up 53%, but prices are down 10%. Conversely, higher end neighborhoods such as Capital Hill and Madison Park are booming. 39 houses sold in February with a median price of $596,000, versus just 17 sales one year ago, with a median price of $409,000.
Part of the reason for the up-tick in higher end sales is that jumbo rates are currently at a 5 year low of 5.97%. (Loans over $567,500). Due to the return of the stock market, many people's portfolios have recovered up to 30 or 40%, allowing for more confidence to make large purchases.
Another positive sign is that Washington's job numbers posted their first gain in January since November 2008, (the largest one month gain in nearly three years). It was recently reported that February's numbers lost much of this momentum, still as rocky and un-even as stabilization may be, its a point of pride to see our region leading the way on our nation's eventual road to recovery.
If you, or anyone you care about has any real estate needs or questions, feel free to contact me anytime...I'd love to help. I also welcome you to visit www.tikirobs.com for all of your real estate needs.
Have a terrific weekend!
~ Rob
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