Home Prices Down, But Stabilizing
September 4th, 2009 by Rachel PritchettBy Rachel Pritchett
rpritchett@kitsapsun.com
Home prices, 12 percent lower in August than a year ago,
nonetheless are showing clear signs of stabilization.
The median closing price of a home in August — $242,500 — has
actually risen 4 percent from January, according to new numbers
from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
That has given a glimmer of hope to home sellers that the troubled
real-estate market may starting to close in on a long and slow
turnaround.
“The market has picked up a wee bit,” said John Hays, owner and
broker of Old Towne Properties in Silverdale.
He said he hopes the Obama Administration replaces or extends its
about-to-expire program that gives tax credits to first-time home
buyers.
If that were to happen, he feels “optimistic” about the future of
the local real estate market, he said.
Fawn Langdon, Realtor with Reid Real Estate of Bremerton, said
homes with sales prices of less than $200,000 are quickest to move
in this market.
“The lower-end homes are selling much faster than the higher ones,”
she said. “There are $80,000 homes that are livable.”
The stock of homes available for sale in Kitsap County continued to
be smaller than this time last year. Some 2,029 homes were
available in August, down 27 percent from August 2008. The level of
inventory has stabilized somewhat since the first of the year, too,
coming in each month close to the 2,000 mark.
Pending home sales in Kitsap County in August were a 24 percent
jump over August 2008, and experts with the NMLS credited the
tax-credit program for some of the rise in pending sales.
Not all of pending sales will result in completed sales in this
very troubled market.
A glut of short sales and foreclosures continues to aggravate the
local housing market.
In July, the latest month for which statistics could be found,
there were 43 completed foreclosures, up from 18 completed
foreclosures a year ago, according to Pacific Northwest Title of
Silverdale.
Nonetheless, experts say the combination of shrinking inventory, a
jump in pending sales and a hint of stabilizing prices are good
signs.
“I think shrinking inventory plus an increase in pending sales
equals a more stable market,” said Mike Eliason, assocaition
executive of the Kitsap Association of Realtors.
The median closing sales price in August for a home in Mason County
was $161,000, down 20 percent from August 2008.
The price in Jefferson County was $253,750, down 6 percent.
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
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