Tag Archives: nwmls

Real estate: Prices up, inventory down in January

New year, same tight real estate market.

The key real estate trends of 2015 carried through January, according to numbers released last week by Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

Inventory? Still low. There were 587 active listings in the county last month, compared with 843 in January 2015.

Prices? Still rising. The median price for houses and condominiums was about $265,000 in January, a jump of nearly 18 percent from the start of 2015. The median price for houses, excluding condos, was up 15 percent.

Prices were buoyed by sales on Bainbridge Island, where 19 homes sold with a median price of $690,000.

Sales? Still strong. Pending and closed sales were both higher last month than in January 2015, up 5.7 percent and 7.6 percent respectively.

Kitsap bucked a sales trend in January, as an inventory shortage drove down sales across much of the state. King County saw a 14.5 percent drop in pending sales from the previous year.

Here’s a graphical look at real estate statistics in Kitsap County in January:

And here’s a map showing statistics by local MLS area. Hover your mouse over the map to see details:

Real estate update: Inventory remains very thin in Kitsap

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The number of homes for sale in Kitsap County continued to drop in November, as sales activity remained relatively healthy.

According to Northwest Multiple Listing Service, there were 768 homes available in the county last month. That was 29 percent fewer than in November 2014, and 43 percent fewer than in November 2013. 

Meanwhile, 367 sales were pending in November, a 7.3 percent improvement from November 2014. The 299 closed sales recorded in November were on par with 2014.

The median price for homes sold in November, including condominiums, rested at $259,000.

Here’s a visual look at Kitsap real estate trends:

And as a new feature this month, here are county-by-county breakdowns for median prices and the months supply of homes. Wave your mouse over the maps to see exact values:

Home sales remained steady in October

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Kitsap County home sales remained strong in October, despite a dwindling supply of available houses.

A total of 473 sales were pending last month, according to Northwest Multiple Listing service. That was a 10 percent jump from October 2014, and 27 percent increase from October 2013.

Closed sales were also strong, with 422 transactions completed in October.

According to assessor’s records, Kitsap County had already broken the $1 billion mark for home sales by the end of September this year, easily outpacing sales volumes from the same period of 2014:

The already low inventory of homes continued to decline on October. The 888 homes for sale were 30 percent fewer than in October 2014. Here’s a graphical look at sales activity and listings through October:

The October median price for houses and condominiums in Kitsap was $258,500, nearly unchanged from September.

This graphic shows median month-by-month median home prices for Kitsap, and year-to-date home prices across the county:

Kitsap home prices still waiting for liftoff

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Sales are creeping up, inventory is slipping down, but home prices in Kitsap remain remarkably unchanged.

According to the latest NWMLS report, 291 homes (both houses and condos) sold in Kitsap in April. That was about 4 percent more than a year ago. Closed sales have ticked up steadily since January this year, as they’re supposed to. Another 506 sales were pending, also an improvement from April 2013.

Inventory was lower than a year ago. Active listings (1,250) and new listings (561) were both down in April from the previous year. The months of inventory (the time it would take to sell off the homes on the market) declined each month since January, and now rests at 4.3 months.

Prices, meanwhile, have barely budged. Less than $500 separated the median price of homes in Kitsap in April 2014 ($232,950) and April 2013 ($233,310):

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Real Estate: Kitsap home prices lagging behind neighbors

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The first quarter of 2014 is in the books and home prices in Kitsap County are lagging behind the Puget Sound pack.

Median prices were  up across the region at the end of March, driven by low inventory. But prices remained at 2013 levels in Kitsap, according to the Northwest MLS.

The median price of homes sold in January, February and March this year was $225,000, compared to $229,000 for the same period of 2013. That was despite surging prices on Bainbridge Island (click the graph below to expand).blog.march.mls

The stale prices can’t be explained by simple supply and demand. Inventory was still low, with 1,170 active listings (there were 1,287 in March 2013). And closed sales were up (715 compared to 630), while pending sales were relatively flat.

So what was keeping prices down? Frank Wilson, managing broker at John L. Scott Real Estate Poulsbo and Kitsap district director for NWMLS, points to the recent glut of short sales and bank repossessions as one cause. Homeowners who lost their homes in the recession may be sidelined while they repair their credit, he said. Demand should increase as they reenter the market.

Overall, it’s an opportune time for buyers, Wilson said. Interest rates remain low, as do prices. But that won’t last, he said.

“At some point in the future, double whammy of prices going up and interest going up,” he said. “When that happens it will negatively affect affordability.”

Wilson said he expects both inventory and prices to pick up as the year continues.

“All signs are pointing in the right direction,” he said.

The NWMLS activity report for March is posted below: Continue reading →

Kitsap home prices down to start new year

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After ending a five-year slide in 2013, Kitsap home prices were down in January.

The median price of closed sales was $213,000 in last month, according to figures released Wednesday by Northwest Multiple Listing Service. That was lower than in January 2013 ($235,000) and lower than the overall median price in 2013 ($240,000).

New listings (384) and closed sales (225) were up from January. The 5-month supply of homes in January was also substantially higher than the average for 2013. Pending sales (348) were lower than a year ago but well above December’s total of 256.

Here’s a look at the median price for closed sales in selected Kitsap areas:

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Photo: Larry Steagall

Kitsap home prices up slightly in 2013 report

The end of a five-year slide in home prices was the headline for Kitsap County in an annual report released Wednesday by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

A spike in sales and a low inventory of available homes helped propel the modest price gain of 3.3 percent, the first since 2007. You can read our story here. The full report is embedded below: Continue reading →