Tag Archives: home prices

Kitsap home prices may finally be headed up

For a while it seemed Kitsap’s real estate market was defying the basic law of supply and demand.

Real Estate for sale in Bremerton on Wednesday, January 16, 2012. MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUNSales were high, inventory was low, but somehow prices hardly seemed to budge.

That trend appeared to changed over the last couple of months.

The median price for a home in Kitsap was about 7 percent higher in March of this year than in March 2014, according to numbers from Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

April saw a more convincing 9 percent year-over-year price jump (see chart below).

The median price of a home (including condos) topped $250,000 in April, already rivaling last year’s peak summer prices. Bainbridge Island set the pace with a median price of $641,500.

The median asking price for active listings in April was $297,950, 11 percent higher than April 2014.

Here’s a peek at price trends:

Familiar sales and inventory trends continued through April. Pending sales activity remained strong and the inventory of available homes remained extremely low.

The months supply of homes — the number of months it would take to sell off all the homes on the market if no listings were added — slipped to 2.38.

That’s a low supply, but actually just about average for Western Washington at the moment. King County recorded a 1.3-month supply in April, as Northwest MLS reported record pending sales across the region.

Here’s a graphical look at sales and inventory trends in Kitsap:

Hot Kitsap real estate market favors sellers

FERRY

A low inventory of homes and ravenous demand have set up a seller’s market in Kitsap.

Pending sales in March were 23 percent higher than in March 2014, according to numbers released this week by Northwest Multiple Listing Service. Closed sales were up 35 percent from the previous year.

More than 500 homes came on the market in March, but it wasn’t enough to sate the appetite of buyers. Inventory remained very low, with 840 active listings.

The months supply of homes — the number of months it would take to sell off the available inventory if no more homes were listed — dropped to 2.4 months. A 4- to 6-month supply typically indicates a balanced market.

“Dramatic increases in sales combined with severe decreases of inventory have led to a robust marketplace primarily benefiting sellers,” said Mike Eliason, CEO of the Kitsap County Association of Realtors.

Prices may finally be heading up in the county. The median price for Kitsap closed sales in March was $240,523, a 7 percent increase from 2014.

The year-to-date median price (including sales in January, February and March) was $235,000, up from $225,000 in the same period of 2014. (See a breakdown of prices by area at the bottom of this post, or click here).

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

And here’s a look at median prices in various areas:

Real estate: 2015 begins with familiar trends

Kitsap County’s real estate market picked up in January right where it left off in December.

Sales activity was brisk. Inventory continued to scrape bottom.

According to Northwest Multiple Listing Service, there were 225 closed sales reported in Kitsap in January, the same number as in January 2014.

Pending sales, on the other hand, were up 16 percent from January 2014, promising a boost in closed sales early this year.

The number of available homes in the county just keeps dropping. There were 843 homes available in January, almost 30 percent fewer than in January 2014. Continue reading →

Kitsap home sales were way up in September

Kitsap’s real estate market is suddenly very lively.

For the first eight months of the year, pending sales essentially mirrored 2013. In September, they made a somewhat startling upturn.

A total of 493 residential sales were pending at the end of the month, up from 352 in the previous year, according to fresh numbers released by Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

Pending sales also rose between August and September, at a time when we usually start seeing sales tail off for the fall.

Most impressive, the jump in pending sales was experienced across all Kitsap population centers:

Continue reading →

Kitsap home prices heat up; activity still cool

POINT NO POINT

Home prices in Kitsap took a jump this summer. But hot weather seemed to cool off real estate activity.

Prices were up in June and July compared with 2013, perhaps reflecting competition for the relatively small supply of available homes.

The median price for closed sales last month – $255,050 – was 6.5 percent higher than in the same month last year, according to numbers released by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. (It should be noted prices took an odd dive in July 2013):

Homes were selling for more across much of the county in July:

Continue reading →

A quick look at mid-year real estate numbers

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I’ll be taking a more detailed look at real estate market trends for the first half of 2014 later this month (after I get done with this).

In the meantime, I’ve compiled a quick graphical snapshot of our year so far, with numbers courtesy the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. It’s fair to say there were few fireworks: Continue reading →

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 →