by Real Estate Analyst John Karevoll May 16, 2007
A total of 34,949 new and resale houses and condos were sold statewide last month. That's down 12.2 percent from 39,811 for March, and down 28.5 percent from 48,894 for April 2006. Last month's sales made for the slowest April since 1995 when 27,625 homes were sold. April sales from 1988 to 2007 range from the 27,625 in 1995 to 66,938 in 2005. The average is 46,141. On a year-over-year basis, sales have declined the last 19 months.
The median price paid for a home last month was $484,000, unchanged from March's record high. That was up 3.4 percent from $468,000 for April a year ago.
The typical mortgage payment that home buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $2,258. That was up from $2,230 in March, and down from $2,271 for April a year ago. The peak was $2,372 last June. Adjusted for inflation, mortgage payments are 8.2 percent above the spring 1989 peak of the prior real estate cycle.
DataQuick, a subsidiary of Vancouver-based MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates, monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts. The numbers cover all sales, new and resale, houses and condos.
Indicators of market distress are moving in different directions. Financing with adjustable-rate mortgages is declining significantly. Foreclosure activity is rising but is still within the normal range, except for some inland communities that saw particularly strong activity during the 2004-2005 sales surge. Down payment sizes are stable and flipping rates and non-owner occupied buying activity is down, DataQuick reported.
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