Gig Harbor Home Sales Stabilize in September

A snapshot of Gig Harbor home sales for September shows a stabilization, or even increase, of median sales prices for Gig Harbor mailing addresses. The 98332 area produced a 4.5% median price increase over a year ago with 26 closings while the 98335 zip code equaled 2008 numbers. Even "no change" is a big deal after more than a year of double digit declines. One month is too soon to predict a trend but Gig Harbor home sales are encouraging to local Realtors.

These statistics compare September 2008 with September 2009 for Gig Harbor home sales in zip codes 98332 and 98335.

                                                98332                          98335

Number of active listings           no change                  ▼22.2%

Number of homes sold             ▲62.5%                      ▼9.11%

Median sales price                   ▲4.5%                        no change

                                             $401,000                    $375,000

Number months inventory         ▼37.9%                      ▼14%

   (based on closed sales)         10.8 months               11.1 months

Readers must be careful not to read too much into a single month comparison. The 17-month graphs below show the bigger picture in Gig Harbor home sales. A few very expensive homes selling in a month of few sales skews the median price. Likewise the large number of homes snapped up by first-time buyers in the past six months affects it. Month-to-month figures will fluctuate as the market continues to stabilize.

There still needs to be a narrowing of the spread between sales and listings for Gig Harbor home sales  to "normalize" at a six to seven month "absorption rate" and for significant upward price pressure.

98332

98335

Carole Holmaas is an Associate Broker at Windermere Real Estate, licensed since 1967. She may be reached at Carole@ISellGigHarbor.com or 253.549.6611. Her real estate blog may be read at http://blog.ISellGigHarbor.com