Gig Harbor waterfront sales will beat 2008
Waterfront buyers sat on the sidelines from November through March. But April, May and June produced an abundance of sales of Gig Harbor waterfront homes, closing in May through July to end summer on a far better note that it started. And sales through the end of October have actually tied with year-end of 2008. If all 15 homes that are pending close, the year will end down only 15% from 2006 and 2007.
Inventory has plummeted since April. Following the subprime lending news in September and October last year, inventory of Gig Harbor waterfront skyrocketed and sales were non-existent. November through April ran a steady 9-10 year supply of waterfront properties with a nominal single property closing each of those months. May through July saw the inventory absorbed, with 12 homes closing escrow in July.
July's closings swept away a lot of Gig Harbor waterfront inventory and it continued momentum, creating 21 new pendings. October has also produced two pendings on properties listed over $1million.
Prices on high end homes are still trending downward. But sellers have become savvy in pricing their homes and September closings of Gig Harbor waterfront showed transactions closed at an average of 91% of the original list price. This is far better than the 78-84% differential experienced most of this year. Cash buyers have leveraged their cash and felt confident the "bottom of the market" was nearing. They purchased some great properties in the past few months-for as much as a 30% discount.
Approximately 30% of homes sold in the first month of listing and over 34% sold after more than four months, the balance falling between one and four months.
In September I commented the overall median price for all Gig Harbor waterfront properties this year would likely be $100,000 less than 2008, which was $800,000. That appears to still be the case with the median sales price at $690,000 year-to-date.
The table shows the activity and prices in each of the areas thus far this year. It is notable that two areas-Wollochet/Cromwell and Horsehead/Arletta are experiencing sales prices very close to their median list price. Wauna and Key Peninsula are two other areas selling quite close to the list price
|
Area |
On Market |
Pending |
Sold |
Median List Price |
Median Sale Price |
|
Gig Harbor Bay |
13 |
3 |
4 |
$1,300,000 |
$953,000 |
|
Wauna |
3 |
0 |
2 |
$700,000 |
$575,000 |
|
Rosedale |
5 |
0 |
2 |
$1,295,000 |
$512,000 |
|
Key Peninsula So |
14 |
2 |
7 |
$537,000 |
$480,000 |
|
Fox Island |
23 |
1 |
7 |
$1,100,000 |
$690,000 |
|
Wollochet/Cromwell |
19 |
2 |
10 |
$1,000,000 |
$1,055,000 |
|
Horsehead/Arletta |
39 |
4 |
4 |
$1,075,000 |
$1,055,000 |
|
Gig Harbor No |
4 |
1 |
0 |
$714,000 |
no sale |
|
Key Peninsula No |
12 Total 132 |
2 Total 15 |
4 Total 40 |
$785,000 All Areas $946,000 |
$556,000
All Areas $693,000
|
Carole Holmaas is an Associate Broker with Windermere Real Estate in Gig Harbor, licensed since 1967, specializing in waterfront and view properties. She can be reached at 253.549.6611 or Carole@ISellGigHarbor.com. Comment on her blog at http://blog.ISellGigHarbor.com
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