Snohomish County Market Conditions

Temporary problems in the mortgage market are expected to free some pent-up demand, but disrupted existing-home sales and distorted prices on sales closed in September, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Even so, prices continued to rise in some area. Because of this and other factors, total existing home sales fell 8% and are 19% below the level that they were in September 2006.

Lawrence Yun, NAR senior economist, said the decline is understandable. "Mortgage problems were peaking back in August when many of the September closings were being negotiated . . . the good news is that mortgage availability has markedly improved in recent weeks . . ."

Let's take a look at the King and Snohomish County October sales statistics to see if this trend held true:

Active listings in King County increased dramatically by 31% in October 2007 - 14,240 homes were on the market compared to 9,871 in October 2006. Although there are more homes on the market, the number of those homes selling continues to decrease, from 3,148 in October 2006 to 2,359 - a 25% decrease. The increase in inventory has also caused market time to increase 28% this October.

King County continues to experience rising prices overall, with the average sales price 8% higher in 2007 than 2006, bringing the average year-to-date sales price to $500,800.

 

Snohomish County continued to experience similar market activity to King County in October 2007. The number of active listings was up 34%, but closed sales decreased 34% in October 2007 compared to October 2006. Like in King County, the rise in inventory in Snohomish County caused the market times to increase from 50 days this time last year toto 75 days this October.

The average sales price increased 5% in October 2007 from October 2006, and year to date they have increased 9%.
This is a great time to consider buying or selling a home in Snohomish or King County WA. For more information about Snohomish County real estate, please visit KarensVillas.com or call me at 425-308-3669. To begin searching Snohomish County WA homes, please use my complimentary MLS search.