September had some ups and some downs in terms of the local Gig Harbor real estate market.  I made the mistake of watching some news the other day, and after a story about the economy and how bad it is, I watched 2 stories about rape and 4 about murder, then one more about the housing market and its tumble, and reminded myself why I don't watch the news.  The news isn't going to tell you anything positive.  They just won't.  If you'd like the truth about home sales last month in Gig Harbor, keep reading.  If you want moaning and groaning, you'll have to go elsewhere.

There were 47 single-family homes that sold in Gig Harbor during September.  That's the 2nd highest total we've had this year behind 61 sales in June.  Key Peninsula only had 13 sales, which is the lowest total they've seen since 12 sold in January.  The 47 sales in Gig Harbor look especially good compared to September of ‘07, when 51 homes sold.  Nice to see us getting the volume back to where it was last year.  In Sept of ‘07, however, the median sales price was $448,000, whereas last month it was down to $392,000. 

More good news is that the home inventory dropped for the 6th consecutive week.  There are currently 722 homes on the market in Gig Harbor, the lowest we've been since the week ending on June 22nd.  Homes pending sale (accepted sales contracts on the home) have remained steady since that same week in June, another good sign.  Year to date, our volume of sales (actual homes sold) is down a hefty 39%.  Median price is down 5.8% from last year, while days on market are up 17 days (this last number is skewed by 6 new construction sales that were on the market for over 500 days, including one for 1018 days!).  Good news for folks looking to sell a home on Fox Island as well.  January through August saw a total of 16 properties sell on Fox Island (2 per month).  In September, 6 properties sold on Fox Island, a nice little increase.

Hopefully what you gather from this information is that our housing market is down from last year, but not nearly as down as what the majority of reports would have you believe.  There really are positive things happening in the real estate market right now.  If you'd like more specific information (broken down by neighborhood, condo sales, etc), please give me a call, email me, or post a comment to this article.  I'm happy to share with you the actual numbers, no spin attached.  If you've ever driven by a house for sale, been surprised by the asking price, then curious about what price they actually got for the house, check out my month-by-month interactive maps of SOLD homes in Gig Harbor.  If you can't find the information you're looking for, let me know.

Here is a chart showing the home sales by price range for September.