As we near the end of the year, it's time to take another quick look at how the real estate market fairs in comparison to previous years. The usual disclaimer applies that this information is gathered by me from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS).
So ... as of today, November 10, 2010, here's what the Auburn Real Estate Market reports for residential sales ... all Auburn addresses both in King and Pierce Counties:
We're holding pretty close to previous months in that about 46% of closed sales are the result of distress situations, a bit higher than most of King County.
To analyze this a bit further, it's necessary to turn to the official "statistics" as provided by the NWMLS. The following charts report only on the Auburn area as defined by the MLS. This generally includes Algona, Pacific and the overall Auburn area including King County addresses that are east of West Valley Highway, extending all the way through the East Hill area up to Crest Air Park, and southeast into parts of the Enumclaw plateau. It's a bit skewed, but gives a reasonable representation of the area.
Looking at the chart, I can see that it continues to take almost 120 days to obtain an offer even for well-priced homes, much longer than in previous years. Considering that interest rates are phenomenally low, to some extent I can only surmise that Buyers remain hesitant to make offers -- or are making very low, unacceptable offers -- due to the continued slow force of our local economy.
However, for properties that actually make it all the way to closing (SOLD!), the time frame is even longer -- 169 days! Look back up in this post to the previous snapshot of Auburn to see, however, that 26 of the homes that did sell were either bank or short sale listings. Those take a while!
On a personal note, I saw a considerable uptick in pending offers for my own business during the month of October. Maybe it's just me? Here's the chart comparing the actual number of homes that had pending offers -- down a bit from September.
Finally, as expected, we continue to be in a solid "Buyer's Market" in Auburn -- it'll take a little over 11 months to clear all the current inventory of homes -- assuming nothing new is listed, of course.
As usual, if you have any questions about this information, or would like to see similar information for the area immediately around your own home, please let me know. I'm always delighted to be of help!
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