Third Quarter 2006 Western Washington Real Estate Market Update
From the office of Lennox Scott (John L. Scott CEO):
???The real estate crash many predicted and feared has been highly overestimated,??? John L. Scott Chairman and CEO J. Lennox Scott recently said. In Western Washington, where home prices increased by double-digit percentages in most areas during each month of the 2006 third quarter, this is proving to be true.
During July, the seventeen counties served by the NWMLS saw an average of a 15.5 percent increase in home sales prices over the same time last year. That figure was the sharpest gain for any month in 2006 thus far. Snohomish County saw prices jump over 18 percent. ???We??™re still clicking along at a good pace,??? D??™Ann Jackson, president of the Seattle-King County Association of Realtors?® commented. ???The key for sellers right now is accurate pricing.??? Indicators show that overpriced homes are being regularly overlooked by buyers.
August saw a 9.4 percent increase in sales, or 857 more transactions, over July, as well as steadily increasing prices. High gas prices, proximity to job centers, and affordability have helped condominiums to become a large factor in the market. Some brokerages estimate that condos now account for 30 percent of sales.
In September, prices continued to increase, though at a more moderate pace. Nine of the counties served by the NWMLS saw double digit gains. ???We??™re seeing far more equilibrium between buyers and sellers than we did earlier this year,??? John L. Scott President Joe Spencer said. In King County, the median price of a home was $380,000. Despite news of a slowing market around the country, economists predict a ???soft landing??? for the real estate industry, particularly in the Pacific Northwest where the market is on pace for the second best sales year in history. With the Office of Financial Management predicting 95,000 new jobs in the state of Washington this year, in-migration will continue to play a large factor in the continued strong market here.
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