Oh No! I Gained .015 Pounds!

Both the Seattle Times and the P-I ran front page articles today about September’s home sales and the softening housing market.

The P-I’s article, “Seattle Home Prices Slip from Last Year” focused on comparisons between the current year (by month) and last year’s sales prices, median price, and number of listings. The big drop in price from a year ago that the headline mentions? 50 bucks.

That’s right, .01%. That would be the equivalent of a person who weighed 150 lbs. making a headline out of .015 pounds. Yes, it’s news that prices go down at all in Seattle, and the graphs that lay out year-to-year comparisons by month are compelling. But the big news is inventory. While .01% is not statistically startling, the 50.4% increase in inventory over a year ago is inarguably headline-worthy.

The Times article, “Let the Buyer Rejoice: Home Sales, Prices Fall” focuses on King County, rather than Seattle, and compares prices from this August to this September. Looking at it that way, prices are down in King County — but over last September, prices are still up. Two great points made: 1. The number of condo listings in King County is up 74.2% over last September. 2. If no other homes came on the market, it would take six months to sell what’s already listed.

Both articles make reference to how condo numbers skew the stats. There are more condos for sale than last year, they are higher priced, and they are continuing to come on the market in greater numbers than other homes.

NWMLS has the complete statistics posted — but hasn’t updated their breakout within King County as of this posting.