August NWMLS Stats Show Double Digit Price Decline in King County SFHs
This morning’s Seattle Times headline blares “Home Prices Slide Back to ’06.” According to reporter Eric Pryne:
The median selling price of houses in King County dipped last month to its lowest level since April 2006, according to numbers released Tuesday by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
The broker-owned service said the median price of single-family homes sold in the county in August fell to less than $424,000, down more than $53,000 from August 2007. The 11 percent decline was the first double-digit year-over-year drop for King County since the subprime-mortgage crisis turned the market on its head.
The double digit decline is no doubt a significant and unmistakable sign that although the Seattle housing market has lagged behind others in the nation, it is by no means invincible. The Tim over at Seattle Bubble points out “the reality finally sinking in” among local media, and today provides a collection of perspectives from news media and experts around the Sound.
Is the sky falling, or has it already? See for yourself. The NWMLS provides the cold, hard numbers for King County (including overall, and SFH & condos separately). The percentage change from the August, 2007 to the August, 2008 statistics show:
- Number of active listings: +18.34% (total); +16.03 (SFH); +25.95% (condos)
- Number of pending sales: -22.56% (total); -16.09% (SFH); -37.74% (condos)
- Number of closed sales: -38.32% (total); -33.64% (SFH); -50.33% (condos)
- Median sales price: -6.42% (total); -11.19% (SFH); -5.96% (condos)
For the Eastside:
- Number of active listings: +31.30% (total); +27.10 (SFH); +45.31% (condos)
- Number of pending sales: -26.68% (total); -21.77% (SFH); -36.89% (condos)
- Number of closed sales: -41.12% (total); -36.24% (SFH); -51.75 (condos)
- Median sales price: -1.29% (total); -9.13% (SFH); -2.90% (condos)
Source: Northwest Multiple Listing Service
