Last month's pending sales fell below year-ago totals in Western Washington, but brokers say the market is faring quite well without a stimulus considering that this time last year there was a rush of buyers trying to beat the tax credit deadline, to have the number of sales off just slightly points towards a strengthening market.
Distressed properties continue to drag down prices. According to research by the National Association of REALTORS®, nearly one of every four home sales (24 percent) in Washington is classified as a short sale or foreclosure.
“We saw a lot of qualified buyers making offers in March. They're out of the tire-kicking mode and ready to buy now. Inventory is low in general, and there is a particular shortage of move-in ready homes,” one broker stated, noting properties that are selling look like model homes.“Sellers realize if they remove any buyer objections ahead of time, their house will sell, and sell quickly.”
What's expredicted:
Commenting on the latest nationwide report on pending sales, Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said
“We may not see notable gains in existing-home sales in the near term, but they're expected to rise 5 to
10 percent this year with the economic recovery, job creation and excellent affordability conditions
providing confidence to buyers who've been on the sidelines.” Yun also emphasized the importance of looking at the broader trend, citing the unusually bad weather in the Northeast as having a negative impact on March's data. “Month-to-month movements can be instructive, but in this uneven recovery it's important to look at the longer term performance,” he said. “Pending home sales have trended up very nicely since bottoming out last June, even with periodic monthly declines.”
Below is the countywide residential sales statistics in WA state:
(click on the table below for a larger image)
Data compiled by PING Real Estate.
(Data Source: Northwest Multiple Listing Services March 5 News Release and NWMLS online stats)
Hello,
ReplyDeleteNice article has been shared. it was fun reading your this article and also did get lots of good points from here. thanks for sharing such article here. it would be great if you can put some information related to Real Estate Roseville here in this article. keep on posting such article here in future too.