Seattle May 2007 Home Sales

June 27, 2007

Seattle region home sales held at a four-year low in May, with the sharpest declines in the lower price categories. The median price rose slightly to a new record, but the annual rate of increase was about half of last year's, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 6,864 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in May in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro area encompassing King, Snohomish and Pierce counties. That was up 11 percent from April but down 16.7 percent from May 2006, according to DataQuick Information Systems of La Jolla, Calif. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.

Last month's sales total was 0.3 percent higher than the region's average 6,847 sales for the month of May over the past decade. However, May marked the 12th consecutive month in which regional sales have fallen on a year-over-year basis.

Annual sales declines were steepest for the lowest price categories. For example, sales of homes priced below $200,000 fell 45 percent compared with May 2006, while sales of those priced under $300,000 dropped 32 percent. That compares with a relatively mild 7.5 percent sales decrease for homes priced from $300,000 to $600,000. The 266 homes that sold with either a price or loan amount of $1 million or more last month marked a 23.7 percent increase from the 215 that sold in May 2006, public records show.

The median price paid for all homes combined was $360,000, surpassing the region's previous peak of $354,000, reached in both February and April. Last month's median was up 1.1 percent from April and up 9.1 percent from $330,000 in April 2006. A year ago the May median shot up 17.9 percent, year-over-year.

Each of the region's three counties posted record overall median sale prices last month (resale and new homes combined): King County's was $409,000, up 7.7 percent; Pierce County's $279,500, up 6.8 percent; and Snohomish's $350,000, up 8.4 percent.

Another gauge of home pricing, the median price paid per square foot for resale (single-family) houses, was also at record levels for each county last month. This measure showed annual gains for King and Snohomish counties of 9.1 and 10.3 percent, respectively. Pierce County's increase was significantly lower at 4.1 percent.

Annual gains in the new-home median have been declining in recent months across the three-county region. Last month's 0.8 percent year-over-year decline in King County's new-home median marked the second time in the past year that the figure slipped below the year-ago level. To some extent the trend likely reflects builders tempering or nixing price increases in response to softer demand for their homes. However, the new-home median includes both detached single-family homes and attached condos; so a significant change in the types of homes selling – i.e. detached vs. attached – in one period compared with another can also influence the change in the median.

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA MSA
	# of sales			Median sale price
	May-06	May-07	%Chg	May-06	May-07	%Chg
Resale houses	5,298	4,354	-17.8%	$345,550	$384,000	11.1%
Resale condos	1,248	1,059	-15.1%	$235,950	$275,000	16.6%
New homes	1,693	1,451	-14.3%	$356,500	$367,000	3.0%
All homes	8,239	6,864	-16.7%	$330,000	$360,000	9.1%

 

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916)456-7157 or John Karevoll (909) 867-9534

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