The MLS numbers are in for April and the number of pending sales jumped 36% in King County from 12 months ago and closed sales were up 51% from a year ago. The tax credit certainly helped to do what was intended and stabilize the housing market bringing first time buyers out in mass leading to a surge up the price point chain all the way to the over $1M category. NWMLS figures show big gains in the number of high-end sales. Last month, 93 closed sales of homes priced at $1 million or more, improving on the year-ago total of 52 such sales. Through the first four months of 2010, the number of closed sales that fetched $1 million or more increased 65 percent from a year ago. Due to a surge of activity in the last 2 months, inventory levels are presently low, which will probably increase as we head into the summer months and more homes hit the market. Area-wide, there’s about a 4.24 month supply, meaning at the current sales rate, if no other homes were put on the market it would take just over four months to exhaust the supply (this combines all price ranges and all areas in King County).
I am closely watching several pending homes priced in the $1M-$2M range that went under contract last month that have been on the market in some cases 2 years with original list prices of over $2M. These will become our new upper end comps for homes currently on the market.
Please feel free to contact me regarding your specific situation.
