According the Northwest MLS recent report for August activity, value is what’s selling in the current housing market. Offers accepted were up 8.4 % from July, (a good sign as August is generally one of our slowest months) but off nearly 20% from the same month a year ago. July numbers were dreadfully off the prior year and the blame has been placed on extending the first time buyer home credit that expired the end of April that pushed buyers into the first 2 quarters of the year, robbing the summer months of buyers who would have bought anyway, therefore “wasting taxpayer dollars”.
It remains a solid buyers market but a good market for sellers who price their home correctly from the start; “Homes that are priced right from the start, at every price range, are selling quickly and for very close to asking price. In this market, it’s critical to price a home well from day one. If sellers plan to start high and gradually go lower, they’ll price themselves out of the market”, observed NWMLS director OB Jacobi. The median sales price of last months closed homes in King County was up slightly (1.3%) from a year ago (San Juan county up 23.8%).
The housing recovery is still expected to be slow and take many years for prices to come back. In a statement accompanying a National Association of Realtors® report on existing home sales, Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economists said the recovery looks to be a long process. “Home sales will remain soft in the months ahead, but improved affordability conditions should help with a recovery,” he stated, adding, “Home buyers over the past year got a great deal, and buyers for the balance of this year have an edge over sellers. For those who bought at or near the peak several years ago, particularly in markets experiencing big bubbles, it may take over a decade to fully recover lost equity.”
The best advice I can offer is if you haven’t bought yet, now is the time to take advantage of both prices and low interest rates and if you are a seller; prepare your home for sale with the help of a Realtors advice and price it correctly from the very beginning. I can personally share many success stories from happy clients!