Note: In the event you got to this article from an older link, here is a link to the newest data for this category of monthly home sales in Kitsap County
Graph of Kitsap County Home Sales and Prices for May 2013
May was a record month for home sales in Kitsap County. There were 320 closed sales which is a high going back more than 3 years!.. It may even be an all time record, but we expect to see it smashed again next month!
The average and median selling prices both increased in May, with the average going from approximately $269,000 to approximately $286,000 which is almost identical to the May 2012 average sold price. The median jumped from $226,000 to about $246,000 which is 11.8% above the May 2012 Median home price.
Approximately 25% of the home sales were distressed properties which has been very consistent at about 25% of sales for the previous 6 months. There are some interesting aspects to the distressed data. As sales increase, the number of distressed sales has also proportionately increased, staying very solidly and stubbornly at 25% of sales.
For the month of May, the composition of the distressed sales is continuing to shift away from foreclosures and toward Short Sales with 45% being Short Sales and 55% being REO’s (bank owned foreclosures). We will continue to watch this in the coming months to see if it is in fact a trend that continues or not. The good news about this is that for a variety of reasons, generally Short Sales are not discounted as much as bank owned properties so this favors and supports increasing home prices. The bad news is that there are still so many distressed properties being sold, and nobody seems to know (or will disclose) the real data as to how large this “shadow inventory” really is. All we know, is that every month County-wide, there are between 50 – 80 distressed home sales and it seems to be an endless supply. As the real estate market improves, distressed sales will moderate at some point, and we will certainly be watching for the signs of this.
Looking ahead, in Kitsap County there are currently 945 homes under contract as Pending or contingent home sales which is up from 910 last month! We will once again project that sales will be at a record level exceeding the May quantity. Our best estimate is that there will be a monumental 375 homes Sold during June!
Looking ahead at June and beyond, it appears that the median selling prices will be declining to somewhere in the mid $220K range and average prices are also coming under pressure as there are more lower priced sales and it appears the average is headed to somewhere in the mid $250K price range. These are just estimates based upon the month-t0-date sales through June 8 (69 closed) and the pending sales data, so next month we’ll see how good our estimates are, but even with an error in our data for the quantity of home sales that could be +/- 15% we think it’s valuable to let you know the projected market trends.
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Brian Wilson, Broker; mobile: 360-689-2466
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Jana Salmans, Managing Broker; mobile: 360-509-9684
John L. Scott Real Estate
19723 10th Ave NE; Suite 200
Poulsbo, WA 98370
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