North Sound Property News

No major price changes in the Mukilteo real estate market since July–that’s the big news of the month, given the changed situation in mortgage lending.  However, listings continue to climb.  Listings are up 20% over July, and time on market is down (due to all the new listings over the last couple of months).

 Median list price is down from $648,800 in July, to $629,950 in August.  Does this indicate a new market direction?  I don’t think so–I think July’s numbers were just a spike, as the following chart illustrates.

Increasing levels of inventory could indicate that price reductions are coming this fall, but at this point, prices seem to be holding fairly steady at their ”Summer 2007″ levels.  I would expect to see September numbers echoing August’s trend, though if the sales trend follows what we normally see, September should see more contracts being written as August is often a slow month due to summer holidays.  We should sell through some of our backlogged inventory over the next couple of months if the usual pattern holds true this year.  If this happens, prices should stay stable at their current range.

However, if this fails to happen and the inventory build up doesn’t clear by end of October, then we could see price reductions or listing cancellations start to become a trend later in the fall. 

Active Listings
(Listing count includes ALL listings currently on the market)
Listing Count: 127 (up 20% over July)
Average Time on Market: 85 days (down from 89 in July)
Median List Price: $629,950
Average $ Per Square Foot: $266 (down from $272 in July)

There were 62 new listings in August, up from 52 in the month of July.

Under Contract (includes Contingent, Active STI and Pending)
Listing Count: 19 (up from 14 in July)
Average Time On Market: 88 Days (up from 58 days in July)
Median List Price: $715,000 (up from 579,975 in July)
Average $ Square Foot: $244 (up from $222 in July)

 Wow–August saw a big increase in the time it took for listings to get under contract over July, but not surprising given how much time on market has increased for our inventory overall.  Takeaways here are that what sold in August tended to be more expensive homes.  In fact, only 3 of the properties that went under contract in August would have qualified for conventional FNMA/FDMC loan limits of $417,000 with a 20% down payment.  By far, the majority of market activity in Mukilteo occured in the jumbo loan market, which is surprising given the recent interest rate hikes affecting this market.  I think this is a good sign for our local market where many properties are in the jumbo range.

The question is, how significant is it that we are seeing comparatively more jumbo activity in the “under contract” segment versus “Sold” segment?  Are these contracts stalling out due to financing?  September numbers for closed sales should hold the answer to that question.

And how significant is it that far fewer contracts were written in the lower end of the market?  Are problems in Alt-A and subprime financing catching up with the market?  Or are buyers in those price ranges holding off for other reasons (summer vacations, for instance)?

Sold Listings
Listing Count: 20 (down from 24 in July)
Average Time On Market: 57 Days (up from 44 in July)
Median Sale Price: $590,750 (up slightly over $574,250 in July)
Average $ Square Foot: $262 (up over $246 in July)

About half of August’s closed sales would fall into the jumbo category, which is in keeping with the general makeup of our inventory.

 At the current rate of sales to inventory, we have approximately a 4 to 6 month supply of homes on the market.  By most estimates, we are firmly in Buyer’s Market territory.  For buyers, you now have excellent negotiating power.  For sellers, staging and preparation are key, as is setting the right price to begin with.  The market is very unforgiving of overpricing right now.   For more information on how to get a “Sold” sign up in your yard,  see my article on “How to Sell Any House for More Money”

Note: all market statistics are compiled by me using NWMLS data, and include the Mukilteo city limits/98275 area code only.

About the Author: Sandy Kaduce is Associate Broker of Gallery Homes Real Estate. She serves buyers and sellers in North King and South Snohomish counties. She is 2009 Board President of the Mukilteo Chamber of Commerce, as well as Vice President of Site Selection for Habitat for Humanity of Snohomish County. For more information, visit Sandy on the web at www.sandykaduce.com! Read more from this author