Seattle Eastside Condo Sales Sept 2009

(The absorption rate, the percentage of condos selling,  is the number of condos for sale in any given month divided by the actual number of condos sold that month.  So if the absorption rate or chance of selling is 10% that means out of 100 condos for sale, 10 received offers and sold.)

September, 2009          1407 condos for sale          236 condos sold            17% odds of selling.

August, 2009                 1429 condos for sale          206(now 178) condos sold   14%(now 12) odds of selling.

September, 2008          1458 condos for sale          151 condos sold             11% odds of selling.

*Adjusted from previous month’s original numbers to reflect the actual number of condos sold and closed.  Some of the sales originally reported last month failed and did not close.

More Seattle Eastside condos are selling. The trend continues as sales numbers are more than double January and February of this year.

Sales don’t close for a variety of reasons: In September, 2% of the condo sales failed to close. Some sales are falling apart and not closing because of inspection, financing issues, and appraisal issues.

A sale could fail because an appraisal came in lower than the selling price, an inspection happened in which both buyer and seller couldn’t agree or a lender didn’t put the loan package together properly.  Unfortunately, there are other reasons sales fail to close, such as short sales in which a seller is selling a condo for less than is owed on the property.  If the bank doesn’t agree to sell the condo at the price established between the buyer and seller, the deal could be off.

My team and I worked on a condo sale that almost fell apart because of the FHA spot approval.  The condo complex did not meet FHA spot approval guidelines because of the lack of a condo reserve study.  The buyer had to redo their loan and was able to qualify for conventional financing. It was a little hairy for a while, but the sale closed.

Important news for all condo buyers: FHA spot approvals will be going away soon. Come November, FHA spot approvals will be gone.

As the year comes to a close, look to see if the absence of FHA spot approvals and the end of the $8000 first time home buyer tax credit affect the number of condo sales.  I suspect the entry level condo sales, those under 300k, will slow down.