Seattle-Eastside Real Estate Sales September 2009

The odds of selling a home on the Eastside in September 2009 ranged from a low of 15% to a high of 32.5%, with an average 19% absorption rate. (The absorption rate is the number of homes for sale in any given month divided by the actual number of homes sold that month.)

September, 2009   3518 homes for sale      668 homes sold           19% odds of selling.

August, 2009          3604 homes for sale     683 (now 604) homes sold     19 (now 18)% odds of selling.

September, 2008   4240 homes for sale    433 (now 373) homes sold       10 (now 9)% odds of selling.*

*Adjusted from previous month’s numbers to reflect the actual number of homes sold and closed.  Some sales from each month fall apart and don’t close, hence a lower number of sold homes may be reported at a later date.

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September, 2009 Seattle Eastside real estate market:

Sales were up, the number of homes for sale and the median prices were down in all neighborhoods, except for the Redmond/Carnation area.

Home sales on Seattle’s Eastside:  up 29%

Sales Prices: down 11%.

Number of homes for sale:  down 17%.

Best odds of selling: Redmond, near Microsoft, and East Bellevue,  32.5% chance.

Worst odds of selling:  South Bellevue/Issaquah, a 15% chance.

Biggest increase in sales from last year: West Bellevue, 92% more home sales.

Smallest increase in sales from last year: Sammamish, Issaquah plateau, 30%

Decline in real estate sales: Redmond/Carnation, -6%

The peak of homes for sale in 2008: July,   4370 homes.

The peak of homes for sale in 2009:  July,  3819 homes.

Failure rate for home sales: 12%

Why home sales fail to close:

• This can be the result of inspections in which buyers and sellers do not agree, an appraisal that does not justify the sales price, lenders who do not package the loan properly or the great number of short sales that are out there.
  
• Short sales are sales in which the selling price for a property is less than the price owed to the bank, so the seller is “short.”  Many of these offers do not stay together because it often takes months for a short sale to get approved by the bank.  There’s no guarantee the bank will accept an offer.  I’ve heard that only 4% of the short sales actually closed in King County.  Since there are a huge number on the market, if you’re someone  willing to take a chance on a property, are willing to accept your offer may never be looked at or accepted, then a short sale may be a way to go.  However, since most buyers truly want to purchase a home and close on it, I would recommend NOT making offers on short sales.

For more of a picture of Seattle’s real estate market, check on the articles in The Seattle Times, The Seattle PI, and KING 5.