King-Snohomish County Real Estate Map-October 2008

King-Snohomish County Real Estate Map - October 2009

The real estate maps show a market more balanced between buyers and sellers than we had last year.  That’s no big surprise.  Only a few pockets remain in which buyers still have more of an advantage as evidenced by the “green” areas still on the map. But the balance is tipping to a more even market between buyers and sellers all over King and Snohomish Counties.

There’s been a huge increase in Seattle-Eastside home sales since last October, a whopping 100%+ increase in many neighborhoods.   The number of homes for sale is down to the lowest numbers we’ve seen since February and the number of home sales are skyrocketing when compared to last year.  Home prices are not going anywhere and may have stopped going down.

I expect the extension and expansion of the 2010 home buyer credit to continue to spur real estate sales on.

As I mentioned last month, be prepared for any and everything with real estate sales in the coming months. There’s no “one size fits all.”  Home sales will depend on the price point, location, the home’s condition, the competition, and/or a combination of these things. Some homes will sell quickly and for a good price, others will still undergo significant price reductions to meet market expectations, and others will sell, but for less than one would expect.

What do the numbers on the map mean? The map is divided into the numbered areas as defined by our Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS).  Downtown Bellevue is area 520 and East Bellevue is area 530, as an example.

What do the colors mean?

Red means it’s a sellers’ market, a sellers’ advantage.

Yellow means a balanced market between buyers and sellers.

Green means its a buyers’ market.

If you take each area as shown on the map and look to the area number on the side of the map, it will tell you how long it would take to sell every home currently for sale if no other home came up on the market in that area.