What Were The Odds of Selling Your Seattle-Eastside Home in January, 2010?

Seattle-Eastside Real Estate, January, 2010

The odds of selling a home on the Eastside in January, 2010 ranged from a low of 12% to a high of 28%, with an average 21% 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.)

January, 2010         2588 homes for sale,      539 homes sold,          27% odds of selling.

December, 2009     2584 homes for sale,     419(now 358) homes sold    16%(Now 14%) odds of selling.*

January, 2009,        3144 homes for sale      248 homes sold              9% odds of selling.

*Adjusted from previous month’s numbers to reflect the actual number of homes sold and closed. Each month some sales  fall apart and don’t close.  A lower number of home sales may be reported at a later date to show the actual number of sales that did close. (see explanation below)

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January, 2009 Seattle-Eastside real estate market compared to January, 2010:

• Home sales were up in all Seattle-Eastside cities.
• The number of homes for sale dropped to the lowest number since February, 2007.
  
• The median price was down by 1.8%.  (Keep in mind this is comparing last January’s numbers to this January and is not an indication of the total drop in price for the year.)
  
• Home sales on Seattle’s Eastside:   up 76%!
• Number of homes for sale on Seattle’s Eastside:  down 27%
  

Best odds of selling: Redmond, near Microsoft, and East Bellevue are back on top as the areas with the greatest odds of selling. Twenty eight percent of the homes got offers.  Last month the area had the worst odds on the eastside.

Worst odds of selling: West Bellevue with only 12% of the homes getting accepted offers.

Biggest increase in sales from last year: Redmond, near Microsoft,  and East Bellevue with 103% increase in the number of home sales from last year.

Smallest increase in sales from last year: West Bellevue, with a 35% increase in home sales over last year.

Decline in real estate sales from last year: None on the eastside.

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

The peak of homes for sale in 2009: June,  3859 homes.

The number of eastside homes for sale at the start of 2010: 2584 homes

The number of eastside homes for sale now: 2588 homes.

Rate of home sales that failed: 15%

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 only 4% of the short sales actually close in King County.  Since there’s a huge number on the market, if you’re someone willing to take a chance and accept that your offer may never be looked at or accepted, then a short sale may be a way to go. With the extension of the home buyer tax credit, home buyers have more time to go after short sales.  However, months may still be needed to get the short sale closed, if it is to close at all. Since most buyers truly want to purchase a home and close on it, I would recommend NOT making offers on short sales.  I’d also recommend reading as much as you can about short sales before attempting to make an offer on a short sale. This way you’ll be prepared if you choose to go the route of a short sale.