Seattle-eastside condo sales were still hot in September. Twenty-one percent of the condos for sale got offers for the third month in a row! There’s less for sale this month than in August and fewer condos actually sold, but the odds of selling were exactly the same. It’s exciting to see the sales numbers for the year keep zooming past last year’s sales. This year 70% more condos sold on the eastside than last year! This good news was coupled with 31% fewer condos on the market than in 2010.
There were 992 condos for sale in September, with 203 of them receiving offers. Average market time was 125 days vs. 151 days in September 2010.
What’s unique about this past month is only one eastside condo sale failed. Last month I reported 213 condo sales. Now it looks like only one sale failed and 212 of them stayed together! This presents a good, solid month of sales as typically up to 10% of the sales can fail.
Sales fail for many reasons. A condo may not pass inspection or an appraisal. The buyer may not get financing or the condo complex itself may not fit financing guidelines. This could be because there could be too many renters occupying units or there could be a pending lawsuit against the association. Situations such as this could affect the buyer’s ability to obtain a loan, even if the buyer is well qualified to buy. When obtaining financing for a condo, the condo and the association must also “qualify” in order for the loan to be approved.
How are condos selling in your area? Are you seeing problems with buyers obtaining financing?