Median price per square foot for condos sold is starting to fall below 4th quarter of 2006 numbers, and is down 11.8% from peak pricing.
King County Condos
2004 – 1Q – 1,694 – $188, 2Q 2,636 – $199, 3Q 2,540 – $196, 4Q 2,176 – $195
2005 – 1Q – 2,066 – $198, 2Q 2,925 – $209, 3Q 2,769 – $226, 4Q 2,266 – $224
2006 – 1Q – 1,956 – $242, 2Q 2.748 – $252, 3Q 2,737 – $269, 4Q 2,217 – $278
2007 – 1Q – 2,042 – $295, 2Q 2,862 – $302, 3Q 2,676 – $311, 4Q 1,618 – $294
2008 – 1Q – 1,258 – $299, 2Q 1,535 – $287, 3Q to date 895 – *$274
Active Listings: 3,983 – DOWN 47 – median price $319,950 – MPPSF asking $307 (Down $3) – DOM 67 (up 2)
In Escrow: 804 – UP 10- median asking price $289,700 – MPPSF asking $291 – DOM – 53 (up 3)
Sold YTD : 3,710- UP 650 – median list price $289,000 – median sold price $282,450 – MPPSF – $287 (down $2) DOM 49
Residential King county
2004 – 1Q 5,650 – $152, 2Q 9,237 – $160, 3Q 8.737 – $163, 4Q 7,467 – $165
2005 – 1Q 6,402 – $173, 2Q 9,093 – $185, 3Q 9,131 – $192, 4Q 7,301 – $195
2006 – 1Q 5,596 – $201, 2Q 8,248 – $214, 3Q 7,771 – $216, 4Q 6,204 – $217
2007 – 1Q 5,304 – $222, 2Q 7,393 – $230, 3Q 7,944 – $229, 4Q 4,301 – $221
2008 – 1Q 3,640 – $219, 2Q 4,676 – $220, 3Q to date 3,106 – *$215
*Residential median price per square foot is down another $2 per square foot since I ran the numbers two weeks ago. That brings prices back very close to where they were in the 2nd Quarter of 2006.
Some sigificant changes for property in escrow.
In Escrow: 2,429 – DOWN 139- median asking price $409,950 (down $10,000) – DOM 51 (up 3) – MPPSF $197 (down $7)
SOLD YTD: 11.451 – Actively for sale 12,027 – DOWN 280
Sold Year to Date and currently for sale are getting very close.
Stats not compiled or published by NWMLS. (Required disclosure)
Maybe I missed it (only at a partial cup of coffee right now), but did you notice a decrease in square footage for King County SFR?
If you mean price per square foot, yes. Recent closings dragged the median price per square foot for the 3rd quarter down by $2.
And yet it always seems the bigger story is in what is not selling. A drop of $2 per square foot involves those homes that attracted buyers enough to buy them. But what would the price drop have to be to attract more buyers for all the homes that are not selling at all.
No, I mean the average square footage. Smaller houses.
I don’t understand the question. I know the houses get more wet in Seattle, but I don’t think they shrink 🙂 How could the average square footage of homes in King County get smaller?
I’m looking at some notes I wrote down last night on houses sold in Federal Way and Tacoma. I’m seeing the same thing I’ve been seeing. People are buying bigger houses for less money.
1/1 to present day of 2007 median sf 1,500; median price $291,500.
1/1 to present day of 2008 median sf 1,672; median price $272,000.
Square footage up. Price down. MPPSF down from $194 to $162.
Does that answer the question? I also looked at Kirkland, Bellevue and Redmond as a group and similarly priced houses as Tacoma and Federal Way ($350,000 and under) including condos. Same result. Square footage up; prices down.
Prices in KBR were only down 6.9% compared to Tacoma & Federal Way which were down 16%. on a price per square foot basis.
Ardell, it relates to what I wrote in this blog/thread:
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/realestate/archives/147836.asp
Kary,
I am seeing a trend toward “we don’t need that much” and it is a similar trend to why we don’t see a bunch of Hummers in Seattle.
But I see it in the 3,000 plus square foot range as in “I don’t need 4,800 sf…2,800 is fine. I don’t want to be a hoggish waster in life.” kind of way.
So I don’t think it is impacting the market except for the high end of homes, i.e. the “McMansions”.
The price of gas is driving the Hummer thing–I wonder if it’s pushing over into other areas of life too?
Kary,
Not entirely. I don’t think you would ever see as many Hummers in Seattle that you see in parts of CA. Pacific Northwest is not a wasteful mindset kind of place. Conserving and not being ostentasiously flashy is part of the culture. It’s not all about gas prices except for the “Frazier” crowd…and they are few.
You don’t see many “pretenders” being all image conscious if you walk around Microsoft Campus. I’m sure you have a few people with image and status issues anywhere. But by and large, Seattle isn’t about that for most mature people.
Prices are still too high… Next spring will be the real drops for Seattle.
b, just wait for the NWMLS numbers tomorrow. I think they’ll show that drop (or at least a downward trend–not trying to say what will happen out further than that).
b,
Wouldn’t the market drop more in the “off” months like from now until Spring? Seems Spring is when they bounce or go flat. Why would you say Spring?
Kary,
b’s talking about a BIG drop…not a couple of bucks. “Downward Trend” is very duh.
Yes, I know, I was just trying to give “b” something to look forward to short term. 😉
The cities in California dropped significantly through the fall and winter last year, but that’s a low-volume phenomenon. Then their prices continued to drop on higher volume through the spring at nearly the same downward trend.
It’s much a more significant decline in the stock market if you see it on high volume. I presume the same theory applies to houses. It also produces panic and/or a slap of cold reality in the face of sellers. A much more pleasant environment. Lots of selection and reasonable sellers.
My assumption is like biliruben says, if you look at CS in other “further ahead” markets the big drops come around the second season after initial declines, which would put Seattle at next spring. That is when the people who pulled this season, “investors” waiting, etc, will all try and play the market in March and it will race downward.
I’ve begun thinking I could afford 1,000 square feet instead of settling for 650. But I’ll keep the Honda Civic.