Gig Harbor & Key Peninsula Closed Home Sales Report for August 2012
Gig Harbor and Key Peninsula Combined Market J
This reflects the combined markets of Gig Harbor and the Key Peninsula. Sales activities for these individual areas are reviewed below.
With posting 111 closed sales, the volume of sales in August 2012 was the strongest I’ve recorded since I started compiling these stats in 2009. Granted, that is only three years, but it has been three years of real estate purgatory and it is great to see the market moving in great positive steps. With nearly half of the closed sales, the most active price range remains between $200 to $350K, but we did post 21 sales over $500K. This indicates that more buyers are taking advantage of the improved selling market, prices and interest rates and are ‘moving up’.
Homes sold more quickly with a 20% drop in days on market compared to July, and 4% less than August of 2011. Average and Median prices stayed relatively unchanged from July and posted a slight drop since the same time last year. This is not surprising as the market was still in turmoil last year and we didn’t really see the upturn until this spring, with five of the last six months posting increased sales prices. August also posted an Average Days on Market (DOM) of 91 days. This is a decrease of over 20% from last month and is the shortest DOM since I started tracking. This equates to about three months to sell a home . . . Three Months! From what we have been through, this is amazing and is a great indicator of the strengthening market.
The number of Active listing crept upward a little but with the record volume of closed sales the absorption rate now hovers between four to seven months of inventory. A balanced market maintains an inventory level of five months inventory, so we have nearly reached this magical level. We’re already hearing complaints that listings are too few and that there is not enough inventory. Basic economics of Supply and Demand; when demand is up and supply is down prices increase.
Looking forward to next month there are 246 total Pending sales. Of these 158 are Owner Occupied, a mere 16 are Bank Owned and 71 as Short Sales. The dominance of Owner Occupied home sales continues to add stability to our market. Bank Owned listings and sales continue their slide in number, but are now trending to be offset by an increase in Short Sales. However, the 71 Short Sales is misleading because, let’s face it, Bank’s just don’t want to make a decision and often buyers for these homes get fed up with this inability and move on, so the sale doesn’t close.
Gig Harbor Market J
Way to go Gig Harbor! Closed home sales totaled 86 in August which is an amazing 54% increase over the prior month and 24% higher than last year. With total Median and Average prices decreasing by 9.9 and 2.3 percent to $325 and $406K respectively, prices appear to have taken a minor slump, but considering monthly fluctuations they seem to be holding pretty soundly. The 99 DOM for the Gig Harbor area is a decrease of over 11% from the prior month but is nearly 9% above last year for the same period. Even with this slight increase over last year, this remains one of the shortest DOM I have reported and still equates to just over three months to sell a home.
Looking at the Sold homes, Gig Harbor market had a slightly higher most active sold price range than the combined market with its most active price range between $250 and $350K, but also had a strong surge in sales of homes price between $450 and $500K. These two price ranges made up nearly half of the 86 total sales in Gig Harbor.
September is poised to be another strong month with 181 sales Pending, with 127 of these Owner Occupied, 48 Short Sales and only 6 Bank Owned. Of the 48 Short Sale homes in a Pending status, only 5 have made it through the lender negotiations and are proceeding to closing.
Soundly and securely driven by Owner Occupied sales, the Gig Harbor market is looking good with indicators showing continued stability and growth.
Key Peninsula Market J
A Banner Month for the KP! The Key Peninsula posted 25 closed homes sales In August. Tied with April of 2011, this is the strongest sales month for the Key Peninsula since I started tracking. Prices also made a substantial climb as compared with August of 2011 posting increases of 76 and 36% in Median and Average prices respectively. Both Median and Average prices also increased over last month by 13 and 4% to $230 and $224K respectively. Average Days on Market (DOM) posted an astounding decline of 45% to only 65 average days on market. 65 days . . . That’s barely over two months. And of the 25 homes that sold, 19 were owner occupied, or 76%. This also is the strongest percentage since I have been tracking. Of these 25 homes sold, 15 were priced in the $200 to $300K price range which remains the strongest price point in the KP.
Looking forward to next months sales, there are 65 homes in all Pending categories; 29 are Pending waiting on closing, 20 are Pending Inspection and 14 Pending short Sale. I don’t want to sound too overly optimistic, but these Pending sales indicate that we could have an even stronger September.
And in closing . . .
It’s easy to say that August was a good month for Gig Harbor/Key Peninsula Real Estate. Prices steady, reduced DOM and Absorptions rates and decreased distress sale inventory. The time is right for many, but caution and reality are vital in any successful real estate transaction. Pricing and condition remain the strongest factors in our market today. When looking at the reduction in DOM reported here, consider also that the Average DOM for Active listings in the combined market stands at 151 days. This is a sound indicator that homes that are price too high when listing remain on the market far longer and take the risk not selling. Our market has made a shift for the better and Buyers are out there in record numbers, but only homes that are priced correctly for today’s market will sell.
There are some amazing values in the market right now and interest rates remain unbelievably low. If you know anyone who is considering how they can take advantage of this market please let me know or have them get in contact with me. I appreciate your consideration and note that I have a wonderful national referral network for those out of state friends and clients.
