The following is my Gig Harbor/Key Pen Sales stats report and highlights for September 2012. Following an amazing August, September had many high points, so I may be a bit wordy. But bear with me, it’s mostly good news – and that’s worth my rambling. Please feel free to share with anyone who may also find this informative or interesting. Any questions on any of this, please feel free to contact me.
Gig Harbor & Key Peninsula Closed Home Sales Report for September 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.
September was another great month for real estate sales in the Gig Harbor and Key Peninsula area. Although the total number of closed sales fell from a banner August, September was still a solid month in regards to strong sales and stable pricing. In the last twelve months, posting 88 closed sales, September was second only to the closed sales posted in August, and an 11% increase over September 2011.
With 50% of the sale, the most active price range in September fell between $200K and $450K, that’s $100K over August’s most active price range. And not just slightly; 14 closed sales (or 16% of the total sold homes) fell within this S100K higher price category. Higher end home sales (valued over $500K) were also impressive with posting 18 closed home sales, or 20% of total sales. Let me reiterate that last part; 20% of closed sales were valued at over $500,000 . . . twenty percent! As reported I reported similar increases last month, this may point to a trend that more home owners are taking advantage of stabilized prices and are moving up while the affordability is at its best.
I was excited to show in my August report that that the Average Days on Market (DOM) had fallen to 91 days, a decline of over twenty percent from the previous month. I didn’t expect September would pretty much shatter this by posting a 30% reduction, down to just over 60 days DOM. This trend shows that homes in good condition and priced right sell and sell quickly - Just two months from listing to closed sale. When looking at the reduction in this DOM, consider also that the Average DOM for Active listings in the combined market stands at 160 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.
Total Active listings fell 6.63% to 634 with slight increases in both Average and Median list price. With this reduction in inventory we also had a decline in Pending Sales of over 6%. The combination of these declines maintained the absorption rate between four to seven months of inventory. A balanced market holds an inventory level of five months inventory. We are there in some areas and are nearly there overall. This trend will facilitate a shift to a Sellers’ market and increasing prices. Basic economics of Supply and Demand; when demand is up and supply is down prices will rise.
Looking forward to next month there are 231 total Pending sales. Of these 139 are Owner Occupied, a mere 22 are Bank Owned and 70 as Short Sales. From this I would expect October to post slightly fewer closed sales then September, but a continued increase in overall pricing.
Gig Harbor Market J
Closed home sales fell off from an outstanding August, which was the best month in years. As sales fell by 23% to 66 total closed sales, this at first may be alarming but don’t be; At 66 closed sale this is a nearly an 18% increase over the same period last year. While Average price had minimal gains to $407K, Median price increased nearly 10% to $357K. DOM fell to just over 60 days and with 83% of the sale, and Owner Occupied sales continue to dominate the Gig Harbor market. All these factors show that the market continues to improve.
Looking at the Sold homes, the most active price range widened with 59% between $200 and $450K. This widening indicates a more diverse buying population and it’s interesting that homes that sold for $250 and under made up 27% of the market while homes sold for over $500K commanded an equal 27% share.
With the number of Pending Sales dropping to 117, October sales could follow suit with fewer closed sales. This is fairly typical as we head into the Holiday Season. Of the 117 Pending, Owner Occupied sale continue the dominance with 117. Pending Short Sales total 45 and Bank Owned coming in a distant third at only 9 pending sale. Unfortunately, Short Sales may linger in Pending for many months and many will not close. So while these are high in number, they are weak in success.
Key Peninsula Market J
Although the 22 total closed sales dipped a little from a very active August, which posted a healthy 25, September was still a good month in this recovering area; Of the 22 homes sold in September, 17 were owner occupied. That is over 77% of the closed sales and is higher than last month’s posting of 76%, which was the strongest percentage since I have been tracking. Owner occupied sales have been in the majority five of the last six months, and with the earlier dominance distress sales had on the KP market this is a very welcome trend. When compared to 2011, monthly total sales have been stronger in four of the last six months, and DOM is holding steady at just over sixty days. All good indications of an improving market on the KP.
Coming off a strong August, prices took a little corrective action in September with the Median price loosing over 15% to $195K, but on a more positive side, the Average price was far more steady, falling by less than a quarter percent to $223K. Even with posting these declines, September of 2012 increased in pricing over 2011 posting gains of 5.6% and 11.24% respectively. Pricing will fluctuate monthly so the lower prices of September are nothing to be concern with and are holding fairly steady.
Pricing of closed sales were divided fairly equal in September between the price ranges of 100K to $450K. Of particular note is, considering the 22 closed sales for September, 6 of these were priced above $300K. That may not seem like much until you consider that that is equal to 27% of the sales – that’s huge when you consider that this price range on average includes only 14% of sales.
Looking forward to next month’s sales, there are 60 homes in all Pending categories; 20 are Pending waiting on closing, 20 are Pending Inspection and 14 Pending short Sale. These Pending sales indicate that we could have equally strong sales in October.
And in closing . . .
Our market has made a shift for the better and Buyers are out there in record numbers. And,although September was not as strong as the previous month, it did post many positive numbers. Prices remain steady, further reductions in DOM and Absorption rates, and distress home inventory continues to decline. Homes are selling, but pricing and condition remain the strongest factors for a successful sale our current market today.
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.
