From blog.seattlepi.com–While we’ve started to see small price increases in many neighborhoods, the Seattle market is continually making national lists for inventory decreases. The latest report from Realtor Magazine showed Seattle with a 34% drop in inventory over the past year, and just 46 days as the median age of inventory. This is actually a larger metropolitan area being used including parts of other counties. If we took statistics specifically from Seattle and close-in Eastside cities, those numbers would be even more dramatic. Read the full post here>

NAR: Housing market has ‘turned the corner’
BY INMAN NEWS, THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012.
Inman News®

Pending sales of existing homes rose to their highest level in nearly two years in March, according to the National Association of Realtors’ latest Pending Home Sales Index.

The index, which represents contracts signed but not yet closed, jumped a seasonally adjusted 4.1 percent from February to March, to 101.4. That’s the highest index level since April 2010, when the deadline for a federal homebuyer tax credit program loomed. The index was 111.3 then. Read more >

By Kenneth R. Harney, Published: April 27

For the estimated 11 million homeowners burdened with an underwater mortgage, a federal policy change could be good news. Starting in June, if you decide to do a short sale to shed your mortgage debt load and avoid foreclosure, you may not have to wait for months to hear back from your bank after submitting an offer from a potential purchaser.

Instead, if your loan is owned or securitized by either of the dominant conventional mortgage market players, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, you can expect a response within 30 business days, with a final decision no later than 60 days. If you don’t hear back during the first 30 days, the bank will be required to send you weekly updates telling you precisely where the holdups are and when they are likely to be resolved. Continue Reading>

By Dana Dratch | Bankrate.com – Fri, Apr 13, 2012 3:08 AM EDT

It’s the magic phrase uttered by almost anyone who’s ever considered the cost of home remodeling: “We’ll get it back when we sell.”

Unless you keep those projects practical, though, you might just be kidding yourself.

For example:

Steel front door: Good.

Master suite addition costing more than the average American home: Bad.

Every year, Remodeling magazine looks at the hottest home upgrades and renovations and calculates just how much owners get back with they sell. Click to read more>

By Melinda Fulmer of MSN Real Estate

In these cities, demand is high and buyers are pouncing on listings as soon as they hit the market. Many homes are getting multiple offers and selling above list price. How did Seattle rank? Read on to find out!

From SeattlePI.com
By AUBREY COHEN, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF
Published 06:16 p.m., Thursday, April 5, 2012

Seattle house prices rose for the second month in a row in March, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported Thursday. One reason is an extremely low supply.

The median sales price for a Seattle house that sold in March was $397,000, up 3.1 percent from a year earlier, after a 2.8 percent rise in February. March’s median was up 8.8 percent from February’s, although seasonal fluctuations can complicate monthly comparisons.

King County’s median price, $330,000, was down 4.35 percent from a year earlier but up 7.1 percent from February. Read the entire article here>

MUKILTEO, WA – 9th BEST PLACE TO LIVE

From CNN Money

Photo from Money.CNN.com

Top 100 rank: 9

Population: 20,300

Unemployment: 8.2%*

As West Coast towns go, Mukilteo (pronounced MUCK-ill-TEE-oh) is in good economic shape. Bank-owned homes represent a small fraction of houses on the market, and area employers, including Boeing, are hiring again. It has affordable homes by Seattle standards, good schools, and a killer location right on Puget Sound. And the town is spending to beef up its attractions: A new 29,000-square-foot community center debuted in February, and historic Lighthouse Park recently got a makeover. –S.M.

See the complete list here>

Sam DeBord – SeattleHome.com
The total number of new homes for sale in the U.S. hit its lowest point on record in January, creating a stronger seller’s market for home builders and rising new construction prices. The lack of construction for the past few years has created a dearth of available new homes in many parts of the country, and most undeveloped and partially-developed land sits stagnant as lending for new construction remains tight.

The inventory of new homes fell to a 5.6 month supply. At the same time, new home prices increased by 0.3% and new home sales rose 3.5%, as compared to the previous year at this time. While new households have been created at a consistent rate during the past five years, there has been little construction to compensate, and the market is likely to continue tightening in terms of inventory and rising in terms of prices. Read entire post>

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2012

The government was able to chip away at its foreclosure inventory in 2011, reducing it by nearly half, HousingWire reports in analyzing financial statements from three government enterprises.

From the end of 2010 to 2011, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development saw a 49 percent reduction in the number of REO properties it owns. The three government enterprises held about 150,700 properties as of Dec. 31, 2011, compared to 296,000 at the end of 2010. Read more>

 

KIRKLAND, Wash. (March 5, 2012) – With spring on the horizon and consumer confidence on the rise, members of Northwest Multiple Listing Service are reporting positive gains in activity. Pending sales for February increased more than 27 percent from a year ago, more sellers are listing their homes, and brokers are reporting an uptick in multiple offers.

“Buyers are beginning to realize that we may have seen the bottom of this real estate market,” remarked Frank Wilson, branch managing broker at John L. Scott Real Estate in Poulsbo and a member of the Northwest MLS board of directors. “Waiting to buy may only result in paying a higher interest rate, having fewer houses to choose from, or finding that sellers do not need to give up as much as they have in the past,” he added.

Brokers reported 7,623 pending sales during February, the highest volume since August when they notched 7,632 mutually accepted offers. Last month’s tally jumped 27.4 percent from twelve months ago, with 20 of the 21 counties in the MLS service area reporting double-digit gains.

Within King County, pending sales were particularly robust in the Lake Forest Park/Kenmore neighborhoods (up 73 percent), Kent (up 61 percent), Burien/Normandy Park (up 58 percent) and central Seattle (up 56 percent). The northeast portion of Snohomish County also experienced strong sales (up 63 percent from a year ago).

“The only thing tempering this from being a hot, thriving market are the short sales and foreclosed properties which represent about one-third of the transactions,” Wilson commented.

J. Lennox Scott, CEO and chairman of John L. Scott Real Estate, said the combination of job growth and historic low interest rates is creating a seller’s market through the mid-price ranges and contributing to surging activity close to job centers. “It’s a special moment in time in real estate history,” he observed, adding “We have a backlog of qualified buyers looking for homes to purchase.”

Buyers have fewer homes to consider compared to a year ago, with inventory down 22.5 percent area-wide. At month end, there were 25,510 active listings in the Northwest MLS database; a year ago, there were 32,922 homes and condos listed for sale.

The selection compared to twelve months ago is down sharply in both King County (off 32.3 percent) and Snohomish County (down 38.2 percent). Measured by months of supply, Snohomish has about 2.1 months while King is slightly better at 2.3 months. (Five to six months of supply is considered to be a balanced market, with less than that presumed to be a seller’s market.)

Northwest MLS brokers added 7,390 new listings to inventory during February, about 400 fewer than the same month a year ago.

Asking prices are comparable to a year ago. System-wide, the median asking price for the current inventory of single family homes and condominiums is $249,900, about $5,000 below the year-ago median figure of $254,950 (down 1.98 percent). Six counties (Ferry, Grant, King, Mason, Snohomish, and Whatcom) reported higher median listing prices in February than 12 months ago.

Northwest MLS members reported 3,846 closed sales last month, up about 25 percent from the year-ago total of 3,080 completed transactions.

Selling prices continued to slip, but the decline was under 9 percent for the first time in nearly a year. The area-wide median price for last month’s closed sales of single family homes and condominiums (combined) was $218,944, down about 8.8 percent from the year-ago figure of $240,000.

For single family homes only (excluding condominiums), prices were down about 7.7 percent from a year ago. Last month’s closed sales fetched a median sales price of $229,000, which compares to the year-ago price of $248,000. Five counties (Clallam Ferry, Grant, Lewis and San Juan) reported year-over-year price increases.

Commenting on the market around Kitsap County, where prices dipped nearly 11 percent, Wilson said he expects prices to “stabilize and even reverse as we move further into 2012.” With 4.3 months of supply in that county, he believes the market is tilting toward sellers. “We continue to see more multiple offer situations on homes that come on the market correctly priced,” he stated.

Wilson also pointed to recently released consumer confidence numbers as a positive indicator. He noted The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index posted sizeable improvements in February, approaching levels last seen a year ago.

In a statement accompanying the latest report, Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center, said consumers were more optimistic about the short-term outlook than they were a month ago.

“Consumers are considerably less pessimistic about current business and labor market conditions than they were in January. And, despite further increases in gas prices, they are more optimistic about the short-term outlook for the economy, job prospects, and their financial situation,” she declared.

Nationally, the overall direction for the housing market is positive, according to analysts with the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Its latest figures show the past few months of contract activity are the highest in more than four years outside of the home buyer tax credit impact. In comments accompanying the latest figures, NAR suggested the market isn’t as strong as it could be because of overly restrictive lending standards and contract cancellations due in part to appraised values coming in below a negotiated price.

Northwest Multiple Listing Service, owned by its member real estate firms, is the largest full-service MLS in the Northwest. Its membership includes more than 22,000 real estate brokers. The organization, based in Kirkland, Wash., currently serves 21 counties in Washington state.

Statistical summaries follow.