Greg Abbott

Graph of the surrounding 4-county area (King, Kitsap, Pierce, Snohomish). Single family homes for sale, pending and sold from 2/2011 thru 4/2012.

The number of available Homes for Sale is down 33% to 40% (depending on area) versus this time last year…while Pending Sales are up 17% to 23%. This has created a very active market and shortened marketing times…Not in all areas or price ranges, but in many.

So far the 2012 market has been strong and an improvement over 2011 which was a great recovery year in itself!

-Greg

This is probably one of the best signs of a recovering real estate market…Buyers taking advantage of lower prices to not only own a house, but to own more than one house. Whether that be in the form of a vacation home or a rental investment or, in some cases, both.

Last year’s sales of investment and vacation homes surged to their highest level since 2005, according to an annual survey of such transactions.

The 2012 Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey by the National Association of Realtors® shows investment-home sales jumped 64.5 percent in 2011 compared to 2010, rising from 749,000 to 1.23 million. Vacation-home sales rose 7.0 percent to 502,000 in 2011 from 469,000 in 2010. Owner-occupied purchases fell 15.5 percent to 2.78 million.

Vacation-home sales accounted for 11 percent of all transactions last year, up from 10 percent in 2010, while the portion of investment sales jumped to 27 percent in 2011 from 17 percent in 2010.

Reported today by our Northwest Multiple Listing Service, Pending sales for February increased more than 27% from a year ago. In addition, many of us brokers are experiencing multiple offers again on homes in certain areas. This is due in large part to historically low interest rates (high 3′s – mid 4′s%) and home prices being 7-11% (depending on area) lower than a year ago. Another factor: Lower Inventory. There are 32.3% fewer homes for sale in King County and 38.2% fewer in Snohomish County, versus a year ago.

Take a look at the Months of Supply that Windermere tracks. The color coding gives a quick overview: Green is a Buyer’s Market (more than 6 months of inventory), Yellow is a Balanced Market (3-6 months of inventory) and Red is a Seller’s Market (0-3 months of Inventory). You see that most of King and Snohomish Counties are in a Seller’s Market! And compared to the chart shown from last year, this is quite a turn-around.

More listings will be coming on the market this Spring and, as I mentioned last month, this will be something to watch. Will increased sales keep us in Seller and Balanced Markets, or will inventory build back up?

Housing inventory in Seattle, the Eastside and King County (and the Puget Sound area in general) has fallen in most areas for the past 6-7 consecutive months, beginning in the middle of last summer. We always have the seasonal dips after inventories usually peak in the fall, but this current trend has a different feel. Especially since new Pending sales have continued to be relatively strong and have outpaced new listings hitting the market in many areas the past few months.

King County, in general, is a prime example of this shrinking housing inventory. Last January Trendgraphix showed there were 7,694 homes listed. This January 2012, there were 5,532 listings. That’s a drop of -28% year-to-year in available homes on the market. With typically more homes coming on the market in the spring, this will still be an interesting trend to watch since new Pending sales activity is very high right now. We’ll see how the rest of February plays out, but from what I’m seeing in the market the February Sales numbers should be a way over January’s numbers.

I’ll report back on this in a few weeks…

Note: To see similar graphs on other counties and specific cities, from the menu select Market Stats and pick your area.

What should a seller ask a real estate agent, when considering hiring them to help sell their home?

Here are my top 10 questions a seller should ask before hiring an agent to represent their home sale:

1) How many years experience do they have in the business?
2) What geographical area or house type (price range…) do they specialize in?
3) How many homes did they sell in their area in the past year? How many did they list?
4) What is their average market time to get a home under contract?
5) What fix-ups or repairs would they recommend…and do they suggest using a professional stager?
6) What does the agent see as the main selling features of the seller’s home, and how would they market/promote them?
7) What demographic/buyer profile do they see marketing to, and do they have any specific ways that they could accomplish this?
8 What is the rest of their marketing plan? Flyers, brochures, online marketing syndication and websites, postcards/mailers…? Ask to see samples of their previous work or marketing campaigns.
9) What do they think the home will sell for? Ask for comparable sales (and how they compare to their property, plus or minus, because no two homes are the same).
10) What is the agent’s method and frequency of communication and feedback during the marketing? During the escrow through closing?

Of course answers to many of these questions will lead to yet other questions, but you will have a good feel for the agent and his/her approach and customer service after going through this list.