Written by October 2011 sets a new record high!
As the weather begins to cool down, look for sales to slow down a little. November, December, and January traditionally record nearly 20% less total homes sold than the autumn months. I often have clients who ask whether or not it’s even worth trying to sell in the winter. As my first economics professor would answer, “It depends”. It depends on whether you want to sell… or need to sell. Which mindset do you have? If you want to sell, how bad do you want to sell? Next take a look at the facts. I always have an updated monthly statistics spreadsheet (which can be found on my blog at www.corybemis.com). This chart gives the exact numbers for all homes sold in any given month over the past 5 years. While sales do indeed slow down in the winter, there are still many people who need to purchase a home no matter the season. Competition with other sellers will increase in the winter as there are typically 20% less buyers in the market. Therefore, it wouldn’t be a good idea to cushion the asking price as much as you may in the spring. However, allowing for the inclusion of buyers’ closing costs in the asking price is always recommended in a buyers’ market. If you are on the fence about whether or not you should list your home right now, consult a realtor. Ask how many similar homes are currently on the market and how many have sold in the past six months. This will give you an idea of how strong your chances of selling will be in the upcoming months.
October home sales in the Yakima Area Real Estate Market increased dramatically when compared to any previous month this year. The total number of homes sold was the highest for any month dating back 16 months to June of 2010. When compared to October of last year, total homes sold increased by 30%. The average sales price increased 3.5% when compared to October 2010. This is the first time in more than a year that the total number of homes sold and the average sales price increased simultaneously when compared to the same month of the prior year. This October had the highest average sales price of any October in the Yakima area…ever.
In the month of October, there were 122 total homes sold with an average sales price of $174,886.
Foreclosure update: In my newsletter last month, I mentioned foreclosures made up 24% of total sales that month, and 20% of total sales year to date. In October the foreclosure sales (bank owned sales) totaled 24, which comes out to 20% of the total sales for the month. This number is right on par with our expectations. While foreclosures made up for 20% of all sales in October, the average sales price climbed to the second highest value of the year. High average sales prices are an obvious indicator of a healthy market. Unfortunately, one month isn’t a very strong sample.
For a free list of Yakima area foreclosures currently on the market, log on to www.YakimaRepoAlerts.com
Click here to view monthly statistics chart.
Your Local Real Estate Professional,
Cory Bemis
hi Cory,
While I don’t doubt your stats on the increase in sales price for Oct., it seems counterintuitive to me. Glenn Crellin of WSU reports statewide the sales price is down and I noticed in the Yakima Herald on Sunday some big price slashing going on, as high as $30,000 in some cases. I know everybody always says Yakima is different, more stable but I personally think our market is overpriced and hasn’t caught up with the very real and still slumping housing market.
Thanks, Leah Beth Ward, assistant city editor, Yakima Herald
Hi Leah,
You may be correct in considering the Yakima market to be overpriced. Thankfully, the banks are being regulated as to how many foreclosures they can release into the market simultaneously. This helps to avoid a shock in the market. Areas of Florida, Arizona, California and Nevada experienced significant shocks to their markets before these regulations were put into effect.
When looking at the numbers from the WSU reports (I looked at the Median Home Price Summary), their medians appear to be lower than what the Yakima MLS shows. One reason for this difference could be that WSU gathers all sold homes from the Yakima County GIS. This means they are including all homes sold in Yakima County for their Yakima numbers, where as my stats include all homes sold via the MLS of Yakima. Nearly all of the MLS sales are arm’s length transactions that represent fair market value sales. Many times there are sales that aren’t part of the Yakima MLS and are considered “for sale by owner” sales to relatives, friends, or others at below market value. This is sometimes common in the event there is a home held in an estate and a family member decides to purchase it from the estate. Those are a couple factors that could be creating variance in the statistics.
As far as comparing Yakima’s median sold prices compared to the statewide prices is concerned, here are some yearly statistics I have gathered for you:
MEDIAN HOME SALES PRICES – all homes sold via the Yakima MLS (including condos).
2004-$124,900
2005-$129,000
2006-$139,900
2007-$159,000
2008-$158,500
2009-$158,000
2010-$158,000
2011-$155,000 (year to date)
In comparing these numbers, take a look at the statistics for other counties on the WSU site: http://www.wcrer.wsu.edu/WSHM/2007%20Annual/Annual%20Prices%202007.pdf
Also, here are the King county annual median sales prices to use as a comparison to Yakima:
04-$324,000
05-$374,000
06-$425,000
07-$455,000
08-$430,000
09-$380,000
10-$375,000
11-$345,000
One other thing to take into consideration: Try to avoid using the asking prices for homes as a basis of comparison. A $30,000 price drop isn’t uncommon for a home owner who decides to get serious about selling. This is exactly what I was referring to in this month’s newsletter. Asking prices will often indicate how stubborn or desperate a market is. Sales prices ultimately determine the true value of a market.
Thanks,
Cory