Carole's Blog

Gig Harbor home prices—is it a seller’s market? Yes…and No! While reports of current home sales indicate it is a seller’s market, that is not completely accurate for Gig Harbor and Fox Island. While it is true for much of the Puget Sound, it is a bit different where 72% of homes listed is above April’s median selling price of $500,000. This is a “dual market” for Gig Harbor home prices. Extremely low inventory under $500,000 has created a seller’s market with only 1.2 months’ supply. Multiple offers are common in this market and successful buyers will be well prepared with financing pre-approval lined up.

Months’ supply is calculated by dividing current inventory by the number of contracts accepted (pending) for the previous month.  For April, it would take 1.2 months to sell everything on the market listed under $500,000.

In the $500-750,000 Gig Harbor home prices the  inventory is still tight at 1.9 months and is only slightly better at $750-1,000,000 category with 2.5 months.

But once above $1M, buyers have a bit more breathing room and likely won’t face a bidding war for Gig Harbor home prices.. Up to $1,250,000 homes will remain on the market a bit longer, providing a 3.3-month supply and an opportunity for the move-up buyer to sell in a seller’s market and buy up in a buyer’s market.

Above $1,250,000 it jumps rapidly to a buyer’s market for  Gig Harbor home prices with 6.5 months of homes in the $1,250-000-1,500,000 category and 20 months at $1,500,000 plus. Multiple offers are rare in the upper reaches and sellers likely have a longer wait especially at $1,500,000. Exceptions are found for homes in high demand areas, turn-key and priced where buyers believe it to be current market value. Currently 20 homes are available with just one sold in April and none pending.

So…pleased may be the seller under $750,000 and the buyer over $750,000, and trying perhaps for the buyer under and the seller over that mark.

July was good, August a little better for South Sound home sales

Here is the report from News Tribune writer about Pierce County home sales. The Gig Harbor and Key Peninsulas didn't fare quite as well for the median sales price uptick year-over-year but do show a solid 5% upgrade for year-to-date figures — just a tad lower than the county as a whole. BY ROLF BOONE Staff writerSeptember 4, 2014 Pierce County single-family residence data for August 2014/2013 -Sales rose 1.55 percent to 1,176 units from 1,158 units. -Median prices rose to $239,950 from $230,000. -Pending sales rose 4.5 percent to 1,454 units from 1,391 units. -Number of single-family residences for sale rose 12.5 percent to 3,967 units from 3,527 units. -New listings in August fell to 1,480 units from 1,505 units. Pierce County condo data for August 2014/2013 -Sales fell 4.3 percent to 88 units from 92 units -Median prices fell 5.3 percent to $154,500 from $163,200. -Pending sales rose to 96 units from 95 units. -Number of condos for sale rose 3.7 percent to 251 units from 242 units. -New condo listings in August rose to 111 units from 93 units. Source: Northwest Multiple Listing Service The South Sound housing market continued its upward trajectory in August, with monthly home sales rising to new highs for the year, according to Northwest Multiple Listing Service data released Thursday. Pierce County home sales rose about 1 percent to 1,264 units in August from 1,250 units in the same month last year, while Thurston County home sales rose more than 3 percent to 373 units from 361 units in the same period, the combined single-family residence and condo data show. The number of homes sold in both counties were highs for the year, the data show. Median prices also rose in both counties, up slightly more than 4 percent in Pierce County to $235,000, while Thurston County rose nearly 2 percent to $239,000. King County's housing market, meanwhile, ran headlong into the realities of not having enough homes for sale. Home sales fell nearly 7 percent in August, while median prices inched up about 1 percent. The challenge? King County has only a two month's supply of homes for sale, the combined data show. And that's increasingly the challenge in Pierce and Thurston counties. Although the number of homes for sale rose nearly 12 percent in Pierce County and 5 percent in Thurston County, that still equates to less than a four month's supply of homes on the market at the current pace of sales. For August, the months of inventory was 3.34 months in Pierce County and 3.83 months in Thurston County, the combined data show. But Mike Larson, president and designated broker of Allen Realtors in Lakewood, wasn't too concerned about the lower inventory level in Pierce County because at one time a two-and-a-half month to three-and-a-half month's supply of homes was once considered the norm. "It's slow and steady and trending in the right direction," he said about the market. "Balanced and moderate is a lot better than the ups and downs we saw for years." But Steve Pust, a managing broker at Van Dorm Realty in west Olympia, has noticed the lower inventory level in Thurston County, saying buyers in the market are having trouble finding a home, he said. That has resulted in some multiple offer situations, Pust said. Low levels of inventory typically pushes median prices higher, but the county still has about 60 bank-owned home sales a month, and not every buyer can qualify to purchase such a property, he said. In that situation, banks get very particular about the type of buyer they want, shutting out contingency buyers — those selling a home while trying to buy another at the same time — or requiring that their financing be in order, Pust said. If inventories get leaner, sellers will drive median prices higher, he said.