Carole's Blog

Gig Harbor home sales in “recovery mode” 

In a nutshell—prices are up, inventory is under par, sales volume is down and the upper tier is appreciating. Now the details for Gig Harbor home sales year-over-year for the quarter…

Gig Harbor home sales down 16.5%

July itself is not usually a high sale volume month for Gig Harbor home sales (or any other area) with vacations. Only 2004 and 2013 were better in last 12 years, so in perspective, this is not bad.

The middle one-third of Gig Harbor home sales ($325-500,000) has predictably shown the least downturn in sales volume and the top one-third ($500,000 plus) has shown the least downgrade on number of contracts written (pending). Contracts written but not closed indicate current activity, thereby important because they show “move-up” activity as well as increased market strength and pricing for the higher tier.

Gig Harbor home sales “pending” down 14%

Pending sales for the quarter are down but shot up 14% from June, which is the experience local brokers have seen. Most central Puget Sound counties had the same experience.

Prices for Gig Harbor home sales up 7.2%

The median price is appreciating–$387,000 for the quarter and $410,000 for July. July is also up 3.8% over June and up 25% year-over-year for the month. It has been gradually strength this year, after starting very low at $303,000 in January. This increase in prices for Gig Harbor home sales will encourage more sellers to list, adding the inventory the area badly needs.

We are down 18% from our 2006 third-quarter peak–or at summer 2005 prices. But at that time new homes made up as much as 40% of the sales, priced at $600,000 plus. The King/Pierce/Snohomish market as a whole is down 12.6% from the peak—the lower figure representing ever-strong metro King County.

Price increases are not exorbitant–just realistic appreciation. Brokers area-wide are saying sellers who overprice their homes face disappointing consequences.

Resale non-distressed appreciating

Sales prices have steadily been gaining since the first of the year–now at first-quarter 2006 prices $395,000.  August 2006 the peak–we are down 18% from the peak.

Inventory up 3%

Inventory is still low, which leads to multiple offers and homes selling above their list prices. Brokers throughout the Puget Sound point to the quality of some homes plus unrealistic pricing hindering sales. They say buyers often will not even look at a house they perceive to be over-market but just wait for a price reduction before viewing it.

New homes sales 10%

New construction has taken over 10% of all Gig Harbor home sales, down from 15% a year ago. But it represents 19% of all active listings,

Distressed sales 12%

This distressed market represents just 12% of Gig Harbor home sales—slightly less than the 14% in 2013. The single month of July was even better at just 6.5%.

Waterfront sales down

Sales volume is down significantly following the last 2 “makeup years”. Sales over $1m are running at just half-speed from those 2 years.