When we moved here five years ago, the average home price in our county was roughly $300k. In 2007, the price peaked above $450k.
For a long time now, I have been saying the housing bubble would pop and prices would fall back to more affordable levels. August 2008 shows the first milestone in data that supports my theory.
Despite the chorus of locals saying prices would never drop in the Seattle area, the average home price is now down 10% from the peak level. Moreover, the slope of that change does not indicate a bottom is near. National financial news suggests that the loan supply will continue to contract and who knows what will happen here if WAMU goes bankrupt.
We recently rented a house and resolved to wait at least another 9 months for a purchase. This month that decision is looking like a sound one.
NWMLS: Double-Digit Price Drops Arrive in King County
September 9th, 2008
LINKNWMLS statistics for August have finally been released.
The NWMLS press release will be posted at this link when it goes up.
Here is your summary along with the usual graphs and other updates.
Here’s your King County SFH summary:
August 2008
Active Listings: up 16% YOY
Pending Sales: down 16% YOY
Median Closed Price*: $423,950 - down 11.2% YOY
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