David's Blog

Home ownership became even more affordable, with the average rate for 30-year fixed mortgages falling to 4.01% the last week in September. This drop came as a result of the Federal Reserve extending the average maturity of its holdings as a part of the Maturity Extension Program, an effort design...

The supply of homes measured in months on the market at their current pace of sales fell 10.5% in the month of August, to an 8.5 month supply of inventory, down from a 9.5-month supply in July. With homes being more affordable than they have been in a generation and the lowest levels of new home ...

Homes prices were down, with a 5.1% drop in August compared to a year ago. The national median price for homes in August was $168,300, with distressed properties, foreclosures, and short sales still accounting for 31% of sales. The buyer’s market for residential property continues, as favorable p...

August home sales were up 18.6% year-to-year, posting a 7.7% increase in sales activity over July despite Hurricane Irene, which struck the Eastern seaboard and New England regions at the end of the month. As a result of the hurricane, the Northeast experienced the smallest increase in sales. At ...

Despite some pessimism pertaining to the global and domestic economies, the U.S. housing sector continues to show promising signs of stability and growth. Low levels of new home construction and gaining sales volume fueled by an inventory of affordable housing since Richard Nixon was president ha...

The absorption rate is number of months it would take to sell all of the homes on the market at the current rate of sales. Softer demand in the second half of 2010 kept inventory of existing homes at a relatively high level of 9.4 months. However, the inventory has declined substantially from its...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 5, 2011 Northwest MLS brokers say September activity reflects “healthy activity, positive trends” KIRKLAND, WA, October 5, 2011. With inventory at its lowest level since May, members of Northwest Multiple Listing Service report “stiff competition for move-in ready h...

The median sale price in 2010 was $173,000. This was 18% or $38,082 below the 4% trend price of $211,000 and 22% off its peak. The median sale price in 2009 was $172,500. During the run-up, we spent 6 years enjoying housing prices ahead of the 4% appreciation curve. Therefore, 6 years of prices b...

By the fourth quarter of 2010, Washington State saw a 17.5% increase in closed sales compared to the same period a year prior. This was in stark contract to an 18.6% drop during the previous quarter. Idaho saw the largest increase in closed sales with a year over year increase of 103.1%. Virginia...

By the third quarter of 2010, the housing market felt the impacts of the hangover from the first-time homebuyer tax credit. Washington State saw an 18.6% drop which was actually far better than most states during the same period. Minnesota faired the worse with a drop of 37.4%. As the third quart...