SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
Existing-home sales up in state; local decline continues
May 10, 2011, 7:39 AM | Updated: Mar 4, 2016, 6:00 am
Existing-home sales continued to recover in the first quarter with gains recorded in Washington state and 48 other states, according to the latest survey from the National Association of Realtors. However, sales declined in nearly 78 percent of metropolitan areas, including the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metropolitan statistical area (MSA).
Total state existing-home sales, including single-family and condominiums, rose 8.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.14 million in the first quarter of 2011 from 4.75 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. This rate was 0.8 percent below a 5.18 million pace during the same period in 2010.
Also in the first quarter, the median existing single-family home price rose in 34 out of 153 (MSAs from the first quarter of 2010, including four with double-digit increases; one was unchanged and 118 areas showed price declines.
The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue MSA was down 5.1 percent for the first quarter of 2011 but state-wide figures were clearly in the plus column. Existing-home sales in the Washington state jumped 21.4 percent in the first quarter and 1.3 percent from a year ago.
The West region was up 13.5 percent in the first quarter to a level of 1.29 million and up 2.1 percent above a year ago. The median existing single-family home price in the West fell 4.7 percent to $197,400 in the first quarter from the first quarter of 2010.
“The reading of quarterly price data can be volatile because they are based on the types of homes that are sold during the quarter,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “When buyers principally purchase distressed properties in a given market, the recorded prices will be very low, which is what we’re seeing now in much of the country. Annual price data provides a better guide about the direction of the market in those areas.”
The national median existing single-family home price was $158,700 in the first quarter, down 4.6 percent from $166,400 in the first quarter of 2010. The median is where half sold for more and half sold for less.
Distressed homes, typically sold at a discount of about 20 percent, accounted for 39 percent of first quarter sales, up from 36 percent a year earlier.
