December Market Watch

December Housing Activity Continues Pattern of Growing Inventory,
Fewer Sales, Higher Prices
KIRKLAND , Wash. (Jan. 5, 2007) – December brought few surprises in housing activity around western Washington as buyers, sellers and members of Northwest Multiple Listing Service turned their attention to holidays. The storyline of recent months continued with brokers reporting growing inventory, fewer sales and rising prices.
In between shopping and severe storms, Northwest MLS notched 5,744 pending sales last month and added 5,357 new listings to inventory. December’s pending sales of single family homes and condominiums (combined) fell 9.8 percent from the same month a year ago. Of those transactions, condo sales improved on year-ago totals, rising 5.3 percent, but single family homes slipped by about 12.5 percent.
At month-end, prospective buyers could choose from 28,307 properties offered for sale across 19 counties. That’s up more than 37 percent from a year ago when there were 20,595 listings system-wide.
Every county has more inventory than 12 months ago – and higher asking prices.
Sales prices also jumped from a year ago. The median price for sales of single family homes and condominiums that closed during December was $315,000, up about 9.4 percent from twelve months ago when the median sales price was $288,000.
For single family homes only (excluding condos) the area-wide sales price was $330,000, up $29,000 (9.6 percent) from a year ago, but a $1,000 less than November’s median sales price.
Condo prices rose more sharply, climbing to $240,000 for last month’s completed transactions. That’s up 14.6 percent from December 2005 when the median selling price was $209,450. In November the area-wide median sales price for condos that sold was $249,900.
In King County, the median sales price for last month’s closed sales of single family homes (only) was $440,000, up about 12 percent from a year ago. Condo prices in King County jumped 21 percent, rising to nearly $270,000 from the year-ago median selling price of about $223,000.

Flat Fee MLS Basics

Traditionally, real estate companies and their agents charge 6% commission to list a property. In return, they place the home in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), market the property in newspapers, hold open houses and do all the leg work involved in the transaction when an offer is received. The 6% commission is usually split 50/50 between the Listing Broker and the agent who sells the property, also known as the Buyer's Broker or Selling Broker.
Listing for a flat fee provides you with the resources you will need to get your home sold while saving you the listing office commission that is traditionally 3%. At the same time, you reserve the right to sell the property as a for sale by owner otherwise known as fsbo. When you find your own buyer and sell for sale by owner you can double your savings and pay no commission.
The flat fee mls programs have been around for years but the internet really brought their use to the forefront of the market. When properties that are listed in the MLS can be found all all real estate websites, the consumer (buyer) has access to information that was traditionally controlled by the real estate agents, real estate brokers and Realtors. With the educated consumer the seller no longer had to rely on the real estate brokerage to get the exposure necessary to find a buyer for their home. They had access to a pool of buyers searching outside the assistance of an agent.
Even though many buyers still turn to a buyer's agent for assistance with their purchase, research has shown that 99% of those same buyers are searching the public real estate sites for homes they may want to view whether on their own or through their real estate agent.
Now you as a seller have access to the Realtor's MLS, plus many buyers that my want to purchase for sale by owner. This exposure helps you get the most money for your home in the least amount of time.