The Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported that the number of closed sales of single-family homes in King County was up 4% over June 2008 Home Sales. “The first year-over-year increase since the market peaked nearly two years ago”. Here’s a link to the article: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2009426109_homesales07.html

On the eastside, including Kirkland, Redmond and Bellevue, Home Sales were up almost 4% overall. The housing market in the Juanita/Woodinville/Duvall area was up 31 percent year over year.

The housing market, previously driven by first time home buyers, is now moving towards buyers who are upgrading looking to get a good deal on a luxury home. The trend makes sense as several months ago, first time home buyers dominated the market taking advantage of the $8,000 first time home buyer credit. They purchased homes that were on the lower end of the price range. Those sellers who sold to those first time home buyers are now in the market for a home. They typically upgrade to a bigger or nicer home. Some even upgrade to luxury homes. There are also the empty-nesters who downsize. Those represent less than 10% of the market.

Interest rates are beginning to creep up and that may also play a role in the housing market picking up a little steam. This may be the beginning of a long and slow trend back to a normalized market. In the Kirkland market, I do see luxury homes moving at a somewhat normal pace. The entry-level homes are also moving. On average, Kirkland homes stay on the market for 63 days. In a normal market, Kirkland homes stay on the market approximately 52 days.

There still are quite a few homes “in trouble”. This will continue as all of the bad loans filter through. Those loans will either be refinanced with the current homeowner, or those homes will be sold and new loans put in place. The effect being that if the houses are sold, they will be distress sales and put downward pressure on the market. Offsetting this in Seattle is a decent job market compared to some of the other markets around the country and the fear of interest rates beginning to rise.

The conclusiong from all of this is the housing market in Kirkland and the rest of King County is solidifying. Interest and the job market will continue to prop up the market. There are still going to be distress sales for quite some time. Keep an eye on the commercial market. “Experts” are predicting a bust in the commercial real estate market within 6 to 12 months.

Tags: Commercial Real Estate, Housing Market, Kirkland, Luxury Homes

Posted on Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 at 12:12 pm and is filed under Housing Market. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.