One person's statement is another person's spin, so we'll let you decide which is which.
The latest statistics from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service are out. You can review the current press release any time on our site or the public site of the NWMLS.
The good news is pending sales in April 2008 were the highest they have been since August 2007. The bad news is pending sales are always higher in April than they are during the winter, so April's results are not a positive surprise.
For King, Pierce, Snohomish and Kitsap counties, the NWMLS reports 4,624 pending sales in April, down 34% from 6,974 in April 2007. April 2008's pending sales were the LOWEST of any April of this decade (for comparison, pending sales were 82% higher in April 2005 than April 2008). In fact, pending sales have been the lowest of the 2000s for each of the last six months. Inventory is up about 28% from a year ago, so there is a big gap between supply and demand. If you are a seller, that doesn't sound good.
But there IS good news. New listings were off 9% compared to a year ago. That means inventory is likely to shrink and bring the market closer to equilibrium. Buyers who have been holding off waiting for the bottom may see these signs and decide to jump back into the market. The mortgage panic appears to be over its initial frenzy, and rates are still good. Perhaps we will be back to a "normal" market sooner than the public perceives.
Our customers have experienced the same ups and downs as the broader market, but showing activity is getting stronger. Last week our customers who have NWMLS keyboxes (about half of our customers) had 188 showings. 77 customers have closed sales in 2008, with a median marketing time of 86 days, and 44 more customers have accepted offers and are in various stages of the closing process.
So there you have it. Stats or spin, you decide!
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