July Seattle Home Sale Press Release

Seattle Region July Home Sales

Seattle-area home sales were the highest for a July in six years, bolstered by the strongest condo resales for that month since 2005 and robust sales in move-up price ranges. The median price paid for all homes sold in July - $329,000 - neared a five-year high and came within 10 percent of the region's peak median in mid 2007, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 6,308 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow during July in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro area encompassing King, Snohomish and Pierce counties. July sales rose 9.3 percent from the month before and jumped 35.5 percent from a year earlier, according to San Diego-based DataQuick. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.

The number of homes sold this July was the highest for that month since July 2007, when 6,464 homes sold. This July's total sales were 12.0 percent above the average number of homes sold during all months of July since 1994, when DataQuick's complete Seattle-area statistics begin. Resale single-family house sales were 12.3 percent above the historical average for July, while condo resales were 53.9 percent above average and sales of newly built homes were 21.5 percent below the July average.

The region's mid- to high-priced neighborhoods again posted large sales increases compared with a year ago, while sales in the lower price categories saw more modest gains or declines. The number of homes sold in July for less than $200,000 dropped 4.2 percent year-over-year. Sales of homes priced above $200,000 rose 57.8 percent year-over-year, while $300,000-plus sales rose 63.9 percent. The number of homes that sold for between $200,000 and $600,000, a typical move-up range, rose 52.6 percent from a year earlier. Sales over $700,000 rose 94.8 percent year-over-year, though transactions in that price category represented only about 10 percent of all sales.

Buyers paid a median $329,000 for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the three-county Seattle area in July - the highest median for any month since August 2008, when the median was $335,085. This July's median rose 3.1 percent from the prior month and increased 13.4 percent from a year earlier. The median has risen on a year-over-year basis for 16 consecutive months, and these annual increases have been double-digit for the past 11 months.

July's median was 9.9 percent lower than the Seattle area's peak $365,200 median in June 2007, and it was 37.1 percent higher than the post-peak trough of $240,000 in January 2012. During the housing downturn the median fell 34.3 percent between the peak and the trough, a decline of $125,200. In July the median stood $89,000 above the trough, meaning it had made up nearly three-quarters of its peak-to-trough decline.

Another price measure, the median price paid per square foot for resale single-family detached houses, rose to $186 in July, up 2.8 percent month-to-month and up 14.9 percent year-over-year. However, July's median paid per square foot stood 22.2 percent below the peak of $239 in June 2007.

Other Seattle area July highlights (see two charts at DQNews.com)

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157

Source: DataQuick; DQNews.com

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