Mixed Messages on Real Estate

What's the state of the housing market? Like the proverbian story of the blind men describing an elephant, it depends on who you ask, and specifically what they're looking at.

Nationally, a widely reported AP story ("Fresh Data Shows Cooling Housing Market") concludes that the housing market has "lost steam." Or, as the National Association of Realtors' David Lereah puts it, "The housing sector is fragile."

The median price of a home sold last month was $230,000. That was up just 0.9
percent from the same month last year and marked the smallest year-over-year
increase since May 1995.

Regionally, Tuesday's Seattle Times ran a story titled "A couple's house-hunting nightmare." The tale told is one of a Starbucks manager and his partner relocating from quiet Vancouver, Washington to the bustle of Seattle. Among the shocks were the housing prices, the tradeoffs between commute time and home prices, and the speed needed to get an offer in ahead of other buyers. Those familiar with hot Puget Sound markets will yawn and consider the title overblown. Difficult, yes. But "nightmare"? Naw....

Locally, the hot market has cooled, but has avoided any "nightmarish" extremes. The Olympian sees the glass as half full, reporting in yesterday's edition ("Buyers' housing hopes improve") that an abundance of homes for sale is making things easier on home buyers. Sellers are finding their homes lingering longer on the market, with the average selling time at 63 days, up from 45 days last year. And the median sale price is down slightly, from $262,113 in July to $259,500 in August.

As an example of how much the market has shifted, 75 percent to 85 percent of sellers last year received multiple offers, one local real estate professional says. This year it has been 5 percent to 10 percent of his business.

Sellers may lament the cooling of the real estate market, but we're still a long way from anyone in this area seeing their home value drop. And the slight slowdown in the market gives buyers some emotional relief and better buying opportunities.