Here is the Thurston County WA real estate market update for March 2015.
Thurston County WA has had an unseasonably mild winter and our spring is almost like our typical summers! But the real estate market has snowballed this spring.
In March 2015, the local housing market continued to show phenomenal growth with pending and closed sales on the rise. Pending sales in March were up 34% over last year, and closed sales were up 37%. In other words, 86 more home sellers were able to sell in March 2015 than in March 2014.
Continuing on this record growth, we are happy to report there are fewer short sales happening in Thurston County, and that has increased the pending-to-close ratio significantly. We are now back to an 80% closing ratio, far better than what we saw a few years ago when the market was in the 61% – 68% range.
Both buyers and sellers have renewed confidence in the market.
The future of the market looks much better given this upturn is being propelled by qualified buyers. During the overheated market run-up from 2004-2006, we now know that a substantial number of those buyers were given loans they could not actually afford. That artificial demand does not exist in today’s mortgage markets.
Today’s demand is from home buyers purchasing homes at prices that make sense, with loans that are responsibly underwritten.
Thurston County sellers are also coming back to the market with confidence. New home listings were up (March produced nearly 20% more listings than last year) but buyers are busy buying up these listings, and therefore our inventory levels are still low.
- Thurston County WA for the 6th consecutive month is in a seller’s market.
- The average sales price of a non-distressed home is at $273,769 (up 5.4% from last year).
- Interest rates are still low (well under 4% for most buyers).
If you are considering making a move this year, call me today!
To see what’s happening in your neighborhood, click here and select your neighborhood.
Statistics not compiled or published by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. Statistics compiled by Francine Viola from NWMLS data.
Originally posted and written by Francine Viola at her blog site, www.InTuneRealEstate.com where you can learn more about the real estate market and get tips and advice for a smooth real estate transaction!