Real Estate Information

Statistics here are for Kingston, the largest of the remaining housing markets in North Kitsap. Activity in Kingston should be representative of the other nearby communities. Kingston homes were selling for a month end median price of about $199,500 at the end of April, 8% lower than a year ago and 20% lower than last month. Because of the relatively lower sales volume in Kingston, a couple high priced sales (or lack thereof) can make a big change in the statistics but may not mean much of change in the market. The more stable 3 month moving average ($213,667) of closed sale price is 20% lower than a year ago.  We have low inventory and few sales. The Kitsap County 3 month moving average median price is about 5% lower than it was a year ago. The 3 month moving average of Kingston closed sales was 43% lower than a year ago, while the number of pending sales fell 67% from a year ago. The 3 month moving average of closed sales is down 13% Countywide from a year ago. The number of active listings in Kingston (58) is down 17% from a year ago - very low. The inventory turnover (total homes on the market divided by number sold last month) is 14.5 months, slower than the 12.2 month turnover reported last month and quite a bit slower than the 6.4 month turnover of a year ago. Kingston is still a buyer's market.

Reposted from http://bprowse.com/north_kitsap_market 

Statistics are for the Bremerton downtown core and west to Kitsap Lake. The market for other parts of Bremerton and its suburbs should be similar. Bremerton homes were selling for a month end median price of $118,500 at the end of April, 30% lower than a year ago and about 1% higher than last month. The more stable 3 month moving average median price ($128,500) was about 20% lower than a year ago and 3% lower than last month. The Kitsap County 3 month moving average median price is about 5% lower than it was a year ago. Bremerton's 3 month moving average for number of closed sales is 26% lower than a year ago and 24% higher than last month. The 3 month moving average of closed sales is down 13% Countywide from a year ago. The 3 month moving average number of Bremerton pending sales is down 35% from last year. The number of Bremerton active listings (118) is 29% lower than a year ago. The inventory turnover (total Bremerton homes on the market divided by number sold last month) is 6.2 months, a bit slower than the 6.1 month turnover last month and also the 6.1 month turnover a year ago. This improved turnover rate reflects the rapid turnover of homes under $200k in our current market. The Bremerton market is still a buyer’s market.

 Reposted form  http://bprowse.com/bremerton_market

Bainbridge Island residential properties were selling for a April median price of $548,500, about 9% higher than in March and 1% lower than a year ago. The more stable three month moving average closed sale price rose 7% from last month to $518,542 and is 11% lower than a year ago. The Kitsap County 3 month moving average median price is about 5% lower than it was a year ago. The 3 month moving average for Bainbridge Island's number of closed sales is about the same as a year ago. The 3 month moving average of closed sales is down 13% Countywide from a year ago. The 3 month moving average number of Bainbridge pending sales in April was down 21% from a year ago. The number of active listings on Bainbridge (196) rose 18% from March and is about 7% lower than a year ago.  The inventory turnover (total homes on the market divided by number sold last month) is 10.3 months, slower than the 5.9 months in March and slower than the 8.8 months of a year ago. Bainbridge Island is a buyer’s market.

Reposted from http://bprowse.com/bainbridge_island_market

This is an archive copy of our May newsletter.

Real estate prices are falling throughout the country. The market this spring is not yet recovering. How long can this go on? Are we insulated from this in Kitsap County? We’ll describe how Kitsap is doing in some detail later in this article, but first let’s consider the national real estate picture, as conveyed by a panoply of reports.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported:

Home values fell 3% in the first quarter from the previous quarter and 1.1% in March from the previous month, pushed down by an abundance of foreclosed homes on the market, according to data to be released Monday by real-estate website Zillow.com. Prices have now fallen for 57 consecutive months, according to Zillow.

Calculated Risk Blog reports on CoreLogic:

CoreLogic ... today released its March Home Price Index (HPI) which shows that home prices in the U.S. declined for the eighth month in a row. According to the CoreLogic HPI, national home prices, including distressed sales, declined by 7.5% in March 2011 compared to March 2010. ... Excluding distressed sales, year-over-year price declined by 0.96 percent in March 2011 compared to March 2010.

The index is down 7.5% over the last year, and off 34.8% from the peak.

There are probably around 2 million vacant housing units nationwide. This is a hard number to predict from available data. Calculated Risk elaborates:

Recently economist Tom Lawler took a long look at the 2010 Census data, and estimated there were about 2 to 3 million excess vacant housing units as of April 1, 2010. With the record low number of housing units delivered last year, Lawler estimated that as of April 1, 2011 the excess “would be somewhere in the range of 1.45 to 2.45 million units – with the latter almost certainly too high”. With another record low number of units added to the housing stock this year, the excess will be in the 750 thousand to 1.7 million range next April (with the latter “certainly too high"). This suggests the excess supply will be gone sometime between early 2014 and 2016.

Another post at Calculated Risk put the percentage of properties with loans that are underwater nationwide at 28.6%. Seattle is worse:

Based on information from LPS Applied Analytics, even though the number of delinquent borrowers is declining:

The foreclosure pipeline is still bloated with overhang at every level:

– There are almost twice as many loans deteriorating greater than 90+ days delinquent vs. starting foreclosure.

– There are almost three times the number foreclosure starts vs. foreclosure sales.

– 90+ and foreclosure inventory levels are almost 45 times monthly foreclosure sales.

There is a way that you can look at how the overall market has changed your home price since you purchased. For instance, go to FHFA's Home Price Index Calculator (follow link) to consider how a home in Kitsap purchased for $150,000 in 2000 has changed in value. You can plug in your own  numbers to see how the market has changed the value of your home in recent years. Most people who purchased before 2000 and did not pull out cash in a refi are still ahead today. It also provides a good picture of how prices have declined since the peak, though it doesn’t show the steep drops of the past several months in 2011. You can’t necessarily rely on this as a valuation for your home since other factors besides the market affect your home’s value to a potential buyer.

A last note - it appears that conventional and FHA loan limits for Kitsap County will revise downward in October from the current $475,000, conventional to $417,000 and FHA to $307,050. This will reduce the number of buyers who can purchase in the higher price ranges. This from a related article in the  NY Times:

For the last three years, federal agencies have backed new mortgages as large as $729,750 in desirable neighborhoods in high-cost states like California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Without the government covering the risk of default, many lenders would have refused to make the loans. With the economy in free fall, Congress broadened its traditionally generous support of housing to a substantial degree.

But now Democrats and Republicans agree that the taxpayer should no longer be responsible for homes valued well above the national average, and are about to turn a top slice of the housing market into a testing ground for whether the private mortgage market can once again go it alone. The result, analysts say, will be higher-cost loans and fewer potential buyers for more expensive homes.

The number of closed sales in Kitsap County in April fell, down about 13% from March and down about 24% from a year ago. Pending sales fell about 3% compared to last month and were 32% lower than a year ago, when there had been a surge because the homebuyer tax credit was expiring. In March, there were 211 closed sales and 288 pending sales. In April there were 183 closed sales and 279 pending sales. 34% of the closed sales were distressed properties. 27% of the pending sales were distressed properties. In 2010, 25% of all closed sales were distressed properties, so we are seeing more distressed sales now than previously. Among closed distressed sales, bank owned sales were more than 3 times the number of short sales closed. Shown below is a graph of month-by-month pending sales vs closed sales. Pending sales tend to lead closed sales in direction if not magnitude by about 2 months. Based on past trends, we expect the number of closed sales to rise next month (but note that this month’s trend in closed sales did not track).

Residential Highlights

Kitsap County's residential inventory in April (1578 listings) is about 8% higher than March and about 10% lower than a year ago. Distressed properties listed in the MLS make up about 18% of our market, down from 20% we reported last month.  At the end of April, RealtyTrac showed 1138 (1118 last month) Kitsap County homes either in default, in foreclosure, or bank owned. The MLS shows only about 25% of the distressed property inventory, so there could be as many as 853 distressed properties that have yet to be put up for sale. Closed sales were down 24% compared with April 2010. The more stable 3 month moving average number of Kitsap County closed sales is down 13% compared to a year ago.

Prices are falling...

Kitsap County’s monthly median closed sale price in April ($210,800) fell about 7% compared to March, and is 8% lower than a year ago. This median is down 31% from the peak in 2007. The median price in any given month can fluctuate, but the trend of the past 2 months, where the median has fallen from $250k to about $210k (down 16%) certainly seems to be downward. The more stable (but also lagging in showing trends) 3 month moving average (see graph below) of the median closed sale price ($229,267) is about 4% lower than last month and about 5% lower than a year ago. The current low median price coupled with still low interest rates offers the best affordability we’ve seen in years. Conventional mortgage rates are now at 4.59% for 30 year loans, down from about 4.9% last month. Our median price graphs show a 3 month moving average of prices, which better shows trends and reduces the month-to-month fluctuations.

Seller expectations…

The April median list price remained at $289,000, up about 4% from the median of the past several months. Median list price is about 4% lower than a year ago. The County has a listing inventory turnover rate of about 8.6 months, slower than the 6.9 month turnover in March. The turnover rate has been driven by the under $200k market, where there was 5.1 months of inventory. All higher price ranges have 9 or more months of inventory. Inventory turnover is the number of months it would take to sell the current inventory at the current rate of sales. In April, the number of listings rose and the number of sales fell compared to March. Shown below are graphs of inventory and inventory turnover for Kitsap County in 2007-11.

The inventory turnover also varies by price range, with higher priced homes selling more slowly than lower priced homes. We've made the point recently that the higher price ranges will be more difficult to reduce in inventory because today's lending environment has greatly reduced the pool of qualified buyers. In the higher price ranges, there were 3 sales in the $800k and above range among 100 listings County-wide in that price range. See the graph below for a better perspective. Every seller is in a price war and beauty contest at the same time. If your price is not best among comparable properties, the chance of sale is very small. Below is a historical depiction of the changes in the ratio of listings to closed sales.

The number of pending sales in April was down 32% compared to a year ago and was down about 3% from March. The statistics for April pending sales varied for different parts of the County. Below is a graph showing the 3 month moving average of pending sales for different parts of the County.

Affordability

We assume that a buyer making the median family income puts 20% down on the median priced home and obtains a 30 year fixed rate mortgage. We assume that a first time buyer making 70% of the median income puts 10% down on a house priced at 85% of the median and obtains a 30 year fixed rate mortgage with mortgage insurance.  We assume that both buyers can afford to spend a maximum of 25% of their monthly income on the principal plus interest of the loan. Using the annual averages of median price, median income, and average annual 30 year fixed interest rate since 2001, we plot an affordability index equal to the maximum affordable payment divided by the actual payment. When the index is greater than 1, the loan is affordable to the typical buyer. When it is less than 1 some buyers cannot afford to purchase. Mortgage insurance quotes are dependent on credit scores - MI for a FICO credit score of 700 might be $20 per month higher than MI for a credit score of 750. We use 750 and have corrected all PMI values to be consistent with this. Our numbers for 2011 are estimates using the latest monthly data for median prices, interest rates, and median income. As a point of reference the index in 2001 was 1.31 and the first time buyers index was .89.

Affordability is at its highest level in a long time. With a significant drop in median price and a drop in the interest rates, the affordability index surged to 1.46 in May from 1.31 in April. First time buyer affordability also rose to .97 from .88 in April. Below is a  graph of the year-to-year changes in affordability and a second graph showing month-to-month affordability over the past year.

May’s APR is 4.812% on a 30-Year and 4.195% on a 15-Year, both conforming. April’s APR was 5.191% on a 30-Year and 4.573% on a 15-Year, both conforming. If you qualify for FHA, VA, or USDA loans , these programs have are attractive for low downpayment buyers. The conventional and FHA loan limits remain at $475,000 in Kitsap County. These higher limits have helped sales of higher priced homes. The VA loan lender imposed limit is back to $417,000. A typical 30 year fixed jumbo APR (with total costs of the loan, not just the rate factored in) is 5.264% on one major bank web site - down from last month.  To check the daily rate you can contact your lender or preview web sites such as this one - http://bankrate.com/.

This is an archive copy of our April 2011 newsletter.

The Federal Reserve’s latest Beige Book, a commentary on current economic conditions in each of the Federal Reserve districts throughout the country, is upbeat about the economy. Asummary from the Wall Street Journal notes that the San Francisco Fed (our district) reports improved demand for retail sales, manufactured goods, business and consumer services, agricultural and natural resource products - even a small increase in loan demand. Price increases remain modest despite increases in commodity prices. Demand for residential and commercial real estate remained subdued. In the Fed's report, the weak jobs market is reportedly doing better too; however, Kitsap County unemployment has crept back up to 8.3% after falling to 7.1% last September. There is more vacant retail space in downtown Poulsbo than a few months ago. Public sector cost cutting may result in more public sector layoffs. Overall it’s hard to see these economic improvements here on main street.

Our national and state governments have enacted legislation and stepped up regulation of the foreclosure process. Washington has the 14^th highest foreclosure rate nationally. RealtyTrac reports that Washington foreclosures have increased 64% in the past year. Now the Washington legislature has passed the Foreclosure Fairness Act to provide foreclosure mediation in some circumstances. Elements of the bill include:

(a) Encourage homeowners to utilize the skills and professional judgment of housing counselors as early as possible in the foreclosure process;

(b) Create a framework for homeowners and beneficiaries to communicate with each other to reach a resolution and avoid foreclosure whenever possible; and

(c) Provide a process for foreclosure mediation when a housing counselor or attorney determines that mediation is appropriate. For mediation to be effective, the parties should attend the mediation (in person, telephonically, through an agent, or otherwise), provide the necessary documentation in a timely manner, willingly share information, actively present, discuss, and explore options to avoid foreclosure, negotiate willingly and cooperatively, maintain a professional and cooperative demeanor, cooperate with the mediator, and keep any agreements made in mediation.

Also see this Seattle Times article on the bill, still awaiting the Governor’s signature.

Separately Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna’s office continues its six month investigation of foreclosure practices in our state. His office is contacting a handful of foreclosure trustees believed to be violation the law. We recommend that anyone with questions about Washington foreclosures read this article in the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal, which contains ample information and resources for homeowners. Among other things, it reports that:

…the Washington Attorney General’s Office announced that it has uncovered an additional widespread problem that jeopardizes homeowners’ chances of stopping a foreclosure.

“Foreclosures run on strict timelines and homeowners need a human who they can talk with face to face when there’s a problem,” Attorney General Rob McKenna said. “They need an office where they can make last-minute payments or show documents that may prove reasons for stopping forced sales.”

“Washington law requires that foreclosure trustees maintain actual offices in our state and local phone numbers for this reason,” he continued. “But our investigation shows that some of the largest trustees are not in compliance and borrowers who have a legitimate reason to stop a foreclosure are having trouble reaching trustees.”

Also separately, Housing Wire reports that the Federal Reserve and Office of Comptroller of the Currency have sanctioned the 10 largest mortgage servicers and are requiring them to establish new foreclosure processes. See more in the Fed press release. We have certainly seen the aggressive tactics, poor record keeping, and lack of responsiveness on the part of mortgage servicers. We have seen a huge difference between dealing with local banks under pressure from FDIC versus large servicers under no apparent pressure or accountability to anyone. Regulatory action against the big servicers is most welcome. The down side for the market is that foreclosures will drag out longer, suppressing prices and delaying the recovery of the residential markets and home building industry for that much longer.

Lastly, there’s a bill in Congress to speed up short sales. At least we have pressure on all fronts now.

The number of closed sales in Kitsap County in March rose considerably, up about 56% from an anemic February but down about 11% from a year ago. Pending sales rose about 10% compared to last month but were 22% lower than a year ago. In February, there were 135 closed sales and 261 pending sales. In March there were 211 closed sales and 288 pending sales. 37% of the closed sales were distressed properties. 45% of the pending sales were distressed properties. In 2010, 25% of all closed sales were distressed properties, so we are seeing more distressed sales now than previously. Among closed distressed sales, bank owned sales were more than 4 times the number of short sales closed. Shown below is a graph of month-by-month pending sales vs closed sales. Pending sales tend to lead closed sales in direction if not magnitude by about 2 months. Based on past trends, we expect the number of closed sales to rise next month.

Residential Highlights

Kitsap County's residential inventory in March (1458 listings) is about 3% higher than February and about 13% lower than a year ago. So far inventory is not coming back on the market as quickly as last year. Distressed properties listed in the MLS make up about 20% of our market, down from 22% we reported last month.  At the end of March, RealtyTrac showed 1118 (down considerably from 1207 last month - a 7% drop) Kitsap County homes either in default, in foreclosure, or bank owned. The MLS shows only about 27% of the distressed property inventory, so there could be as many as 818 distressed properties that have yet to be put up for sale. The shadow inventory looks like it’s begun to shrink. Closed sales were down 11% compared with March 2010. The more stable 3 month moving average number of Kitsap County closed sales is down 12% compared to a year ago.

Prices are falling...

Kitsap County’s monthly median closed sale price in March ($227,000) fell about 9% compared to February, and is 5% lower than a year ago. The more stable 3 month moving average (see graph below) of the median closed sale price ($238,998) is about 1% lower than last month and is about the same as a year ago. Looking beyond the market ups and downs caused by the federal tax incentive programs, home prices have been level or slightly declining over the past year. The current low median price coupled with still low interest rates offers good affordability. Conventional mortgage rates are now at  4.90% for 30 year loans, about the same as last month. The Kitsap County conventional and FHA loan limits remain at $475,000, which has helped sales of higher priced homes. The VA loan lender-imposed limit is $417,000. Our median price graphs show a 3 month moving average of prices, which better shows trends and reduces the month-to-month fluctuations.

Seller expectations…

The March median list price remained at $279,900, about the same as the last several months. Median list prices have fallen about 7% over the past year as sellers have became more aggressive in getting their properties sold. The County has a listing inventory turnover rate of about 6.9 months, a considerable improvement over the 10.5 month turnover in February. This improvement in turnover rate has been driven by the under $200k market, where there was 4.5 months of inventory. All higher price ranges have more than 9 months of inventory. Inventory turnover is the number of months it would take to sell the current inventory at the current rate of sales. In March, the number of listings rose slightly and the number of sales rose significantly compared to February. Shown below are graphs of inventory and inventory turnover for Kitsap County in 2007-11.

The inventory turnover also varies by price range, with higher priced homes selling more slowly than lower priced homes. We've made the point recently that the higher price ranges will be more difficult to reduce in inventory because today's lending environment has greatly reduced the pool of qualified buyers. In the higher price ranges, there were 3 sales in the $800k and above range among 97 listings County wide in that price range. See the graph below for a better perspective. Every seller is in a price war and beauty contest at the same time. If your price is not best among comparable properties, the chance of sale is very small. Below is a historical depiction of the changes in the ratio of listings to closed sales.

The number of pending sales in March was down 22% compared to a year ago and was up about 10% from February. The statistics for March pending sales varied for different parts of the County. Below is a graph showing the 3 month moving average of pending sales for different parts of the County.

Affordability

We assume that a buyer making the median family income puts 20% down on the median priced home and obtains a 30 year fixed rate mortgage. We assume that a first time buyer making 70% of the median income puts 10% down on a house priced at 85% of the median and obtains a 30 year fixed rate mortgage with mortgage insurance.  We assume that both buyers can afford to spend a maximum of 25% of their monthly income on the principal plus interest of the loan. Using the annual averages of median price, median income, and average annual 30 year fixed interest rate since 2001, we plot an affordability index equal to the maximum affordable payment divided by the actual payment. When the index is greater than 1, the loan is affordable to the typical buyer. When it is less than 1 some buyers cannot afford to purchase. Mortgage insurance quotes are dependent on credit scores - MI for a FICO credit score of 700 might be $20 per month higher than MI for a credit score of 750. We use 750 and have corrected all PMI values to be consistent with this. Our numbers for 2011 are estimates using the latest monthly data for median prices, interest rates, and median income. As a point of reference the index in 2001 was 1.31 and the first time buyers index was .89.

The affordability index improved to 1.31 in April from 1.19 in March. Interest rates rose just slightly but median price fell from 250,000 to 227,000. First time buyer affordability also rose to .88 from .80 in March. Below is a  graph of the year-to-year changes in affordability and a second graph showing month-to-month affordability over the past year.

April’s APR is 5.191% on a 30-Year and 4.573% on a 15-Year, both conforming. March’s APR was 5.065% on a 30-Year and 4.573% on a 15-Year, both conforming. If you qualify for FHA, VA, or USDA loans , these programs are attractive for low downpayment buyers. The conventional and FHA loan limits remain at $475,000 in Kitsap County. These higher limits have helped sales of higher priced homes. The VA loan lender imposed limit is back to $417,000. A typical 30 year fixed jumbo APR (with total costs of the loan, not just the rate factored in) is 5.516% on one major bank web site - up from last month.  To check the daily rate you can contact your lender or preview web sites such as this one - http://bankrate.com/.

That's our report for April! Please give me a call if I can help you or anyone you know with purchasing or selling a home.

Brenda Prowse

Statistics here are for Kingston, the largest of the remaining housing markets in North Kitsap. Activity in Kingston should be representative of the other nearby communities. Kingston homes were selling for a month end median price of about $247,500 at the end of March, 14% lower than a year ago and 28% higher than last month. Because of the relatively lower sales volume in Kingston, a couple high priced sales (or lack thereof) can make a big change in the statistics but may not mean much of change in the market. The more stable 3 month moving average ($233,333) of closed sale price is 24% lower than a year ago.  We have low inventory and few sales. The Kitsap County 3 month moving average median price is about the same as it was a year ago. The 3 month moving average of Kingston closed sales was the same as a year ago, while the number of pending sales fell 55% from a year ago. The 3 month moving average of closed sales is down 12% Countywide from a year ago. The number of active listings in Kingston (49) is down 28% from a year ago - very low. The inventory turnover (total homes on the market divided by number sold last month) is 12.2 months, slower than the 10.5 month turnover reported last month but somewhat better than the 13.6 month turnover of a year ago. Kingston is still a buyer's market.

Reposted from: http://bprowse.com/north_kitsap_market

Homes in Silverdale were selling for a March median price of about $265,000,  13% lower than a year ago and 2% lower than last month. Silverdale's more stable 3 month moving average median closed sale price was $268,333, 5 percent higher than last month and 2% higher than a year ago.  The Kitsap County 3 month moving average median price is about the same as it was a year ago. The 3 month moving average for Silverdale's number of closed sales is 12% lower than a year ago. The 3 month moving average of closed sales is down 12% Countywide from a year ago. The 3 month moving average of Silverdale pending sales in March was 28% lower than a year ago. The number of active listings in Silverdale (98) is 7% higher than a year ago. The inventory turnover (total homes on the market divided by number sold last month) is 14 months,  slightly faster than the 18.8 months reported last month and quite a bit slower than the 7.1 month turnover of a year ago. Silverdale is  a buyer's market.

Reposted from: http://bprowse.com/silverdale_market

These statistics are for Poulsbo, including the downtown core, from the head of Liberty Bay southeast to Ne-Si-Ka Bay, and parts north to Sawdust Hill Rd. Other parts of Poulsbo and its suburbs should have similar trends. The March median sales price for Poulsbo was $279,800, down about 13% from a year ago and up about 2% from last month. The more stable three month moving average closed sale price was $293,891, about 2% lower than a year ago.  The Kitsap County 3 month moving average median price is about the same as it was a year ago. The 3 month moving average number of closed sales in Poulsbo fell 23% from a year ago. The 3 month moving average of closed sales is down 12% Countywide from a year ago. Poulsbo’s 3 month moving average of pending sales was unchanged from a year ago. The Poulsbo listing inventory (110) is 11% higher than a year ago but down 1% from last month. The inventory turnover (total homes on the market divided by number sold last month) remained unchanged at 10 months compared to last month, and is a slower than the 5.2 months reported a year ago. Poulsbo is a buyer’s market.

Reposted from: http://bprowse.com/poulsbo_market

Statistics here are for Kingston, the largest of the remaining housing markets in North Kitsap. Activity in Kingston should be representative of the other nearby communities. Kingston homes were selling for a month end median price of about $247,500 at the end of March, 14% lower than a year ago and 28% higher than last month. Because of the relatively lower sales volume in Kingston, a couple high priced sales (or lack thereof) can make a big change in the statistics but may not mean much of change in the market. The more stable 3 month moving average ($233,333) of closed sale price is 24% lower than a year ago.  We have low inventory and few sales. The Kitsap County 3 month moving average median price is about the same as it was a year ago. The 3 month moving average of Kingston closed sales was the same as a year ago, while the number of pending sales fell 55% from a year ago. The 3 month moving average of closed sales is down 12% Countywide from a year ago. The number of active listings in Kingston (49) is down 28% from a year ago - very low. The inventory turnover (total homes on the market divided by number sold last month) is 12.2 months, slower than the 10.5 month turnover reported last month but somewhat better than the 13.6 month turnover of a year ago. Kingston is still a buyer's market.

Reposted from: http://bprowse.com/north_kitsap_market

Statistics are for the Bremerton downtown core and west to Kitsap Lake. The market for other parts of Bremerton and its suburbs should be similar. Bremerton homes were selling for a month end median price of $117,000 at the end of March, 18% lower than a year ago and about 22% lower than last month. The more stable 3 month moving average median price ($132,333) was about 10% lower than a year ago and 11% lower than last month. The Kitsap County 3 month moving average median price is about the same as it was a year ago. Bremerton's 3 month moving average for number of closed sales is 22% lower than a year ago and 5% lower than last month. The 3 month moving average of closed sales is down 12% Countywide from a year ago. The 3 month moving average number of Bremerton pending sales is down 42% from last year. The number of Bremerton active listings (110) is 35% lower than a year ago. The inventory turnover (total Bremerton homes on the market divided by number sold last month) is 6.1 months, faster than the 7.4 month turnover last month and better than the 6.5 month turnover a year ago. This improved turnover rate reflects the rapid turnover of homes under $200k in our current market. The Bremerton market is still a buyer’s market.

Reposted from:http://bprowse.com/bremerton_market