Congrats to Ganga & Ron

Congratulations to my clients Ganga and Jim, who just closed on the purchase of their new home in Boulevard Park! After a loooooong search they found just the right home surrounded by Asian-inspired gardens and a view of Seattle! May you enjoy many years of comfort and contentment.

This weekend's Open House

This Saturday and Sunday from 1-4PM I will be holding open a 3 bedroom, 1.75 bath home at 3433 49th Av SW. Listed by Barbara Korducki for $499,950 this home has a separate 11'x20'office area and detached 2-car garage. I hope you will drop by and give me your opinion of the home.

Pending sales are up . . . and down

Here is some news from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, which keeps statistics regarding area home sales.

"Pending sales during April reached their highest level in eight months, according to the latest figures from Northwest Multiple Listing Service, which covers 19 counties in western and central Washington.

Brokers reported 6,208 pending sales (offers made and accepted, but not yet closed) last month. That was the highest number of transactions during one month since August, when MLS members notched 7,751 pending sales of single family homes and condominiums. Compared to the same month a year ago, pending sales were down about 32 percent.

Other indicators tracked by the multiple listing service were mixed. Prices for sales that closed during April were down about 5.5 percent compared to a year ago, but a look at more recent months shows stable price in many areas – especially compared to most metropolitan areas around the country.

In the four-county Puget Sound region, prices have shown little fluctuation since August when they started slipping during the subprime mortgage meltdown. In King County, the median price for last month’s closed sales of single family homes and condos was $410,000. That’s up slightly (0.67 percent) from 12 months ago and only $5,000 below the price reported for August 2007."

Seattle foreclosure rate drops

The rate of foreclosures in the Seattle area has remained low -- approximately 1% -- during the past year, despite the bleak outlook in most other parts of the country. The following news blurb reports that the rate has dropped even further!

"Default Research, the premier provider of foreclosure real estate data in the Seattle region, is reporting that foreclosures in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties declined by five percent in March of 2008. The total number of Notice of Trustee Sales recorded in March totaled 379 in King, 380 in Pierce and 215 in Snohomish. Only .70 percent of total household in these regions had foreclosure activity.

“The outlook for Seattle is relatively good,” said Serdar Bankaci, founder of Default Research. “Home prices have remained stable in the past month and inventories are continuing to climb. With the recent jumbo loan limit changes this should have a positive impact on the economy.”

According to Bankaci, in some regions of the Default Research coverage area, nearly 10 percent of all homes entered into foreclosure. “Seattle continues to be one of the safest real estate markets in the country,” said Bankaci."

Nevertheless, if you, or someone you know is facing the threat of foreclosure, give me a call and I can refer you to free consumer counseling services that may be able to help.

Who buys foreclosures?

Interest in purchasing a foreclosed home is rising rapidly, according to a survey conducted in April by Harris Interactive for Trulia.com, a real estate Web site.

Here's what the survey revealed about buyers who tend to be interested in buying a foreclosure:

>About 60 percent of single/never-married adults are more likely to be at least somewhat interested in purchasing a foreclosure.
>About 50 percent of men are likely to be at least somewhat interested compared with 51 percent of women.
>Younger adults, ages 18 to 34, are the more likely than other age groups to consider buying a foreclosure with 69 percent expressing interest.
>Only 32 percent of adults 55 and older are interested in buying foreclosures.

Rates down slightly on 30-yr. fixed mortgages

Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft says the housing slump, along with rising mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures, has taken a toll on homeownership rates and prevented significant movement in mortgage rates during the week ended May 8.

The 30-year fixed rate slipped to 6.05 percent from 6.06 percent a week ago, while the 15-year fixed rate bumped up to 5.60 percent from 5.59 percent. Over the same period, the five-year adjustable mortgage rate fell to 5.67 percent from 5.73 percent; and the one-year ARM held steady at 5.29 percent.