February numbers are in and they're looking very encouraging.
Pending Sales
Last month, pending sales were 51.08% higher than a year ago with 210 condos under contract. This is the 2nd highest month for pending sales since October 2009 with pending sales at 272. In October 2009, the tax credit was supposed to expire in November 2009 and we saw a surge in pending sales. With the new tax credit extension expiring in April 30, I'm not surprised to see another surge in pending sales for last month.
Closed Sales
As for closed sales, we had 116 condos sold. This is 18.4% higher than February 2009 though 8% lower than previous month. For the last 5 consecutive months, we saw closed sales exceeding same period year over year.
Median Price
Median price also shows a modest increase of 6.02% versus same time last year. This is the 2nd positive increase in median price since October 2009 due to the tax credit.
Month of Inventory
Months of inventory based on closed sales are at 11.25 which suggests it is still a buyer's market in Seattle. However, if we look at months inventory based on pending sales (those under contract but not closed yet), it's actually at a much lower level of 6.21, a balanced market. If the numbers continue to hold up for the next few months, we're most probably going to see prices stabilizing and possibly a small single digit appreciation by end of the year.
Inventory
Total active listings are at 1,306 in February, only 1.87% higher than a year ago and ~8.8% higher than last month. Belltown/ Downtown and Ballard/ Green Lake are the two areas experiencing lower inventory than a year ago by -10.13% and -22.71% respectively.
Summary
After several months of solid performance, the market data shows our Seattle condo recovery is well under way.
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