Closed home sales totaled 28 homes in July, compared with 29 in June and equal the number in May of 2008, but still low when compared with previous years. Homes under contract (pending sales) fell to 19.
While home sales were good last month, the average price for homes sold in July was at $314,000, down from a year ago when the average price was $385,000. That’s about an 18% drop. The dominance of the under-$300,000 sales still sits high at 50%. High end activity edged down with only 2 sales over $500,000.
We are also seeing the appraised values coming in lower due to short sale and foreclosures that are being sold. These sales typically come in at 20% lower than the neighboring homes. This hurts the potential appraised value as the appraisers have to use this “distressed” data, as it is all that is available. Also, new rules require the banks to use appraisers on a random bases, sometimes from out of the area that lake local knowledge.
There are 355 homes currently listed for sale in Anacortes, unusually high for this time of year. The national average for a 30-year fixed rate loan is up a bit but still good at 5.49%.
Curt Oppel is a Realtor with John L Scott Real Estate Anacortes.