Get Real Tacoma

It’s been a couple weeks since we reviewed the Downtown Tacoma Condos that have sold, so here you are.  There were 9 condos that closed, 6 of those I already wrote about earlier this week located at The Esplanade.  

Selling like (price reduced) hot cakes.

CitySteps continued the great townhouse blowout with 2 sold this week, both for $219,990.  They were units #105 & 106 2 bedroom, 2 bathrooms, with 1113 square feet.  One was originally listed at $259,990.

The final condo was over with Survon at Marcato, unit #319.  A 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1040 square foot that was originally listed at $369,000.  It sold for $309,000.   For information on Marcato check out another of last weeks posts here.

I believe it is worth mentioning that right now there are 225 condos listed for sale in 98402, 98405, & 98403.  There are 24 that are pending sale.  That gives us an 11% sales ratio- which is DEFINETLY a buyers market.  If you want a good explanation of a sales ratio, I recommend reading Tacoma Realtor Tom Hume’s post on the topic.  He explains it well.  Basically, less that 50% is a buyers market, more than 50% is a sellers market.

It is also worth mentioning that in the past 2 weeks int the same downtown area, 1 condo listing was cancelled, 1 was temporarily taken off the market, and 4 expired.  That’s one way to get the inventory down.

Between the Christmastime Parties and all the Shopping, 27 people found time to close on houses and condos this week in Tacoma!  Here is the breakdown:

• 22 Houses sold. 5 Condos sold.
• All 5 condos were located at The Esplanade.
• The average days on market for the houses that sold were 130 days.  Those sellers accepted offers at an average of 97% of the list price.
• The average price per square foot of sold homes across the whole city was $130/square foot.

 Update:  While writing this a 6th unit was marked sold at Esplanade.  So that is 6 total.

The problem here is that there are currently 2,199 houses and condos actively for sale in Tacoma.  That number is probably a little low, as I know many of the new construction houses and condos are not on the MLS as builders will just put up a few to represent the whole building/neighborhood.   There are 315 pending sales, which puts us at a 14% sales ratio for the city at large. 

 Stay tuned for a post comparing the Pricing and Days on Market of Sold Homes & Condos with those of the Currently Listed Homes & Condos!

This Bank Foreclosure sold for $55,000

For me and almost everyone I know, this was the week of the cold. Myself, my friends, my clients, we all coughed and blew our noses through this week.  Fortunately, that didn’t stop work from getting done.  My clients wrote offers on 2 houses this week, and it looks like the rest of Tacoma found time to do some business as well.

24 Houses and 5 Condos sold this week! They ranged in price from $55,000 for this bank owned tear-down to $519,125 for a 5 bedroom 3 bath 3,711 square foot house with a view of the Narrows Bridge.

The houses averaged 159 days on the market.  The condos averaged 96 days on the market.  Both houses and condos sold for 94% of their currently listed price.  The median sold price on houses was $207,000 and $222,000 for condos.

What I find most interesting is that 6 of the properties sold this week were bank owned forclosures and 2 were short sales. Both of the contracts I wrote for clients this week were for foreclosures. That was one third of all the sales in Tacoma this week. The high number of foreclosures is one of the biggest factors in the lower prices we are experiencing- so getting those sold and off the market is both good for communities (who likes living next to a foreclosed house?) and also good for helping us return to a more balanced marketplace for houses.

Remember that this is JUST for the City of Tacoma, and JUST for this week. Stay tuned for New Years Eve, when I break down the stats for the entire year!

According to The News Tribune Blog (reporting on Northwest Multiple Listing Service Data) The median home price in Pierce County is now $230,000, down 13% since last year.  They are promising more pricing and analysis in tomorrow’s paper.

The number of houses on the market are dropping, but the number of closed sales are down even more- which means housing inventory is still too high.  With all of the changes and new restrictions on financing I doubt that this comes as much of a surprise to anyone.

In September of 2004, The News Tribune reported that the median home price in Pierce County had topped $200,000.  That was a big deal at the time.  That was also the year I bought my first house and started investing in my 401k. According to my 401k statements, my stocks dropped about 40% this year- so for today I’m feeling a little bit better about my house…

Bella View Condos Sold Out

I was hoping to do a great post today about all the condos that have sold downtown since my last post on the topic on 11/16.  Unfortunately, there is not much to report, even after expanding into the Stadium District for material!

Only 2 condos have sold downtown since 11/16, one yesterday, and one today.

Read the rest of this entry »

Just in time for Thanksgiving.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving. I divided my time between family togetherness and recovering from family togetherness at friends houses.  While most of the city was off spending quality time with their families over turkey, 22 Tacomans bought houses!

Those houses ranged in price from $124,000 to $507,000. They sold for about 4% less than the price they were listed at and spent an average of 127 days on the market before selling.  Also, they were all houses, no condos closed this week.

The last week of the month is usually the busiest as far as home closings go, and I heard through the grapevine that there were a lot of agents and lenders scrambling to get their clients homes closed before the Thanksgiving Holiday.  Whew!

The average days on market was 119.  That means that if your house sold today, you put it on the market back in July.  According to the MLS, the average sale price was 95% of the currently listed price. 

This was my favorite house to sell this week: Read the rest of this entry »

I thought it might be interesting to take a look at two ends of the sold spectrum in the City if Tacoma.  I ran a search for homes that had SOLD for over $1,000,000 since January 1st, 2008. 

Here she is… Miss Tacoma… The Most Expensive House to Sell in 2008 (so far!)

Most Expensive House in Tacoma 2008 (so far!)

 This house was on Ventura Drive in Narrows area.  It has 4 Bedrooms, 3.5 Bathrooms, and 5,240 Square Feet.  It has an inground pool with some pretty amazing views of the water, and an outdoor kitchen.

Read the rest of this entry »