I was thinking about the story the News Tribune did on the pending sales increasing in Pierce County. After reading the story, I felt like there was still more information needed to fill in the cracks. So I got off my lazy bum and ran the numbers. These are the two main questions I had:
1. How many pending sales are there right now?
There are currently 1,246 pending sales in Pierce County, giving us a county wide sales ratio of 19%.
2. What is the median price on pending sales vs. the homes still on the market without offers?
The median home price of ACTIVE listings on the market is $282,000 – 3 bedrooms, 1888 sq ft.
The median home price of PENDING sales is $229,000 – 3 bedrooms, 1781 sq ft
The median home price of SOLD homes in the month of January is $235,000 – 3 bedrooms, 1769 sq ft
Note that the median pending sales price is $53,000 less than the median list price, and the median size shows that they aren’t sacrificing much in the way of square footage. That pending number is really a guess as well, since we won’t know what the properties actually sell for until the deal is closed. The pending sales price is likely even a little bit lower.
Pierce County is a wide and varied place, and it is hard to make sweeping judgements when these stats lump together a condo in Downtown Tacoma with a Mobile home on 5 acres in Roy, but what this says to me is that buyers are getting what they want for quite a bit less than sellers would like to sell for.
If you want to sell, sit down and take a hard look at the homes that are selling and see if you’re price is anywhere close to what the pending sales are listed at in your neighborhood. If that price doesn’t work for you, take your house off the market. If you’re buying the bargains are getting picked up a bit faster than they were before, so get familiar with what things are selling for and move fast when you find a good deal.
