The March statistics are out. Are they looking as sunny as the weather we have been getting the last few days? Here is a quick look:
Months of inventory
Months of inventory for March was 11.6 (i.e., it would take 11.6 months to sell all of the current inventory at the present purchasing volume). This is an improvement from the previous month at 13 months but still higher than a year ago which was a much more brisk 6.4.
Pending sales
Pending sales continue to remain 44% lower than same period last year and a modest improvement of 3% higher than previous month.
Closed sales
As for closed sales, they are still at about half (-43.92%) of the level from a year ago with 117 condos closed in March. However, compared to previous month, there is an increase of closed condos by ~20%. This is largely due to an increase in closed condos in the Belltown/downtown neighborhood. Interestingly, looking from beginning of this year, January closed sales are quite similar to March. There was a bad dip in February but closed sales came back up in March.
Median Prices
Median prices for closed condos are down by 16.66% from a year ago at $275,000 and about the same level from previous month at $274,000.
Overall, the market is showing a modest increase in inventory and pending sales, and a pretty good pick up in closed sales compared to previous month numbers (which were quite depressing). However, March was still lagging behind March 2008 in median price, pending and closed sales. Condos under $400,000 are still getting the most buyer activities compared to higher price levels.
