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Home / Market Report / Condos in July: Prices Up a Bit, Sales Down 30%

Condos in July: Prices Up a Bit, Sales Down 30%

By August 12, 2010

Market Report

This afternoon Redfin released new data on the Seattle Area market showing that for the city of Seattle condo prices increased 1.8% in July to $290,000, and were flat year-over-year. Sales volume decreased 29.4% to 161 sales from June to July, and decreased 23.7% year-over-year (there were 211 condos sold June 2009).

Inventory Down 4.5% Month over Month

In July the number of condos for sale in Seattle decreased 4.5% to 1,373 from 1,437 in June but up 1.6% year-over-year.

Here’s the number of condos for sale in July by neighborhood.

# For Sale July ’10 Mo/Mo Change # For Sale July ’09 Yr/Yr Change
Ballard 49 -29.0% 62 -21.0%
Belltown 168 1.2% 172 -2.3%
Capitol Hill 170 -3.4% 165 3.0%
Central District 49 8.9% 19 157.9%
Downtown 399 -2.0% 405 -1.5%
Fremont 24 4.3% 18 33.3%
Queen Anne 148 -17.8% 152 -2.6%
South Lake Union 23 -8.0% 17 35.5%
West Seattle 142 -0.7% 131 8.4%

 
 
Sales Volume Down 29.4% Month over Month

When we reported on June sales they had declined 18% month-over-month, and again this past month they’ve declined again. This time 29.4% month-over-month. Welcome to a post-tax credit world. This certainly surpassed our predictions as last month we predicted “sales will be flat to slightly down.” I said this last month, but this month, I mean it, I don’t think we’ll see such a big drop off for another month in a row.

Here’s the # of condos bought in July 2010 by neighborhood. Instead of showing the month-over-month increase which is skewed by the number of weekdays in a month we’re showing the weekday rate of change for a better comparison in sales volume:

# Sold July ’10 Mo/Mo Weekday Rate Change # Sold July ’09 Yr/Yr Change
Ballard 4 -58.3% 18 -72.2%
Belltown 22 -21.4% 20 10.0%
Capitol Hill 20 -23.1% 34 -41.2%
Central District 4 8
Downtown 47 -24.2 47 0.0%
Fremont 5 -28.6 4
Queen Anne 20 0.0% 22 -9.1%
South Lake Union 4 3
West Seattle 15 -28.6% 18 -16.7%

 
 
Median Prices Increase 1.8% to $290,000

Surprisingly with sales volume really decreasing the median price increased slightly to $290,000.

July ’10 Mo/Mo Change July ’09 Yr/Yr Change $/Sq. Ft.
Ballard $449,950 45.2% $287,500 56.5% $402
Belltown $378,750 0.5% $424,500 -10.8% $439
Capitol Hill $310,975 6.6% $311,900 -0.3% $329
Central District $215,600
Downtown $375,000 9.2% $405,000 -7.4% $411
Fremont $239,950 -2.1% $254
Queen Anne $337,500 23.9% $259,500 30.1% $348
South Lake Union
West Seattle $219,000 6.8% $230,000 -4.8% $249

 
 
For more color on sales in July check out our weekly series of recent sale posts.

What Does the Future Hold?

I suspect we’ll see sales activity be flat to slightly down in August, and inventory will be down as everyone heads out on vacation in August.

What Do You Think?

Have you been shopping for a condo recently? What do you think of what’s available for sale? Made any offers? How did those go?

Redfin has a spreadsheet available if you want to dig into the data for for a neighborhood or city not included here (or for single-family home and townhouse data.)

Disclaimer: I work at Redfin and run the marketing team. This is one of the projects I work on.

I own and manage Urban Living, a boutique Seattle and Bellevue real estate brokerage. I love lofts, floating homes, new construction, and mid-century moderns, but I will help you buy or sell just about anything!

Get in touch to:

  • Understand the market
  • Find your perfect home
  • Sell your home

Contact:

206-203-6242