Homes Under Contract in Pierce County Rise 24%

Wake up everyone, it looks like the Pierce County Housing Market is starting to show some momentum. Pierce County had 1,234 properties under contract in February 2012, up 24% from February 2011! The slow draw down of homes on the market in Pierce County continued in February of 2012. As of February 2012 active inventory was 4,018, a 22% decrease from February 2011.

At the same time that inventories are dropping, there were 636 more homes that closed, an increase of 30% over February 2011. “Less inventory with more sales shows the balancing process is continuing,” says Michael Robinson, Realtor and owner at Windermere Professional Partners. “Buyers are accepting many of the properties at these re-calibrated values.”

That said, prices have not yet bottomed out. The median price of sold homes was $169,450 for the month of February 2012, down 16.4% from February 2011. This is because so many of the homes on the market are still distressed, and those properties tent to sell for less. Says Michael Robinson, “Prices continue to slide, and will continue to slide as long as distressed sales ( Bank Owned & Short Sales) represent roughly half of our transaction velocity. The market wants to get back to neutral, this is the process that needs to happen.”