Seattle Region June Home Sales

A total of 4,513 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow during June in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metropolitan statistical area encompassing King, Snohomish and Pierce counties. June sales rose 9.0 percent from 4,142 in May and increased 9.6 percent from 4,118 in June 2009, according to MDA DataQuick of San Diego. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.

Seattle-area sales have risen on a year-over-year basis for 12 consecutive months. In June they were the highest for that month since 2007, but they were still 29.3 percent below average and the third-lowest for a June since 1994, when DataQuick's complete Seattle-area statistics begin.

The 127 homes that sold for over $1 million in June represented a 24.5 percent increase from a year earlier, based on an analysis of public records that identifies transactions with either a sale price or loan amount of $1 million or more.

The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos combined in June was $295,950, down 1.4 percent from May and down 5.1 percent from $312,000 a year earlier.

June's median was 19.0 percent lower than the Seattle area's peak $365,200 median in June 2007. The overall median has fallen on a year-over-year basis for 29 straight months.

Another key price measure, the median paid per square foot for resale single-family detached houses, fell from the month before but rose above the year-ago level for the fourth consecutive month. The median paid per square foot was $187 in June, down from $194 in May but up 2.4 percent from $183 a year earlier. June's figure was 21.8 percent lower than the peak $239 median paid per square foot in June 2007.

Sales of foreclosed properties in June represented 18.7 percent of the resale market, up from 18.0 percent in May and 16.9 percent a year earlier. So far, the peak for foreclosure resales was 28.5 percent in January this year.

In June, 858 homes were foreclosed on in the region, up 20.2 percent from May but down 0.6 percent from a year earlier. For the first six months of this year, foreclosures are up 21.1 percent compared with the same period last year. The figures are based on the number of trustees deeds filed with county recorder offices.

In June, 38.1 percent of all purchase mortgages were government-insured FHA loans, up from 35.5 percent in May and 36.7 percent a year ago.

Absentee buyers accounted for 13.1 percent of June home sales, down from 14.1 percent in May and 13.5 percent a year earlier. Absentee buyers are mainly investors and second-home buyers. Those who appeared to be using cash to purchase their homes made up 16.5 percent of all buyers in June - up from 14.0 percent in May and 14.6 percent a year ago - and paid a median $279,725.

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA MSA

Number of sales	Jun-09	Jun-10	% Chng
Resale houses	2,797	2,971	6.20%
Resale condos	588	652	10.90%
New homes	733	890	21.40%
All homes	4,118	4,513	9.60%

Median sale price	Jun-09	Jun-10	% Chng
Resale houses	$320,000	$319,000	-0.30%
Resale condos	$246,600	$233,500	-5.30%
New homes	$329,950	$295,000	-10.60%
All homes	$312,000	$295,950	-5.10%