Buyers are Jumping Back In

After being off double digits for most of the year, pending home sales in Thurston County shot up nearly 6% in December 2008, thanks in large part to prices and mortgage interest rates.

Prices in Thurston County jumped an average of 13.4% each year from 2003-2006. During the twenty years prior, prices only increased 5.9% each year, so those gains during the hot seller's market could not be sustained.

In 2008, prices began correcting to more sustainable and historic levels. For the year, the average sales price of a home dropped 5% to $283,907. In November and December prices were off 8% and 9%, respectively, from the prior year.

These prices are having an effect on the buyers, but they aren't the only reason buyers are jumping back in. Interest rates having plummeted to levels never before seen. Many local lenders are reporting rates below 5% for 30-year, fixed rate mortgages. This is a point or more below the levels seen just last summer.

The combination of these factors has returned many of the homes in our market to affordable and sustainable levels for the years to come.

Statistics compiled by Coldwell Banker Evergreen Olympic Realty, Inc. from the NWMLS database. Statistics not compiled or published by NWMLS.