This report has put all the data on the size of the market up front and put the price info way down, so you have to scroll, but look what is says!!! Prices are up, year over year, in almost all parts of Seattle. Only 3 neighborhoods out of 14 had lower median $/sqft prices than the same month in 2009 - Lake City, Rainier, and West Seattle. Those were down 3.1%, 1.5%, and 2.8%, respectively. The other 11 neighborhoods had increases anywhere from 4.1% to 32%. Does this mean individual houses are up, not necessarily. These figures can be skewed by just a few sales when volumes are as low as they have been. But it does mean that we are not seeing a substantial and continuing decline in prices that so many on this forum keep talking about.
One month doesn't make a trend, but the rate at which prices have been declining yoy in Case Shiller data has been slowing for many months and the trajectory would put us into appreciation YOY this quarter. Jobs are not being created fast enough to dramatically decrease unemployment, but jobs are, on net, being created - both nationwide and in Seattle (http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2010/07/12/daily29.html "In the first half of 2010, the state has gained a net 23,300 jobs."). So unless more newly employed people will be choosing to stay put or consolidate households, the demand for houses is likely to rise, supporting housing prices.
Yes there are foreclosures and yes, inventory is up, but banks seem to be putting more effort into getting a good price for their REO and the rise in inventory isn't clearly being driven by a need to sell, meaning that many of the homes on the market will not be dropping prices just to sell.
This report says (IMHO) that it will remain a buyer's market, but that prices are pretty much bottomed and flat. Some neighborhoods are already slowly rising.
