This information courtesy of the NWMLS.

*360 went pending in the month of July

Recent news reports state that the real estate market has picked up across the nation. This is true, but looking specifically at Snohomish county, we can get a bit more realistic picture of where we really are. Notice in the chart that homes sold have increased, homes pending have increased, and the number of active listings has increaed, but consider the price range! Homes under $417k (FHA loan limits) are 65% of the active listings, 80% of the homes currently pending, 80% of the homes that went pending in the month of July, and 82% of the homes sold. So yes, the real estate market is picking up, but only in the first time home buyer price range. There is still negligible movement with move-up buyers, causing the real estate market as a whole to be unbalanced. The good news is that we are on the right track in trying to decrease the amount of inventory that is bank owned or "distressed". Once these homes are reabsorbed, we then start to return to a more balanced market.

Current interest rates have dropped to around 5.475%.