Vancouver WA Real Estate Market Report for August 2015

Home Sales Peaking for August 2015 in Vancouver WA !

As we made our way through the last full month of Summer 2015, it was becoming clear that the typical seasonal slowing would be taking place, and the final tally for August bears that out. Here are the key points for this past month:

• 421 Resale Homes were sold in August 2015, which is 4 (1%) more homes than had sold in August 2014.
   
• The Price Trend Lines are both going horizontal, with the 3-Month Moving Average up 6.18% over the prior year at $272,112; and the 12-Month Moving Average up 9.22%, and now at $257,076.
    
• Short Sale /Pre-Foreclosure property sales were 11 units (2.6% of total); down from last month; and a substantial positive change compared to 24 (5.8% of total) in August of 2014.
  
• REO/Bank Owned home sales were 17 units (4.0% of total); resuming their downward trend compared to 34 (8.2% of total) in August of 2014.
   
• Inventory for Resale Homes at the end of August is still at 2.1 Months! - a Seller's Market but not getting more extreme!

We have prepared several real estate market charts to allow you to see the current condition(s), and the distance plus direction we've covered since the 2009 time-frame.  Nationwide the National Association of Realtors (NAR) is reporting that the median home sales price is now above the previous peak for that measure last seen in 2006 (see: NAR Home Prices Peak ).  In our market we likely saw the very highest average sales price in July, with that average starting to slip in August - resulting in a 3-month average statistic that looks "flat."  

We'll first start with Unit Sales (sheer number of homes & condos sold) for the Resale Category.  You'll see the 3-month Moving Average is in red; and the longer term trend line (12-months) Moving Average is in blue. 

Vancouver WA Resale Home Sales - Units Sold Trend August 2015

Unlike previous years where the turning point appears as a sharp peak; in 2015 we have developed a "flatter looking top" for unit sales.  We also note that the absolute higher level of the peak when compared to previous years gives the reader a clear idea of how much more active the current market has been.  We agree with Dr. Yun at NAR that there has been pent-up demand both by first-time buyers; and returning home-buyers (previous foreclosures and short-sales) that have decided to break free of the rent-vs-own paradox.    

The next chart graphic below shows Vancouver's Resale Average Home Sales-Prices have also formed a flat-top!  What this suggests is that the expected "seasonal slowdown" may not be as slow as what we typically see from previous years results.

Vancouver WA Resale Home Sales - Average Sales Price Trend

92 properties (21.9%) were priced $200,000 or less when sold; with 147 (34.9%) sold that were priced $200,000 to $250,000. In comparison, in 2014 there 62.4% of the August sales were at $250k or below; while this August that is now at 57%.

From RMLS the charts below show the recent twelve-month's of action for Unit Sales, Average & Median Prices; and Days on Market:

Vancouver Resale Home Sales Inventory & Days on Market Trends

We have now had five (5) months where the Median Days on Market are less than 20 days!  Home-buyers take note - you still must be prepared to act, and not think overnight for many of these properties!

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PS - Please visit our Homes For Sale in Vancouver WA page.  We've made it Easy to search by Neighborhood or by Category, with Homes  and real estate listings from the entire RMLS.  Sign-up Not Required!

PPS -2015 is breaking records for the Vancouver Washington real estate market.  Do You Have Home Selling or Buying Plans this year? - Call Us Right Away!

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This report and custom charts (prepared by John Slocum Realtor®, our resident statistician) are based on home sales posted in the Vancouver MLS system (RMLS), excluding sales of mobile home; and shows the purchase activity since 2009; charting the 3 month Moving average number of sales, and the 12 month Moving average.  This "smoothing" of the trend-data helps illustrate the short-term and longer term trends in Vancouver WA's real estate market.

Disclaimer: as with any real estate statistics, we do our best to provide the best representation at the time the data was acquired.  We deem the data and reports reliable but not guaranteed.