February Stats Guesses Anyone?

With February behind us, would anyone care to venture a guess as to what the NWMLS stats will show when they're released in the coming week? Here are my baseless predictions for King County:

Median Price (Closed)
Res + Condo: $372,000
Residential: $425,000
Condo: $272,500

Res Only
Active Listings: 6,250
Pending Sales: 1,900

What is your guess?

Condo Shoppers Lie Low

This article appeared on the front page of the Puget Sound Business Journal early this month. While typically not read by the general public, "Biz Journals" are widely circulated throughout the business community. Local businesses use the publication to keep tabs on their customers and competitors and to stay abreast of local business news.

I've posted the entire article with permission as it's currently only available to subscribers of the Journal. Enjoy!

Puget Sound Business Journal
February 2, 2007
by Justin Matlick

Walk into the "Trio" condominium project's Belltown showroom, and it looks like many other glitzy condominium projects rising in downtown Seattle. Many of Trio's units, when they're completed this fall, will feature bamboo floors and faux-granite countertops. Tenants will share a roof deck just a block from the new Olympic Sculpture Park.

But there's one key difference between Trio and some other recent projects: It isn't selling.

With a median price of $405,000, the project opened for presales in December 2005 and, as of Jan. 7, had sold just 28 of its 116 units, according to the Fat Report, a monthly newsletter that chronicles local condo sales.

Trio is among a growing number of struggling condo projects in Seattle. A downtown Seattle high-rise project at Fifth Avenue and Madison Street has sold about 52 of its 126 unfinished condominiums since September 2006 [sic]. Lumen, a 94-unit project in Seattle's Lower Queen Anne neighborhood, started selling in June 2005, and roughly a third of its units are still up for grabs. In Ballard, a project dubbed Hjarta, which started presales in October, had sold seven of 79 units as of Jan. 7, according to the Fat Report.

The stagnant sales could pick up once the projects are completed, and don't mean Seattle has been dragged into the condo tailspin now affecting markets in Las Vegas, Boston and other cities -- some recent local projects have sold out within days. Still, many local developers and real estate watchers agree that Seattle's condominium market is decelerating for the first time in years.

The reason: With thousands of local condos slated to go up in the next few years, buyers believe the recent period of rapid price appreciation is disappearing, and it's taking away the buy-now urgency that fueled the local boom with it.

"Buyers have a lot more to choose from and are playing a bit of a waiting game," said Mark Schuster, president and chief executive officer of the Schuster Group Inc., a Seattle-based real estate development company.

Nationwide, the condominium outlook is bleak in cities such as Washington, D.C., where a rush to build left the market oversaturated. In the fourth quarter of last year, developers in the Washington metro area switched roughly 5,900 projected condos into rental apartments, while plans for another 2,500 new condominiums were shelved, according to Delta Associates, a research firm based in Alexandria, Va.

While the Puget Sound region's housing market is slowing -- in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service has reported falling home sales and rising inventories since last summer -- none of the real estate professionals contacted for this story were aware of any local projects being canceled or postponed, and most economists agree that the local market is well-insulated against a dramatic decline.

According to Dick Conway, co-publisher of the Puget Sound Economic Forecaster newsletter and Web site, the ongoing Boeing boom, a Microsoft hiring spree and strong demand for the region's exports from Asia set the stage for an ongoing population inmigration that should keep housing demand steady.

"We have very strong fundamental demand for housing because of population growth," Conway said.

The critical question facing local condo buyers: whether supply will outstrip that demand. While it's nearly impossible to predict how many condos are too many, it's apparent that the region's developers remain in the throes of a condo-building spree.

Developers in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties filed permits to build 8,300 units of multifamily housing, including apartments, condominiums and townhomes, in 2005, according to Conway. That number rose to 11,200 last year.

Meanwhile, developers are converting apartments into condos at a rapid clip. Roughly 7,000 apartments were transformed into condominiums in 2006, or were scheduled to hit the market soon, according to Dupre + Scott Apartment Advisors in Seattle.

The bevy of new projects "has probably put a little rain on the sales parade," said Lin Shih, a Seattle real estate agent who specializes in condos at Coldwell Banker Bain. "Buyers think that, with all these new developments coming up, they can be picky."

Another factor: a widespread belief that the days of rapid price gains are over. "When the market was hot, people knew they were buying today for ready-made appreciation," said Brett Frosaker, owner of Columbia Real Estate in Seattle and publisher of the Fat Report. "Now they're starting to wonder if today's condos are listing at tomorrow's prices."

According to Frosaker, a project's sales typically accelerate once it is completed, in part because buyers feel more comfortable seeing the actual units instead of showroom mock-ups.

Nonetheless, some projects have sold rapidly in the presale phase, especially lower-priced developments targeted at first-time buyers. The 251-unit Moda project in Belltown, for instance, came on the market for presales last summer and sold out within days, according to Frosaker. Many of Moda's condos were small units priced under $300,000.

Looking ahead, Frosaker believes this summer could be a ripe time for condo buyers to get good deals, especially as the bigger projects get closer to completion and their developers feel a greater sense of urgency to fill them up.

"With all these projects fighting tooth and nail," Frosaker said, "summer might turn into a great buying opportunity." Schuster believes demand will remain strong enough to support current price levels. "I don't see price drops being part of the equation even if there were a significant slowdown," he said.

What do you think? Pretty objective, no? Why aren't we getting this "fair and balanced" type of reporting from most of our friends over at the Times or PI?

What makes this article unbiased in regards to residential real estate is the fact that 100% of its advertising is B2B related.

From my own personal experience, the B2B world (especially in the business networking community) have little use for the B2C crowd (i.e. real estate clerks and mortgage brokers). Since B2C types are usually dealing exclusively with consumers, it can be difficult for them to provide B2B referrals, and, worse yet, they often attempt to solicit business from their fellow networking partners.

Newspapers such as the Seattle PI and Times are co-conspirators to the REIC as they rely heavily on residential real estate advertising for their revenues, often leading them to distort the truth.

(Justin Matlick, Puget Sound Business Journal, 02-02-2007)

Fleckenstein: Seattle "Just a Little Less Dark"

Wow, Aubrey Cohen over at the P-I is really slipping lately. First he prints the prediction that Seattle will see "slight year-over-year price declines this spring or summer," and now he has penned an entire article about Bill Fleckenstein's "not-so-rosy" outlook for local real estate.

Like many economists and real estate professionals, hedge fund manager Bill Fleckenstein thinks Seattle's housing market is, relatively speaking, in decent shape. But, while others see Seattle as a bright spot, he describes it more as just a little less dark.

The national market is going through "probably one of the biggest, most dangerous bubbles we've had in this country," said Fleckenstein, president of Seattle's Fleckenstein Capital, MSN columnist and a panelist Tuesday at a forum on housing trends sponsored by the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce.

Although Seattle is in better shape, its home prices will go down, Fleckenstein said after the meeting. Asked if he would buy a home in Seattle now, his response was an immediate, definitive "no."
...
"I really think it was more of a lending bubble and an abdication of responsibility by the lending institutions," he said. "Anybody with a pulse could borrow any amount of money."

Meanwhile, the rising home values created equity, which homeowners cashed in to live beyond their means, Fleckenstein said. He said the [national] market peaked in mid-2005 and has serious potential for prolonged trouble.

Real estate prices declined for a decade after Japan's equity bubble burst in 1989, with commercial property values falling 90 percent and home values down 70 to 80 percent, Fleckenstein said. "You can look to see what happened in Japan as where things could go."

The ultimate depth of the fall is not yet knowable, he said. "When the tide starts to go out, then you start to find out all the crazy stuff that's gone on."

Fleckenstein said the recent tightening of lending standards could affect the lower end of Seattle's home market, while the national fallout would hit the city's higher-end buyers.

I don't really have much to add. I've been reading Bill's stuff over at MSN Money for a while now. He's a sharp guy, and was accurately warning of a national slowdown and credit tightening well before it all began. I'd think carefully before dismissing his local predictions just because they don't reflect your preferred version of the future.

(Aubrey Cohen, Seattle P-I, 01.31.2007)

Prices Unleavened in 2007?

So what's in store for the Seattle housing market in 2007? Everyone's got an opinion, and yours truly is no exception. But before I get into my guesses, let's review the predictions of local "experts" that have been trumpeted in the media in the last few weeks.

From a December 22nd P-I article:

"I think very easily by spring this could be an extremely strong real estate market," said Bill Riss, chief executive of Coldwell Banker Bain, in Seattle. He said he was planning on home prices going up an average of about 10 percent in the coming year and about the same number of homes to be sold next year as in 2006.

Analysts say strong job growth will continue to drive demand in the area.

"Really, the driver of the housing costs is demand, which is fueled by jobs," said Randy Bannecker, a consultant housing specialist for the Seattle-King County Association of Realtors. He predicted year-over-year price increases would be 6 percent to 10 percent in 2007.

[WCRER Director Glenn] Crellin predicted slight declines in activity in 2007 and year-over-year price increases that would be down around 3 percent to 5 percent by the end of next year.

Matthew Gardner, a local land-use economist, predicted activity would slow from recent highs and price increases would settle to 7 percent to 9 percent in Seattle and 5 percent to 7 percent in rural areas farther from jobs.

Don't forget Ms. Rhodes' preferred vision, discussed here earlier.

What will 2007 bring? Here's what Seattle real-estate experts are saying.
...
[Seattle real-estate economist Matthew Gardner] expects closer-in areas to appreciate about 10 percent over the coming year; farther out, 7 percent appreciation will be more the norm for single-family homes and for condominiums.

And of course I have to mention the outlier in the bunch, from Saturday's P-I:

Michael Simonsen, chief executive of Altos Research, in Palo Alto, Calif., has noticed cooling in the Seattle home market.
...
Simonsen predicted that Seattle would start seeing slight year-over-year price declines this spring or summer, although he said the city had a strong economy, and its housing market would fare better than outlying areas.

So the general consensus among the media's preferred "experts" seems to be a fairly optimistic +7—10% to the median price in 2007, thanks to "jobs." Granted, median price doesn't give us a very complete market picture, but it's the best metric we've got.

As far as the jobs argument goes, I believe it is a false hope to think that as long as the sheer number of jobs is increasing, housing prices will also increase. It is true that a large drop in employment will usually lead to a housing downturn, but housing can decline despite a strong job market. For evidence of this, see Rich Toscano's investigation of San Diego's housing market in the 1990s. Of course I'm sure that the local housing bulls would retort that San Diego didn't have Boeing and Microsoft.

Before I tell you what I think is in store for 2007, let's take a look at what I guessed back in April about the remainder of 2006:

In most parts of King County appreciation slows to a crawl through the end of the year. The closer to Seattle you get, the more stagnant the appreciation. Near the end of summer and into fall, inventory begins to build slightly. Realtors and newspapers proudly proclaim a "soft landing."

"Appreciation slows to a crawl" was clearly incorrect. Appreciation did indeed slow to 12% YOY county-wide and 10% in Seattle (pdf, page 2), but that's hardly "to a crawl." I think prices were held a bit higher than I expected thanks to the unexpected drop in mortgage interest rates. My call on inventory was spot on, with active listings up 20-30% YOY the last three months of the year, and as evidenced by the newspaper quotes above, the press is definitely still pretty optimistic about the market.

Here's my 2007 prediction from April:

Inventory stacks up at an increasing pace, prices are level in some areas, slightly declining in others. By the end of the year, prices in some areas are approaching 2004 levels. Realtors still in denial.

With inventory already increasing over 20% YOY, it will be hard to increase the pace, but certainly possible. I expect to see active listings at least 15% over 2006 levels for the first half of the year. During the same time, I expect sales will decline at least 5-10% from 2006, dropping back to levels last seen in 2002 or 2003.

As far as the median price goes, I doubt that it will be "approaching 2004 levels." That would be a roughly 25% drop from today's price, which is highly unlikely save for some sort of scenario that includes a major natural disaster. More realistically, I guess that the King County "residential" median price at the end of this year will be between five percent down ($418,000) and three percent up ($453,200).

I expect we'll see more toward the low end if interest rates begin to edge upward again, lending standards are actually tightened a bit, and the local economy moderates. If interest rates hold steady or drop, new even-more "creative" financing is brought to market, and the economy goes gangbusters, we'll probably end up at the high end.

Maybe the "experts" are right and prices will go up another ten percent this year. Maybe I am underestimating the willingness of Seattle homebuyers to jump into greater and greater debt for an unchanging product. No doubt they've already demonstrated themselves to be far more willing than I ever would have guessed. However, as the real estate party winds down around the country, I have yet to hear any good, well-thought-out reasons ("Microsoft and Boeing" doesn't count) that we will escape the slow landslide.

Whatever happens, most of the action will probably take place March through May, so we'll most likely have a pretty good idea by June where we'll be in December.

So what are your predictions (and the reasons behind them) for 2007?

(Aubrey Cohen, Seattle P-I, 12.22.2006)
(Elizabeth Rhodes, Seattle Times, 12.30.2006)
(Aubrey Cohen, Seattle P-I, 01.06.2007)

Always Trust The 'Experts'

What's the point about worrying about global warming when we're getting all this hot air from Elizabeth Rhodes?

Please enjoy this year end feel good article about our robust housing market here in Rain City.

One of this year's biggest residential real-estate topics was the anticipated slowdown in sales and appreciation.

Would the Puget Sound market tank?

Would prices deflate?

Neither of those things occurred locally, although other parts of the country have seen moderate-to-severe downturns this year.

What happened here was a gentler transition in housing activity, from its record 2005 levels to a slower pace by this year's end.

What will 2007 bring? Here's what Seattle real-estate experts are saying.

First, let me introduce the "experts".

Elizabeth Rhodes (The Seattle Times and her job depend on a steady stream of advertising dollars from local Real Estate)

Matthew Gardner (Gardner Johnson, a Seattle land-use economics firm; "regularly retained by the region's most prominent developers")

Bill Riss (CEO of Coldwell Banker)

Frank Nothaft (Chief Economist, Freddie Mac)

Mike Scott (Dupre+Scott Apartment Advisors)

Suzanne Britsch (Senior Analyst, New Home Trends)

"This bubble lunacy is still prevalent, but not in Seattle, and I'll keep saying that," said Gardner, of the land-use economics firm Gardner Johnson.

The closer homes are to the major job hubs of Seattle and Bellevue, "the higher appreciation you'll get," Gardner said. "That's because there's intrinsically a value to our time."

What did we have in 2006?

"A more balanced market," said Bill Riss, CEO of Coldwell Banker Bain. That's giving buyers "a little more time to think, plan and write good offers."

Riss wouldn't be surprised if spring sales roar to life, causing another feeding frenzy, albeit not at record levels of past years.

A rise in inflation could drive rates up, but that's not a concern now, Frank Nothaft, chief economist for mortgage-money provider Freddie Mac, recently told the Washington Association of Mortgage Brokers.

"Inflation will be tame, and interest rates will not change much in the next six months," Nothaft said. "They may drop after that. We don't see mortgage rates even getting up to 7 percent [by the end of 2007]."

He also anticipates the number of nontraditional loans, such as negative amortization and interest-only, will drop as borrowers choose other mortgage products instead.

Sure, no problem affording that $699,000 charmer with your conventional loan: $140K down payment and $4,800 monthly payment!

The same strong regional economics sustaining the local home-sales market are also fueling apartment demand, said analyst Mike Scott, of Seattle's Dupre + Scott Apartment Advisors.

Logically, strong demand should ramp up apartment construction, but it hasn't worked out that way, Scott said.

A year ago, he forecast 3,600 new units would be built in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties this year. Instead, just under 3,100 opened.

In 2007 Scott anticipates even fewer: just 2,600 new apartments.

...apartment rents to jump about 8 percent next year, Scott predicted. Vacancies will fall from their current 4.7 percent to roughly 3.5 percent, he said.

Buy now or be priced out forever! I don't know about you, but even if he's correct I would gladly pay an additional 8% in rent rather than 50% more in mortgage costs while facing the inevitable repossession, bankruptcy and anxiety disorder.

My prediction: Rents will remain flat through 2007 and drop in 2008 as additional housing becomes available. Desperate FB's will have no choice but to rent out properties that do not sell. Condos and condo conversions will face a serious slowdown in sales and many will convert into apartments.

The national news has been full of stories about homebuilders cutting production and prices as the real-estate market cools. In November, for example, building permits nationwide fell to a nine-year low, according to a government report.

"But that's the national news, not the local news," said Suzanne Britsch, senior analyst for New Home Trends, a construction-analysis and consulting firm in Mill Creek. "We still have job growth and a shortage of lots here, so we have just not had a problem with standing inventory."

We're different. Special. A breed apart.

In King County, the average price of a new house will be $750,000, she predicted. A big chunk of that expense is the land. The rock-bottom price for a lot in a new King County subdivision is now $250,000.

In Snohomish County, new single-family homes will start at $400,000. And they'll likely be on 3,500-square-foot lots, rather than 6,000 square feet, the norm there until recently.

OMG that is so affordable! Isn't it nice to have all these objective opinions?

Happy New Year ;)

(Elizabeth Rhodes, Seattle Times, 12.30.2006)