Home Buyers Starting to Seize Opportunities in Some Western Washington Areas

Pending sales during January jumped from the same month a year ago in eight of the 19 counties in the Northwest Multiple Listing Service area. Last month's pending sales outgained December's weather-hampered activity by nearly 1,100 transactions, prompting one MLS director to report "We're starting to feel the train building up steam."
The latest report from Northwest MLS shows inventory is shrinking and prices in most areas are below year-ago levels.

NWMLS members tallied 4,353 pending sales of single family homes and condominiums area-wide during January, up from December's total of 3,255, but down about 3.3 percent from a year ago when sellers accepted 4,499 offers. Sales surged more than 26 percent in both Pacific and Pierce counties, according to the new figures from Northwest MLS. Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Kitsap, and Okanogan counties also experienced double-digit gains in pending sales compared with a year ago. Read More.