For two months running, pending condominium contracts have surged in the high double digits around the Seattle, Wash., market area. Buyers jumped off the fence in April to the tune of 50 percent more contracts in April over the month of March. A jump from one month to the next demonstrates a momentous movement.

Mike Skahen, broker with Lake & Co. in Seattle, agreed. "This is the most positive market we've had in almost two years," he said to the Seattle Times. "It's been so bad.”

SeattleCondoReview.com, a blog operated by Realtor Wendy Leung of John L. Scott, states that the absorption rate (the months of inventory) stands at about 6.1 months. “If the same level of pending sales in April continue over the next few months and closed, we will be seeing the market shifting from a strong buyers' market to a more balanced market,” she writes.

Most of the surge of contracts is happening in the under-$400,000 group, which is the same in comparable markets across the country. Leung says the inventory continues to shrink, as well. “In April, there were a total of 1,572 active condos in Seattle, that's 13.36 percent fewer units on the market than the same time last year. Looking at year-over-year comparisons, this is the 4th consecutive month we've seen fewer sellers competing against each other,” she says.

Published: June 8, 2009

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