2017/2018 Market Report: Year End Review & Trends to Watch
The 2017 year-end market report has been published by Realogics Sotheby's International Realty, and it's no surprise to see that the home values across the entire Western Washington area have increased over the past 12 months. King County, in particular, has seen some dramatic increases, with the median home prices hitting $630,000 in 2017. For reference, in 2016 the median price was $550,000 and in 2015 the median price was $485,000.
Meanwhile, Kitsap County also saw an increase over the last two years. In 2015 the median selling price for a single-family home was $260,000. In 2016 that price increased just $15,000 to $285,000; but in 2017 the price increased $25,000 to $310,000. That's means 2017 median prices were 8.8 percent higher than 2016. Even more impressive was that, in 2017, the county as a whole saw $1.88 billion in single-family home sales; which was 19.5 percent higher than 2016. Additionally, Kitsap County started the year at a median 29 cumulative days on the market and reached just 9 days in the second quarter.
In Poulsbo, the number of single-family home transactions declined by 7.7 percent, from 653 to 603; though the overall selling volume was 4.5 percent higher, to $251.3 million in 2017 from $240.5 million in 2016. This was established by a rise in median home prices. In 2017 the median home selling price in Poulsbo rose 13.5 percent, from $340,500 in 2016 up to $386,500. Additonally, the year-over-year quarterly cumulative days on market for Poulsbo actually rose to 16 days, which was two more days than 2016 at 14.
Over on Bainbridge Island, the single-family home transactions rose by 17.8 percent in 2017, up from 370 in 2016 to 436. The second quarter was especially fruitful, with 31.8 percent more homes purchased than in the same quarter a year before. The prices here are much higher than elsewhere in Kitsap County; and single-family home prices increased here 13 percent in 2017. The median sales price rose from $740,000 in 2016 up to $836,500 in 2017. Therefore, the selling volume also increased dramatically - up 30.4 percent, to $425.3 million from $326.3 million in 2016.