Affordability drives Washington housing recovery in first quarter of 2013

Washington state's housing market improved in the first quarter of 2013 - the third quarterly rise in a row - with median prices increasing and affordability improving statewide, according to the Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies at the University of Washington. "Washington's housing market is clearly recovering,” said Glenn Crellin, the center's associate director for research. "However, the pace of sales activity is being held back somewhat by the limited inventory of homes available for sale. Crellin said this shortage of listings brings "classic supply and demand pressure on prices, consistent with the observed price increases. Existing home sales during the opening quarter of 2013 increased 5.6 percent from the fourth quarter of 2012 and 14.7 percent from a year ago, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual sale rate of 88,440 homes, meaning that if the sales rate for the quarter continued for a year, that number of homes would be sold. Quarter-to-quarter home sales increased in 28 of Washington's 39 counties at seasonally adjusted annual rates. Some counties with a slower sales pace were urban markets such as King County, which entered recovery mode earlier than some smaller communities.