Washington housing market weaker in first quarter of 2014

University of Washington - Washington state's housing market finished weaker in the first quarter of 2014 when compared to the end of 2013, according to the  Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies at the University of Washington. "The housing market is still suffering from low inventory,” said Stephen O'Connor, director of the center. "This is evidenced by decreased sales volume and by an overall decrease in available listings. Existing home sales declined 12.1 percent in the first quarter, which is a 7.1 percent decline from the first quarter in 2013, for a seasonally adjusted annual sale rate of 81,450 homes. This means that if the sales rate for the quarter continued for a year, that number of homes would be sold. Most economic statistics are reported at seasonally adjust annual rates, but these are not forecasts of future activity. Compared to a year ago, the statewide median home sales price increased 8.2 percent and now stands at $248,900.