When to Take a Vacation: When Nothing is Going On!
We met a very nice couple from Richland, WA in Santa Margherita, Italy in the park.
Now that my jet-lag has melted away and I’m thinking about real estate again (a little), I have a confession to make: I DIDN’T THINK ABOUT WORK AT ALL FOR THE LAST FIVE WEEKS. This really hit me when we bumped into a couple from Richland, WAin Santa Margherita. We met them in the town plaza and after we talked about Italy, they asked what we do. When I said I am a realtor they asked how the market was in Seattle and, half jokingly, asked how I can take such a long vacation? The questions hit me hard because 1) I wasn’t paying attention to the market and, more importantly, 2) a feeling of guilt washed over me….gosh James you should be home working hard, making money, being productive (Mr. Freeze, The Financial Curmudgeon reared his ugly head). I simply told them that nothing was going on back home so it was the perfect time to take a vacation. We finished up the conversation, said goodbye, and we went on to spend another fantastic week in Italy.
Now that I’m back, was it really a good time to go on vacation? As it turns out, the answer is an unequivocal YES. Check out these stastics from King & Snohomish Counties for August:
KING COUNTY SINGLE FAMILY HOME SALES
Total sales of single family homes in King Co. were down 41% from last August. Kenmore didn’t fair too badly. 18 homes sold last August and 17 sold this year (-6%).
KING COUNTY CONDO SALE REPORT
Condo sales in King Co. were down a disturbing 65% from last year. Kenmore faired even worse with only 3 condos selling as opposed to the 21 in August of 2007 (-86%).
SNOHOMISH COUNTY SINGLE FAMILY HOME SALES
Single family homes dropped 52% in Snohomish Co. with only 429 homes selling (885 in 2007).
SNOHOMISH CO. CONDO SALES
Snohomish Co. condo sales faired slightly better than King Co. dropping 55% from 264 in August 2007 to 120 this year.
