The percentage that the sale price is of the original list price is another indicator of the health of the housing market. (Here's an example: A house that is listed at $100,000 and sells for $90,000, has a list price to sale price percentage of 90%) Notice in the graph below that the list price/sale price percentage has been continuously trending down since 2007.

 

This decrease in list price/sale price percentage is another indicator that we are in a buyer's market. Buyers have so many homes to choose from, and they are concerned that the price they pay today for a home will be more than its worth in 6 months, so they sucessfully negotiate the sale price down. Many sellers are happy to get an offer, so they tend to accept lower offers. Also, many sellers are concerned that if they don't sell their home now, it may in fact be worth less in 6 months.

 

Notice that the list price/sale price percentage in July 2010 was down sharply to 90%. Also notice that the percentage was increasing throughout 2010 up to July. This is likely due to the Federal tax credit--buyers were eager to buy a home and take advantage of the credit, so there was less negotiation going on. In fact, in Whatcom county, there was a shortage of homes listed at around $200,000 or less. So buyers were happy to find a home they could buy, and less likely to pause to negitiate.