King County Residential Rental Data - July 2009 & 2008

The data from the Northwest Multiple Service (NWMLS) shows the following for King County:

In July 2009, there was 396 units rented with the median price of $1,795 or $1.15 per square foot. The median days on the market was 38 days.

In July 2008, there was 292 units rented with the median price of $1,963 or $1.12 per square foot. The median days on the market was 23 days.

(Note: See my June blog regarding the limitation of the NWMLS rental data.)

When comparing July this year with last year, you see there is over a 35% increase in the number of units rented which has been a trend the last three months (both June and May 2009 were both about 30% more than the similar month of the previous year). The MAJOR twist is the price increased over last July (July '09 = $1.15/ft versus July '08 = $1.12/ft). In fact the price per square foot in July jumped significantly from June ($1.01/ft) and May ($1.04/ft) of this year and reverses the trend of the price being significantly less than the previous year! This news should be tempered by the days on the market which continue to be significantly higher than in 2008, but the pricing news seems significant. We will have to wait and see if the pricing will continue to increase or at least hold to see if this was just a blip.