2016 Year End Stats

NWMLS Monthly Press Release

Home buyer frustration continues due to limited selection;
price increases

Like many other months of 2016, December was frustrating for buyers across Washington state as they encountered depleted inventory and rising prices. Post-election hikes in interest rates - with more on the horizon -- added to would-be homeowners' worries.

Northwest Multiple Listing Service statistics for December show year-over-year drops in new listings, but gains in pending sales, closed sales and prices. Pending sales (mutually accepted offers) in the four-county Puget Sound region reached their highest level since 2005.

At month end, MLS figures show inventory (10,571 listings) was nearly 15.6 percent below year-ago levels (12,522 listings), with about 90 percent of the selection being single family homes.

Seventeen of the 23 counties in the MLS report had double-digit drops in active listings at the end of last month compared to December 2015.

NWMLS members reported 6,401 pending sales during December, up from 5,970 for the same month a year ago for a year-over-year gain of 7.2 percent.

King County recorded the biggest year-over-year jump in pending sales of single family homes, surging nearly 11.3 percent, well ahead of Kitsap (up 4.5 percent), Pierce (up 4 percent) and Snohomish (up 3.2 percent).

Prices area-wide also continued trending upward, rising nearly 9.2 percent from a year ago. The overall median price for single family homes and condominiums that sold during December was $343,950; a year ago it was $315,000.

King County prices jumped 12.2 percent, from $450,000 in December 2015 to $505,000 for last month's sales. For single family homes (excluding condominiums) the median price for December's sales was $550,000, unchanged from October and November. Prices peaked this year in King County in June, reaching $573,522.

Consumers should expect prices to continue edging upward as the pattern of low inventory and increasing prices continues.

Happy Investing!

Record Level of Home Buying Activity

Home buying activity around Western Washington is at the highest level in nearly a decade, according to

Northwest Multiple Listing Service sources.

 

Northwest MLS figures show pending sales system-wide surged 18.7 percent in February compared to the

same month a year ago, rising from 7,247 mutually accepted offers to 8,599. Twenty of the 23 counties in

the service area reported double-digit increases in pending sales. 

Those numbers might be even higher given the ample supply of buyers, but inventory is far from ample.

Northwest MLS broker-members added more news listings to the database during February than 12

months ago (7,852 last month versus 7,234), but the higher sales volume kept inventory levels well below

year-ago totals. The MLS reported 16,946 total active listings at month end. That compares to a total of

19,273 for the same month a year ago for a drop of about 12 percent. 

Single family homes in King County had the highest median price at $429,900 (up 6 percent from a year ago).

So Sellers, now is your chance to cash in!

Happy Investing! 

June House Sales in Seattle

Figures just released by Northwest Multiple Listing Service for June activity show gains from a year ago

on several key indicators, including inventory, pending sales, closed sales, and prices:

 Brokers added 735 more new listings during June than during the same month a year ago, an

increase of 6.8 percent;

 Inventory (total active listings) rose 7.5 percent compared to twelve months ago;

 Pending sales (mutually accepted offers) are up about 4.5 percent year-over-year;

 Closed sales rose 3.3 percent from a year ago;

 Prices for sales of single family homes and condominiums climbed 6.9 percent from same period

last year, reaching the highest level since August 2008.

Sellers are still receiving multiple offers in the Seattle market, and cash buyers dominate the competition.

The median home price in King County is now $410,000.

For a FREE list of all Seattle homes for sale priced under $410,000, please message me privately at HomeLandInvestment@gmail.com or leave a message at 888-621-4999.

Happy Investing!

Home Sales and Prices Up in King County

Members of Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported 75,517

closed sales during 2013, surpassing the 2012 volume by around 11,000 transactions for an increase of

nearly 17 percent. Measured by dollars, last year’s sales of single family homes and condominiums were

valued at nearly $25.5 billion to outgain the previous year by more than $5.5 billion (up 27.4 percent).

Last year’s completed sales included 65,122 single family homes and 10,395 condominiums, as tallied by

nearly 21,000 real estate brokers in the 21 counties that make up the Northwest MLS service area. The

total units and dollar volume are the best since 2007 when members registered 82,197 sales.

The area-wide median price for last year’s sales was $270,000, improving on the previous year’s figure of

$245,000 (up 10.2 percent). A comparison by county shows median sales prices ranged from $118,750 in

Pacific County to $372,000 in King County.

Prices for single family homes (excluding condominiums) also rose 10.2 percent from 2012, increasing

from $255,000 to $281,000. Condo prices jumped 15.3 percent, rising from the 2012 figure of $175,200

to last year’s median price of $202,000.

By one measure, buyers who shopped during 2013 had a bigger selection as members added more than

104,000 listings to inventory during the year. That was an improvement over 2012 when members added

91,359 new listings. However, brisk sales meant the total number of active listings, which averaged

21,946 during 2013, fell below the previous year’s average of 24,604.

During 2013, the area-wide supply, as measured by months of inventory, ranged from a low of 1.95 in

March to 3.68 in December. Industry watchers tend to use a 4-to-6 month range as an indicator of a

balanced market, favoring neither buyers nor sellers. Supply tended to be tightest in King and Snohomish

Further evidence of a housing recovery is reflected in high-end sales. Northwest MLS members reported

1,621 sales of single family homes priced at $1 million or more, up 45.2 percent from the 2012 total of

1,116 such sales. Condos priced at $1 million and up accounted for another 137 sales.


 Nearly half (49 percent) of last year’s single family home sales were 3-bedroom homes. More

than three-fourths (77 percent) of condos that sold had 2 bedrooms.

Northwest Multiple Listing Service, owned by its member real estate firms, is the largest full-service

MLS in the Northwest. Its membership includes more than 20,000 real estate brokers. The organization,

based in Kirkland, Wash., currently serves 21 counties in Washington state.




Please message me at HomeLandInvestment@gmail.com for a free list of active properties in your favorite price range and neighborhood.
 








Happy Investing!

Photo courtesy of Shivani Patel