No Holiday Breather

NWMLS Monthly Press Release

Real Estate Brokers Expect No Holiday Breather

Pending sales of homes hit an all-time high for the month of November according to the latest statistics from Northwest Multiple Listing Service. The report covering 23 counties around Washington state also shows the number of new listings added during the month plunged to the lowest level in 11 months, prompting MLS leaders to predict a busy winter for residential real estate as buyers compete for the smallest inventory since March.

Figures for November show a 13.2% drop in inventory of single family homes and condominiums, a9.4% gain in pending sales, a 31.3% spike in closed sales, and an 11% increase in prices compared to the same month a year ago.

Pending sales (mutually accepted offers) totaled 8,217, and eclipsed the number of new listings (5,779) by 2,438 units. That imbalance depleted total inventory, dropping the number of active listings to 13,303, down 13.2% from a year ago.

The median price on last month’s closed sales of single family homes and condominiums area-wide was $342,000, up 11% from the year-ago figure of $308,000. August was the only other month this year with year-over-year double-digit appreciation for prices area-wide.

Prices for single family homes (excluding condos) rose 10.9 % from a year ago to $350,500. King County reported the highest median price for single family homes at $550,000 (up 10 % year-over-year).



Happy Investing!

King County Housing Stats

Despite a sparse selection in many areas, an expected summer slowdown, and “appraisal conundrums,” Northwest MLS members notched 11,898 pending sales during August, eclipsing the same month a year ago by 1,295 transactions for a 12.2 percent gain. There were 8,628 pending sales in the four-county Puget Sound region -- the best August for mutually accepted offers since 2005 when members tallied 8,874 sales.

Brokers added 11,411 new listings to the Northwest MLS database during August, but they presented
offers for even more buyers (11,898) to keep inventory below two months of supply. At month-end, there were 18,336 active listings in the MLS system, a decrease of 11.6 percent from a year ago, resulting in only 1.9 months of supply. (Four to six months is generally considered to be a “neutral” or balanced market for buyers and sellers.)

In King County, the median price on 3,656 sales that closed during August was just under $500,000.
That’s up nearly 11 percent from the year ago figure of $450,700, but slightly lower than July’s median sales price of $505,000. Prices on single family homes (excluding condos) that closed in King County jumped 10 percent year-over-year, rising from $499,950 to $550,000.

So still a lot of demand for houses in our area, and a shrinking pool of available properties. A very HOT seller's market...

If you are thinking of selling, the market is hungry for inventory - and prices and demand continue to go up. For a free, no-obligation assessment of what your house might bring in today's hot housing market, please send a private email to HomeLandInvestment@gmail.com or leave a message on my 24-hour recorded hotline 888-621-4999.

Happy Investing!

Huge Price Gains

I reported in an earlier blog this week that Seattle median home prices reached $560,000 in August of this year. Metro King County's median price was $500,000.

Two years earlier, according to a Zillow report from September 2013, the peak Zillow Home Value Index (basically, median home price) for a Seattle metro home was $379,200. This is more than a 32% increase over a two year period.

These price points make it very difficult for investors and first-time home-buyers to acquire property, even with current low interest rates. Affordability is such an issue in the Seattle area, that it is a major part of the local political discussion.

Bubble prices, anyone?

Happy Investing!

Seattle Median Home Prices

Single family homes in King County sold in August for a median price of $499,950, just below the figure of $500,000 the MLS reported in June, believed to be an all-time high for the monthly reports. Year-over-
year prices for this market segment jumped 14.4 percent.

The median home price in the city of Seattle was $560,000 for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house, which sold in just 8 days on market.

In King County, the volume of condo sales was up nearly 21.7 percent. Median prices increased 19.7 percent from a year ago, rising from $249,950 to $299,250.

Bubble prices?

Happy Investing!

Prices Sizzle in Washington

NWMLS reports: Pent-up demand boosting Western Washington home sales and prices
KIRKLAND, Washington (August 5, 2015) – Pent-up demand continues to fuel home sales around Western Washington with millennials, military families and relocating workers vying for limited inventory. Brokers from Northwest Multiple Listing Service say they’re not seeing a typical summer slowdown.

Northwest MLS members reported 9,424 closed sales during July, easily surpassing the year-ago total of 7,878 transactions for an increase of 19.6 percent. Last month’s volume of closings also outgained June when members reported 9,163 closings.

Prices for last month’s completed sales rose 6.4 percent area-wide from a year ago, with considerable  variation across the 23 counties served by the multiple listing service. The median price system-wide for last month’s closed sales of single family homes and condominiums (combined) was $319,250.

Among counties in the central Puget Sound region, Kitsap County registered the largest year-over-year increase at 9.2 percent, and King County registered the smallest gain at 3.3 percent. The median sales prices in the four-county area ranged from a low of $245,000 in Pierce County to a high of $439,000 in King County.

Prices are escalating at a faster pace in Kitsap County than in King County. MLS  figures indicate the median price in Kitsap County has surged 22.4 percent since January, which compares to a 12.6 percent jump in King County.

Please email HomeLandInvestment@gmail.com for more information on home sales inventory and pricing in your favorite Seattle neighborhood.

Happy Investing!

King County Real Estate Trends

The top 5 areas within King County* that have had the greatest numbers of real estate transactions in the first half of 2014 are:


1)Kirkland/Redmond with 911 residential resale transactions
2) West Seattle at 765
3) Bellevue with 732
4) South Seattle with 711
5) Kent with 673

Adding together the Seattle neighborhoods of Ballard (49), Capitol Hill (38),Leschi and Madrona (118), Green Lake/ U District (645),Madison Park (140), Magnolia(164), Mt Baker (157), Northgate (193), Queen Anne (142), South Seattle and West Seattle yields a total of 3122 transactions. This makes the City of Seattle the greatest in terms of numbers, but breaking the stats down by neighborhood allows us to see which areas of Seattle are most active. Seattle represents 29% of all residential sales in King County in the first half of 2014.

In terms of median prices for house sales in the first half of 2014, the top 5 areas in King County are:
1) Mercer Island at $1,100,000
2) Madison Park at $904,300
3) Capitol Hill at $813,750
4) Queen Anne at 795,000
5) Magnolia at $695,000

All of these areas were well above the King County median house price of $420,000.

The 10 least expensive places to buy a single family house in King County in 2014, based on median house prices, were:
1) East County at $200,000
2) Seatac at $224,500
3) Auburn at $233,489
4) Federal Way at $245,000
5) Normandy Park at $255,600
6) South Seattle at $256,000
7) Milton at $257,500
8) Kent at $259,500
9) Enumclaw at $260,000
10)Tukwila/Burien at $265,500

These areas have seen a 13% average appreciation in price compared to the same period in 2013; while King County as a whole has appreciated an average of 6%. The trend is clear, that as house prices increase, home buyers and investors look for value in less expensive areas of King County.

Happy Investing!

*Data from Data Data Inc.