Seattle Real Estate Market Stats

Well, pretty much any way you slice it, we’re heading into October 2018 with a CONSIDERABLY softer real estate market than we had entering into last October.  Charts are below, but here’s the year over year breakdown:

·         New Listings:  2.98% more new listings hit the market in Sept 2018 versus Sept 2017

·         Total Active:  38.83% more inventory on the market in Sept 2018 versus Sept 2017 (supply goes up, prices go down)

·         Pending Sales:  16.12% fewer pending sales in Sept 2018 versus Sept 2017

·         Closings:  22.45% fewer closings in Sept 2018 versus Sept 2017

·         Average Price:  11.07% price appreciation year over year…but all of that was realized last October through Feb.  Prices have been declining region-wide since March 2018

·         Median Price:  10.25% price appreciation year over year…but again, all of that was realized last winter

o   Note:  Per Altos Research’s median price chart below, in Seattle the median home price appreciated about 23% between October 2017 and March 2018

·         Months of Inventory (Total Active divided by Number of Closings):  36.07% more months of inventory in Sept 2018 versus Sept 2017

Outside of May 2018, the overall number of New Listings hitting the market every month has been relatively constant…the big change has been number of buyers.  With a smaller 2018 buyer pool, inventory has inched as high as it’s been in years around Puget Sound.  This increase in inventory has the buyer window WIIIIIIDE open for anyone looking to venture into the Puget Sound Real Estate market – competition is down, therefore bidding wars are down, therefore people can actually DO an inspection before moving forward with their purchase… and overall, all this has the median house price down about 14% from its March 2018 high. 

With this said, this week or next week is traditionally where we start to see inventory dry up for the winter.  Remember, inventory in Seattle fell about 60% in 2015/16; 56% in 2016/17; and 67% in 2017/18.  Will inventory fall enough this year to reset the soft(er) market we’ve been experiencing, and therefore cause median house prices to start rising again?  It’s anyone’s guess as to what actually happens this winter, but right now…this week and next week…will be our clue to where we might be headed. 

Happy Investing!

This post courtesy of Primary Residential Mortgage Inc

Seattle's Hot Market

As I was reading articles on Seattle this past week to prepare for the Weekly Market Update, I read two articles back to back:  The first one titled “Seattle Adding $1m Neighborhoods at a Blistering Rate”, and the second one titled “Zillow Data:  Seattle has 3^rd Largest Homeless Population in US”. 

Let that sink in for a bit… 

Seattle now has 38 zip codes where at least 10% of the houses in those zip codes are worth $1m or more.  58% of those zip codes were added to the list in the last three years, and 9 in the last year alone – trailing only a couple slightly larger cities in LA and New York City which each added 13 last year. 

On the flipside, Seattle also ranks third in the nation for homeless population.  New York has 76,341 homeless, LA 61,398, and then albeit a distant 3^rd place, Seattle at 12,763.  However, account for overall population with NYC at 8,538,000; LA at 3,976,000; and Seattle at 704,352; and Seattle’s homeless as a percentage of overall population is at 1.8%, compared to 1.5% for LA, and .9% for NYC. 

As a percentage of overall zip codes, Seattle added more $1m neighborhoods last year than any major city in the nation.  All the while, as a percentage of overall population, Seattle has the highest homeless rate in the nation as well.  Can I state the obvious?  Something’s not right here.  I don’t have all the answers, and I know figureheads in Seattle are “working on the issue”, but come on…this is ridiculous. 

All I can say is:  Dear Politicians, Do your job.  We elected you to take care of ALL of us.

Here's my undereducated easy first-step solution towards resolving homelessness: Seattle property tax income is exploding with the increased values...what if we simply siphoned off some of that income to create a panel that tracked nonprofit effectiveness on resolving the issue, then monetarily supported those nonprofits with some of the additional property tax revenue already coming in from rising property values? We don't need to raise any taxes to accomplish this, let's just redistribute some of our increased tax revenue to nonprofits like Mary's Place, Matt Talbot Center, YouthCare, and other amazing nonprofits working to job-train and get people from the streets into homes. Would that work?

Check out the full article on our $1m Neighborhoods Here

Check out the full article on our Homeless Situation Here

Happy Investing!

Today's guest post is courtesy of Kyle Bergquist, Guild Mortgage.

King County Home Prices Continue to Rise

Home prices continued to rise in the Northwest in July, hitting nearly 20% increases in some areas, according to the latest report from Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

Home prices increased an average 9% in the Northwest area in July, according to the report, which covers 23 counties in and around Washington state. However, some counties near high job-growth areas saw even higher increases. King County, for example, saw its median home price jump 18.6% from last year.

Read more here.

Happy Investing!

Seattle's Red Hot Housing Market

We’re all aware of the low inventory of single family homes and the price wars that ensue because of this.  However, an article from the Puget Sound Business Journal this past week highlighted that it isn’t just homes that are in short supply.  Demand for condos is also through the roof.  Last weekend the Nexus in downtown Seattle opened its doors to pre-sales with non-refundable deposits.  Despite the rain, a line grew AROUND THE BLOCK for people looking to secure a unit!  The units range from $350,000 to $3.5M, and the nonrefundable deposit was 5% of the purchase price (AKA $17,500 to $175,000 – these nonrefundable deposits weren’t exactly chump-change!).  The building isn’t even expected to open until mid-2019, yet by the end of the weekend 75% of the building’s 382 units had been purchased.  GET OUT OF TOWN!  This is officially crazy.  Link to this story is HERE. 

So it looks like single family homes, townhomes, AND condos are all in short supply, but where is all this demand coming from?  As discussed in this CNBC story, last year alone Seattle’s tech industry needed to import around 3,500 people with computer science degrees.  Really quick, let’s go back to simple economics:  high demand + short supply = increasing prices.  With Seattle and all its tech titans hiring faster than the UW/WSU and other area colleges can produce computer science graduates, the high demand and low supply of these candidates has resulted in the highest annual salary [adjusted for cost of living] in the country!  After accounting for cost of living, a computer science graduate has about $46,000 more annual spending power in Seattle than in San Francisco ($21,000 more than Chicago, and $47,000 more than New York).  No wonder the attraction to Seattle!  This article pretty much summarizes why I don’t think Seattle is in a housing bubble, and why prices aren’t going to fall anytime soon – Despite Seattle’s housing market appreciation, Seattle’s overall cost of living after accounting for average income is still much lower than many other large and desirable metropolitan cities nationwide.  I would contend that the appreciation rate will eventually slow, but I don’t see the housing market DEpreciating anytime soon.

Happy Investing!

Today's blog post courtesy of Kyle Bergquist, Guild Mortgage. 
Cell:  425-478-0961

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Monthly savings for qualified borrowers will vary based upon a variety of factors including, but not limited to loan amount, existing interest rate, and the rates the customer qualifies for.

None of the interest rates in this history represent interest rates that Guild Mortgage has offered or is currently offering. Rather, they are for informational purposes only and reflect historical interest rates that were available in the marketplace at some point during the period to which they relate. For current interest rates and annual percentage rates that Guild offers, contact Guild.

The positions, strategies, or opinions of the author do not necessarily represent the positions, strategies or opinions of Guild Mortgage Company or its affiliates.

Seattle House Buyers

How difficult is it to be a prospective buyer in Seattle's housing market? It is not going to get easier...

Vancouver’s housing prices are actually the same, if not more expensive than the most expensive neighborhoods in San Francisco and Silicon Valley (we don’t talk about that a whole lot because they’re in a different country, and the economics at play in Vancouver aren’t necessarily the same economics driving US West Coast housing prices).  The average house price in Vancouver in May 2016 set a new record at $1.51 MILLION Canadian Dollars.  That was up 36.9% year over year.  If you already own a home you love the appreciation.  However, there is no quicker way to increase the socio-economic gaps between classes than to have a housing market increase this rapidly.  To put a lid on demand, Vancouver initiated a 15% tax on foreign buyers.  One of the biggest reasons for Vancouver’s housing appreciation has been the influx of Chinese money.  But with a new tax in Vancouver deterring those buyers in order to slow down the rate of appreciation, those buyers are now taking a closer look at Seattle.  According to Juwai.com, searches by Chinese home seekers in Seattle have more than doubled since Vancouver initiated their tax.  Searches in Vancouver by Chinese home seekers have been cut in half. 

Demand for Seattle real estate just increased thanks to our neighbors to the north.  This is going to help drive Seattle housing prices even higher in 2017. 

Read the full story of what’s going on here:  http://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/seattle-becomes-no-1-us-market-for-chinese-homebuyers/?utm_source=referral&utm_medium=mobile-app&utm_campaign=ios

Happy Investing!

Today's blog courtesy of Kyle Bergquist, Guild Mortgage

National and Local Housing Trends

Welcome to the most current Housing Trends eNewsletter. This eNewsletter is specially designed for buyers and sellers, with national and local housing information that you may find useful whether you’re in the market for a home, thinking about selling your home, or just interested in homeowner issues in general.

Please click on this link to view the Housing Trends JAN-2014 Newsletter:
http://wendywonder.housingtrendsenewsletter.com

The Housing Trends eNewsletter contains the latest information from the National Association of REALTORS®, the U.S. Census Bureau, Realtor.org reports and other sources.

Housing Trends eNewsletter is also filled with local and national real estate sales and price activity provided by MLSs and the National Association of Realtors, U.S. Census Bureau key market indicators, housing market video reports, blogs, real estate glossary, maps, mortgage rates and calculators, consumer articles, community reports that map shopping, schools, recreation and more. 

If you are interested in determining the value of your home, click the “Home Evaluator” link for a free evaluation report:
http://wendywonder.housingtrendsenewsletter.com/dispContent.cfm?loadid=2&loadtype=0

Sound decisions can only be made with accurate and reliable information, and I am happy to be a trusted resource for you. Thank you for the opportunity to provide you with this monthly eNewsletter, and I look forward to answering any questions you may have and to the opportunity to be your REALTOR® in the future.

Sincerely yours, 

Wendy Ceccherelli
Home Land Seattle
PO Box 221013 Seattle WA 98122
4252707292 
HomeLandInvestment@gmail.com

Home Prices Up in Seattle

Beautiful day in the neighborhood today, so my mortgage lender and I are knocking on doors and looking for sellers ready to put their houses on the market. <br><br>

The Puget Sound Business Journal reported that home prices in the Seattle area climbed 9.3 percent over the 12-month period that ended in February, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.<br><br>

The year-over-year increase is further evidence that the Seattle-area housing market is well on the road to recovery after getting badly battered after the collapse of the nation’s housing bubble.

Seattle’s increase matched that of S&P/Case-Shiller’s 20-city composite index, which also rose 9.3 percent during the 12-month period that ended in February. All 20 cities have now had year-over-year increases for at least two straight months, a statistical event last recorded in 2005. <br><br>

Seattle Bubble, a residential real estate blog, maintains an interactive graph of the year-over-year change for each of the 20 cities. <br><br>

Average home prices nationwide are now back to levels last seen in the fall of 2003, S&P/Case-Shiller said in a press release. <br><br>

In general, however, the nation’s home prices are still well off of the peak in the summer of 2006. The 20-city composite in February was down 30 percent from the peak. <br><br>For the complete report, please see http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2013/04/30/seattle-home-prices-post.html

<br><br> I offer listing commissions as low as 1%-2%-3%. Call to schedule a free, no-obligation in-home evaluation: 206-274-0800.

Market Prices in Seattle

Both Zillow and the National Association of Realtors are announcing housing prices inching upwards in a number of major markets. But what does that mean for buyers in Seattle?

Every housing market is made up of sub-markets. I have been having discussions with my clients about the increase in housing prices in Seattle for some time. Median home price in Seattle in April 2011 was $385,000; in April 2012, the median price was $425,000.

The picture was not quite as rosy for King County, although we are beginning to see the turnaround there as well. Nor is it true for outlying areas beyond Seattle.

But even within the City limits of Seattle, there can be very different realities on housing prices. Let's examine two zipcodes for comparison: 98115 in North Seattle, and 98118 in South Seattle.

The stats on 3BR home sales in the 98115 zip code in April 2011 as compared to April 2012. Both years had almost exactly the same number of transactions (23/22), but prices of the median home were up by 11% in 2012 over 2011.

The price per square foot of house sold in 2011 was $196.19, and in 2012 $256.30, an increase of 31%.

Of all sales within a mile of the Brighton neighborhood in April 2011, the median home sold for $212,000; but only $204,000 in 2012. The days on market increased in 2012 from 82 to 94. And the price per square foot dropped by 8% in 2012 over 2011 to just $111/sf.

So it pays to know your specific market, and the more specific the better. Housing prices are going up in some, but not all Seattle markets.

Latest Housing Market Report

The latest report from the NW Multiple Listing Service, with specific Seattle stats

KIRKLAND, Wash. (April 6, 2011) – Last month‟s pending sales fell below year-ago totals in Western Washington, but brokers say the market is faring quite well, considering last year‟s activity was boosted by federal tax credits.

The latest report from Northwest Multiple Listing Service shows 7,570 pending sales of single family homes and condominiums during March. That's down about 12 percent from a year ago when members reported 8,605 pending transactions (mutually accepted offers) across the 21 counties in the Northwest MLS service area.

In the City of Seattle, there were 507 single family home transactions in March 2011 as compared to 585 transactions in March 2010, a decrease of about 13 percent.

Most observers consider last year's first two quarters to be an anomaly, as tax credits provided an unusual stimulation to home buying patterns. A comparison to two years ago reveals a double-digit jump in pending sales. Area-wide, the volume is up nearly 33 percent, rising from 5,701 pending sales in March 2009 to 7,570 for last month. For the fourcounty Puget Sound region, pending sales spiked nearly 42 percent compared to two years ago (from 4,266 to 6,049).

Buyers have plenty of choices, although the selection is smaller than a year ago, reflecting fewer new listings being added to inventory. Members added 9,812 new listings to inventory last month, which compares to 12,994 additions for the same month a year ago. At month end, the Northwest MLS database included 33,444 active listings, including 28,146 single family homes and 5,298 condominiums. That's a
drop of 5,272 properties, a decline of 13.6 percent.

Yet, some urban core neighborhoods, such as Greenlake and Queen Anne in Seattle, are seeing very strong demand, and a waning supply of desirable homes for sale.In fact, the $377,000 median sales price of Seattle homes sold in March is practically unchanged from last March median sales price of $377,750.

Distressed properties continue to drag down prices virtually everywhere outside of Seattle. According to research by the National Association of REALTORS®, nearly one of every four home sales (24 percent) in Washington is classified as a short sale or foreclosure.

Northwest MLS members reported 4,590 closed sales of single family homes and condominiums last month. That total represents a drop of 7.7 percent from twelve months ago when members notched 4,972 closings in the NWMLS service area overall. Prices on last month‟s closed sales system-wide declined about 8 percent compared to a year ago. The area-wide median sales price was $242,925; a year ago it was $264,470

In King County, prices dipped about 7 percent ($319,950 last month versus $343,950 for March 2010), although the gap was much narrower in some areas. In the Northwest MLS map areas comprising the Eastside, prices were off about 2 percent ($435,000 versus 444,000), while in the Seattle area, the year-over-year drop was only about 1
percent ($357,500 versus $361,500). I am not sure how the NWMLS defines "Seattle area" as the median sales price I calculated for Seattle proper, was higher than the figures they report here.

Commenting on the latest nationwide report on pending sales, Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said “We may not see notable gains in existing-home sales in the near term, but they‟re expected to rise 5 to 10 percent this year with the economic recovery, job creation and excellent affordability conditions providing confidence to buyers who‟ve been on the sidelines....Pending home sales have trended up very nicely since bottoming out last June, even with periodic monthly declines.”

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 22,000 real estate brokers. The organization, based in Kirkland, Wash., currently serves 21 counties in Washington state.