Greater Seattle Real Estate Trends for October, 2017
In a Nutshell Takeaways:
As was the case last year around the Greater Seattle and King County Area, buying conditions have incrementally improved over the last few months.
That being said, the market conditions that have kept an upward pressure on prices are still very much in play. Though buying conditions have improved incrementally over the past few months, buyers are facing more competitive conditions and higher prices compared to this time last year.
It was at this point in time each of the last two years when supply began plummeting heading into the winter, holiday months, paving the way for significant upticks in prices.
Data Points:
For single family homes in Seattle, the median selling price of closed sales in September checked in at $715,000 – 2.7% less than this year’s peak price of $735,000 logged in June and a whopping 18.2% higher than September of last year.
As of October 1st, the amount of active listings available for purchase in Seattle (single family homes) had fallen approximately 21% compared to the same time last year. While active inventory plummeted, closed sales for September were almost identical to last year.
King County wide, September’s median selling price of single family homes came in at $625,000, which was 5.0% below the peak price logged in July and 16.2% higher than September of last year.
Similar to Seattle, the amount of active inventory fell 16.1% while closed sales were nearly identical.
On the Horizon:
As mentioned above, dwindling active inventory may again push the market higher over the winter months due to sellers taking the holiday season off coupled with a persistent and active buyer based continuing to pursue homes.
More particularly, the median selling price of single family homes in Seattle spiked from January to February in each of the last two years – around a 7% one month jump in each of the past two years. It’s important to note that closed sales in February would have typically reached mutual acceptance between buyer and seller in December and January.
*Information and statistics derived from Northwest Multiple Listing Service
