SEATTLE HOUSING MARKET UPDATE
April 2016 was another GREAT MONTH FOR SEATTLE REAL ESTATE!!!
The median price of a Seattle home is now $625,000.
The median price of a Seattle home is up 14% vs April 2015.
There were 807 pending sales in April, which is down 10% from twelve months ago when 892 pending sales were reported.
Please note that PENDING SALES YEAR OVER YEAR COMPARISONS have been down 2 months in a row.
March 2016 Pending sales were down 4% when compared against March 2015
And April 2016 Pending sales are down 10% vs April 2015.
Is the market starting to cool off from its frenzy pace??
SO WHAT HAPPENED TO SEATTLE REAL ESTATE IN APRIL?
In April there were 613 ACTIVE listings in the Seattle real estate market.
In April 807 homes went PENDING.
Which means that 1 out of every 0.8 homes on the market went pending in April.
This 0.8 ratio implies a 0.8 month supply of inventory.
The 0.8 ratio is a strong SELLER’S MARKET INDICATOR.
THE PAST 16 MONTHS HAVE SEEN THE BEST SELLER RATIOS EVER FOR SEATTLE ABSORPTON RATE.
Any ratio under 3.0 is a seller’s market indicator.
Any ratio between 3.0 and 6.0 is a neutral market indicator.
Any ratio over 6.0 is a buyer’s market indicator.
The story remains LACK OF INVENTORY.
EPIC RECORD SETTING LOW INVENTORY!!!
In April there were 613 ACTIVE listings in Seattle.
The record low was set 4 months ago (December 2015) with 361 ACTIVE listings.
The 613 ACTIVE listings is 63% under our 10 year average for April inventory.
Another way of looking at it is that we are only at 37% of our average inventory for this time of year.
Is inventory starting to pick up? The answer is YES.
In March 2016 inventory levels were at 32% of the running 10 year average for Seattle.
In April we are up to 37% vs the running 10 year average for Seattle.
The April ten year moving average for inventory is 1,645 ACTIVE listings.
Also if we compare April 2016 to April 2015 we will note that even though inventory was low in April 2015 (630) it was even lower in April 2016 (613). Inventory is down 2% vs 2015.
In the month of April the AVERAGE list price vs sales price for Seattle was 104%.
The 104% list price vs sales price average is the second highest ever recorded.
The record was set last month (March 2016) with 105%.
So the average home sold for 4% over the asking price in April!!!
This is the 15th month in a row that the AVERAGE list price vs AVERAGE sales price has been over 100%
The AVERAGE days on market for a Seattle home in the month of April was 21 days before they accepted an offer.
And real estate is always LOCALIZED. What I mean is that CERTAIN areas are moving better than other areas. Let’s take a look at list price vs sales prices for some different neighborhoods in Seattle for the month of April
- Ravenna 114%
- Wedgwood 110%
- Maple Leaf 110%
- Lake City 109%
- View Ridge & Hawthorne Hills 108%
- Ballard 108%
- Green Lake 106%
- Bryant 106%
- Seward Park 106%
- Madrona 106%
- West Seattle, 105%
- Wallingford 104%
- Queen Anne 103%
- Magnolia 103%
- Capitol Hill 102%
- Laurelhurst 99%
THE CHART AND GRAPH BELOW ARE REAL ESTATE STATISTICS FOR THE CITY OF SEATTLE.
If you have any questions or if I can be of any assistance please contact me.
Thank you,
Steve Laevastu
cell 206-226-5300