Summer is beautiful in the Pacific Northwest and although we have had a rainy start to summer 2016, I have high hopes that the sun will come out and smile on Seattle in the coming weeks. Is this a weather prediction or just my joy at seeing that Felix is coming off the disabled list? We shall see! Let’s take a look at what happened in Seattle’s real estate market in key neighborhoods this past June:
Inventory and Pendings
Below we compare the number of active listings (supply) and pendings (demand) for several of the key Seattle neighborhoods including Central Seattle, Queen Anne and Magnolia, Belltown and Downtown, Ballard and Greenlake, and North Seattle. Our table includes single family residences as well as condos comparing June 2015 and 2016.
Overall, Seattle’s inventory of active listings dropped just slightly from 935 last June to 920 this June. Pendings were about even as well (1,211 2015 verus 1,275 for 2016).
Median Sales Prices
Seattle’s median sales price for both residential and condos grew from $506,058 last June to $575,000 last month (represents a 13.6% gain). Looking at residential and condos separately, residential prices are up 16.8% ($557,750 to $651,500) and condo prices are up a whopping 27.6% ($341,000 to $435,000). The condo increase is partially driven by higher-end new units.
List Price to Sales Price
When the list price to sales price is over 100%, this is usually an indicator of multiple offers. For all of Seattle, last June’s list price to sales price ratio was 102.4% as opposed to 102.1% this last month. I actually don’t think this is a factor of less demand – I think this is more indicative of seller’s starting with a higher list price. In fact, I am seeing a trend of seller’s pricing too high and needing to do a price reduction to bring their home price more in line with the market.
There is still some time left to make a move and be enjoying your summer on a new deck or around a new fire pit. Please contact me – your Seattle Home Guy – at sold@windermere.com or give me a call: (206) 226-5300.