Seattle Housing Market Stats For October – RECORD SELLER’S MARKET CONTINUES!

Posted on November 7, 2015 by Steve Laevastu

SEATTLE HOUSING MARKET UPDATE

October 2015 was another GREAT MONTH FOR SELLERS IN SEATTLE!!

The median price of a Seattle home is at $542,000. The median price of a Seattle home has remained relatively constant over the past 6 months:

May 2015 = $550,000

June 2015 = $559,000

July 2015 = $560,000

August 2015 = $560,000

September 2015 = $551,000

October 2015 = $542,000

However, the median price is up 10% vs October 2014 when the median price was $491,000.

There were 726 pending sales in October, which is up 2% from twelve months ago when 710 pending sales were reported.

SO WHAT HAPPENED TO SEATTLE REAL ESTATE IN OCTOBER?

In October there were 709 ACTIVE listings in the Seattle real estate market.

In October 726 homes went PENDING.

Which means that 1 out of every 0.97 homes on the market went pending in October.

This 0.97 ratio implies a 0.97 month supply of inventory.

The 0.97 ratio is a strong SELLER’S MARKET INDICATOR.

THE PAST 10 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.

In October there were 709 ACTIVE listings in Seattle.

The 709 ACTIVE listings is 63% under our 10 year average for October inventory.

Another way of looking at it is that we are only at 37% of our average inventory for this time of year.

THE 709 ACTIVE listings is the 10th lowest month ever recorded. Slightly higher than the all time low which was set 10 months ago (January 2015) with 581.

Needless to say, the 709 ACTIVE October listings is the lowest number ever recorded for October in Seattle.

The October ten year moving average for inventory is 1,916 ACTIVE listings.

Also if we compare October 2015 to October 2014 we will note that even though inventory was low in October 2014 (1,061) it was even lower in October 2015 (709). Inventory is down 34% vs 2014.

In the month of October the AVERAGE list price vs sales price for Seattle was 102%.

So the average home sold for 2% over the asking price.

This is the 9^th 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 was 18 days before they accepted an offer.

The 18 days on the market is the 2^nd lowest of all time. The lowest is 17 days on the market which occurred in May 2015.

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 October

Madrona 118%
Lake City 110%
Green Lake 105%
Ballard 105%
Wedgwood 104%
Capitol Hill 104%
Montlake 103%
Ravenna 103%
Magnolia 103%
West Seattle 103%
View Ridge & Hawthorne Hills 102%
Laurelhurst 102%
Queen Anne 99%
Seward Park 97%

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

sold@windermere.com

www.SeattleHomeGuy.com

Seattle Real Estate Trends, April 2015

Posted on May 12, 2015 by Steve Laevastu

Listing Inventory

Below is a table comparing the number of active listings (supply) and pendings (demand) for several of the Seattle neighborhoods I specialize in: Central Seattle, Queen Anne / Magnolia, Belltown / Downtown, Ballard / Greenlake, and North Seattle. We are comparing April 2014 with April 2015.

market-update-2015-04_1

Homes in the Seattle market are selling like hotcakes this spring. The last few homes I have listed have sold very very quickly. I currently have three listings on the market – one is just coming on today in Ravenna (NWMLS #785368 – a 1,860 square foot remodeled home with Mt. Rainier views priced at $650,000), one in Whittier (NWMLS #781505 – a 1,880 square foot Cape Cod priced at $500,000 and on the market 7 days), and one in View Ridge (NWMLS #781486 – a 3,280 square foot Mid-Century Modern with a view of the lake and mountains priced at $1,200,000 and on the market for 11 days). I expect they will all sell in a matter of days.

Median Sales Prices

Median Sales Prices continue to creep up due to the inventory shortage which I predict will continue as long as our population is on the rise due to Seattle’s strong economy and there isn’t enough new construction to satiate the demand.

Below are the median sales prices for the neighborhoods I track, comparing April 2014 with April 2015. There are significant price increases in Queen Anne / Magnolia, Ballard / Greenlake, and North Seattle. Central Seattle and Belltown/Downtown have a number of condominium sales which are a slightly different animal than the predominantly residential sales we see throughout the rest of the city.

market-update-2015-04_2

This spring and summer is turning out to be one of the best times to sell in years. Once interest rates start rising, however, those trends may change. If you would like to know where your home stands in relation to the market, please give me a call or send me an email: (206) 226-5300 or sold@windermere.com. Don’t look back and say, “If only we had sold then” Now might be your moment!

Walkability: A New Way To Look At Real Estate

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Steve Laevastu

If a move is in your future and you are looking for a location with easy access to mass transit, shopping, services, and bike trails, I use a tool in my business that provides buyers and homeowners with a “Walkability” analysis score. This feature has been very helpful for a number of my clients who want a true urban lifestyle with easy access.

According to the Puget Sound Business Journal, Seattle has ranked as the 6^th “high walkable urbanism” area in the US after Washington DC, New York, Boston, San Francisco, and Chicago based on urban development based on a report, Foot Traffic Ahead: Ranking Walkable Urbanism in America’s Largest Metros put out by the Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis at George Washington University School of Business.

Walkscore.com measures similar variables such as proximity to grocery stores, transit, and access to bike routes and provides a score for each address. Walkscore.com ranks Seattle as a whole as a “71” – meaning that most errands can be accomplished on foot. However, let’s take a closer look at Downtown Seattle, listed as the most walkable neighborhood in Seattle. It has a Walkscore of 98 with a Transit score of 100 and a Bike score of 66.

I have listings in a number of neighborhoods in Seattle. Here is how they measure up on Walkscore.com:

1606 NE 75^th St in Ravenna:

Walk Score: 72 – Very Walkable
Transit Score: 52 – Good Transit
Bike Score: 72 – Very Bikeable

11038 Fremont Ave N in Broadview:

Walk Score: 60 – Somewhat Walkable
Transit Score: 50 – Good Transit
Bike Score: 57 –Bikeable

8008 Meridian Ave N in Greenlake:

Walk Score: 58 – Somewhat Walkable
Transit Score: 50 – Good Transit
Bike Score: 63 – Bikeable

How does your property stack up in terms of walkability? Type in your address at: http://www.walkscore.com/

If you have questions about how walkability impacts your home value, please contact me: (206) 226-5300 or sold@windermere.com.