Seattle INVENTORY (houses for sale) record low!

In the city of Seattle there are only 415 ACTIVE RESIDENTIAL listings on January 30th 2017.

The Seattle region has the 2nd lowest percentage of homes for sale of any metro area in the country with only 1 out of every 263 homes for sale!!!

America's_tightest_housing_market

Seattle Housing Market Update – December Epic Low Inventory

SEATTLE HOUSING MARKET UPDATE

 

December was another great month for SELLERS in Seattle.

 

The median price of a Seattle home is now $625,000.

The median price of a Seattle home is up 9% vs December of 2015 when the median price was $575,000.

Please also note that the median sales price for Seattle hit a record of $650,000 in June of 2016. Therefore, the median sales price has come down 4% since the peak in September.

 

There were 440 pending sales in December which is up 32% from twelve months ago when 333 pending sales were reported.

 

SO WHAT HAPPENED TO SEATTLE REAL ESTATE IN DECEMBER?

 

In December there were 392 ACTIVE listings in the Seattle real estate market.

 

In December 440 homes went PENDING.

 

Which means that 1 out of every 0.89 homes on the market went pending in December.

 

This 0.89 ratio implies a 0.89 month’s supply of inventory.

 

The 0.89 ratio is a strong SELLER’S MARKET INDICATOR.

THE PAST 23 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 December there were 392 ACTIVE listings in Seattle.

The record low was set 12 months ago (December 2015) with 361 ACTIVE listings.

 

The 392 ACTIVE listings is 67% under our 10 year average for December inventory.

Another way of looking at it is that we are only at 33% of our average inventory for this time of year.

 

The December ten year moving average for inventory is 1,172 ACTIVE listings.

 

Interestingly,  if we compare December 2016 to December 2015 we will note that in December 2015 there were 361 ACTIVE listings.  In December 2016 there are 392 ACTIVE listings.  Therefore inventory is up 9% vs one year ago!!

 

In the month of December the AVERAGE list price vs sales price for Seattle was 101%.

So the average home sold for 1% over the asking price in December!!!

This is the 23rd month in a row that the AVERAGE list price vs AVERAGE sales price has been at or over 100%

 

The AVERAGE days on market for a Seattle home in the month of December was 24 days before they accepted an offer.   The record is 14 days which was set in May 2016.

 

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 December.

 

 

  • View Ridge & Hawthorne Hills 105%
  • Greenwood 105%
  • Ravenna 104%
  • Capitol Hill 104%
  • Wedgwood 103%
  • Bryant 103%
  • Green Lake 102%
  • Ballard 102%
  • Lake City 102%
  • Magnolia 102%
  • Maple Leaf 101%
  • Madrona 100%
  • Seward Park 100%
  • Wallingford 99%
  • Montlake 99%
  • Queen Anne 99%
  • West Seattle 99%
  • Laurelhurst had zero closed sales in December

 

 

THE CHART AND GRAPH BELOW ARE REAL ESTATE STATISTICS FOR THE CITY OF SEATTLE.

 

Graph_Jan_9_2017

 

 

Chart_Jan_9th_2017

 

 

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

Seattle Real Estate Trends: August 2016

I am still in awe of that amazing Seahawks win on Sunday. Let’s keep it up! Go Hawks!

Let’s take a look at what happened in Seattle’s August real estate market in key neighborhoods: Continue reading

Seattle Housing Market Update

SEATTLE HOUSING MARKET UPDATE

 

August was another great month for SELLERS in Seattle.

The median price of a Seattle home is now $614,000.

The median price of a Seattle home is up 10% vs August of 2015 when the median price was $560,000.

 

 

There were 880 pending sales in August, which is up 24% from twelve months ago when 710 pending sales were reported. 

SO WHAT HPPENED TO SEATTLE REAL ESTATE IN AUGUST?

 

In August there were 742 ACTIVE listings in the Seattle real estate market.

 

In August 880 homes went PENDING.

 

Which means that 1 out of every 0.84 homes on the market went pending in August.

 

This 0.84 ratio implies a 0.84 month’s supply of inventory.

 

The 0.84 ratio is a strong SELLER’S MARKET INDICATOR.

THE PAST 20 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 August there were 742 ACTIVE listings in Seattle.

The record low was set 8 months ago (December 2015) with 361 ACTIVE listings.

 

The 742 ACTIVE listings is 59% under our 10 year average for August inventory.

Another way of looking at it is that we are only at 41% of our average inventory for this time of year.

 

The August ten year moving average for inventory is 1,817 ACTIVE listings.

 

Interestingly,  if we compare August 2016 to August 2015 we will note that in August 2015 there were 704 ACTIVE listings.  In August 2016 there are 742 ACTIVE listings.  Therefore inventory is up 5% vs one year ago!!

 

In the month of August the AVERAGE list price vs sales price for Seattle was 103%.

So the average home sold for 3% over the asking price in August!!!

This is the 19th month in a row that the AVERAGE list price vs AVERAGE sales price has been at or over 100%

 

The AVERAGE days on market for a Seattle home in the month of August was 17 days before they accepted an offer.  The 17 days is the 3rd lowest number ever recorded in Seattle. The record is 14 days which was set in May 2016.

 

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 August.

 

  • Laurelhurst 117%
  • Bryant 110%
  • Ravenna 107%
  • Montlake 105%
  • Maple Leaf 105%
  • Green Lake 105%
  • Ballard 105%
  • Seward Park 104%
  • Wedgwood 104%
  • West Seattle 103%
  • Wallingford 103%
  • Capitol Hill 103%
  • Lake City 103%
  • Queen Anne 101%
  • Magnolia 101%
  • View Ridge and Hawthorne Hills 100%

 

 

THE CHART AND GRAPH BELOW ARE REAL ESTATE STATISTICS FOR THE CITY OF SEATTLE.

graph_sep_9th_2016

 

 

chart_sep_9th_2016

 

 

 

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 Inventory Creeps Up a Bit – What Sellers Need to Know

2016-08-seattle-inventoryAlthough Seattle is still faced with higher demand than we have listings for, things changed just a little bit last month. As you can see from the chart right which shows Seattle’s inventory of single family residences, the number of homes for sale exceeded July of 2015 by more than a marginal amount.

Continue reading

Seattle Real Estate Trends: July 2016

We have had a slight increase in inventory in many neighborhoods which is much-needed.  Let’s take a look at what happened in Seattle’s July real estate market in key neighborhoods.

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 July 2015 and 2016.

2016-07-real-estate-trends-a

Overall, Seattle’s inventory of active listings increased 916 in June to 1,081 last month.  Pendings were down slightly (from 1,237 in June to 1,107 last month).

Median Sales Prices

Seattle’s median sales price for both residential and condos grew from $506,000 last July to $583,250 last month (represents a 15.3% gain). Looking at residential and condos separately, residential prices are up 14.0% ($560,000 to $638,585) and condo prices are up 12.1% ($410,000 to $459,475).

2016-07-real-estate-trends-b

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 July’s list price to sales price ratio was 103.4% as opposed to 104.4% this last month.

2016-07-real-estate-trends-c

I can’t believe we are only a few weeks away from the Seahawks pre-season! I am very excited! If you would like additional information on our market, please contact me – your Seattle Home Guy – at sold@windermere.com or give me a call: (206) 226-5300.

Seattle Housing Market Update – July Another Great Month For Sellers! However Is Inventory Finally Starting To Pick Up??

July was another great month for SELLERS in Seattle. However, the craziness slowed down a little bit in July.

The median price of a Seattle home is now $634,000.

The median price of a Seattle home is up 13% vs July of 2015 when the median price was $560,000.

Continue reading

Link Light Rail Affects Real Estate Prices

It can be tough to get around in Seattle and on the Eastside. As we add hundreds of people per week to our expanding city, and even more to the whole area, the problem is not going to go away anytime soon. More-flexible work schedules and people working from home will certainly help, but in the coming years, as Link light rail expands, the value of properties around those light rail stops were expected to go up. But now there is a study that substantiates that!

Continue reading

Seattle Real Estate Trends: June 2016

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: Continue reading

What is the Best Season for Selling Your Home in Seattle?

If you have been thinking about selling your home, but wanted to wait until summer to do so, you may want to think twice! Although the summer in the Pacific Northwest is absolutely beautiful and many homes show very well during this time, it is possible that your home actually shows better in another season. So what time of year is best? It depends! Continue reading