Summary
- Housing statistics from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service for June show clear signs of a shifting market, creating opportunities for some buyers.
- Compared to a year ago, Northwest MLS (NWMLS) brokers reported a healthy jump in inventory, double-digit drops in both pending and closed sales, and the smallest year-over-year (YOY) increase in prices since June 2020.
- Buyers are welcoming this more balanced market with more homes for sale (more than double the inventory from a year ago with approximately 1.48 months of available inventory). Buyers are also enjoying more time and more choices when searching for their new home.
- In addition, sellers are beginning to negotiate on both price, inspections, and other contingencies.
- For sellers, the days of multiple offers are fading, longer days on the market is a reality… and for those sellers ignoring market pricing, price reductions are occurring daily.
Details
Northwest MLS brokers added 14,223 new listings of single-family homes and condos to inventory during June, up from both May, when they added 13,075 homes system-wide, and a year ago, when they added 13,111 properties to the database. Last month’s total was the highest volume of new listings since May 2019 when brokers tallied 14,689 new listings.
At the end of June there were 13,405 active listings of single-family homes and condominiums in the Northwest MLS database, which includes 26 of the state’s 39 counties. That’s more than double the inventory of a year ago (6,358 listings), and the best selection since October 2019 when buyers could choose from 14,379 listings.
Both pending sales (mutually accepted offers) and closed sales declined from a year ago. MLS members reported 8,937 pending sales during June, down 27.5% from the year-ago total of 12,328, and down 3.8% from May.
Closed sales also fell from a year earlier (down about 17.2%), but last month’s total of 9,047 completed transactions nearly matched May’s volume of 9,096.
The latest MLS report shows area-wide prices rose about 10.4%, from a median price of $589,000 to $650,000. On a percentage basis, that is the smallest year-over-year (YOY) gain since June 2020 when prices rose around 5.7%.
Seven counties had YOY price hikes of 19% or more for last month’s sales of single-family homes and condos: Douglas, Ferry, Jefferson, Kitsap, Lewis, Mason, and Whatcom.
San Juan County had the highest median price last month, at $940,000, for its 25 sales of single-family homes and condos.
King County had the second highest sales price last month, coming in at $851,000. That represents a 9.1% increase from a year ago, but a slight decline (3.4%) from May’s figure of $880,000. Median prices topped $1 million for both Vashon and the Eastside map areas, as well as for areas encompassing North Seattle and Lake Forest Park.
Prices of single-family homes (excluding condos) system-wide rose about 10.5% from a year ago. Condo prices increased by a similar amount (10.2%).
“With higher interest rates and more inventory, we are seeing sellers becoming more flexible in what terms they will accept,” reported Meredith Hansen, the founder/operating principal at Keller Williams Greater Seattle. “It is an excellent time for buyers who were discouraged in the past frenzied market to step back in and find a home,” she suggested, adding, “Buyers are not waiving financing and inspections like they were prior to this market shift.”
“Both rising mortgage rates and home prices hurt affordability for many buyers,” stated Nadia Evangelou, senior economist and director of forecast at the National Association of Realtors, in an interview with a reporter for MarketWatch Picks. With affordability concerns and persistent inventory shortages, she said more people are renting, but rents are rising sharply.
“For institutional buyers, rising rents translate to larger profits,” Evangelou explained, adding, “However, a larger market presence of institutional buyers increases market competition for first-time home buyers. Research has shown that institutional investors may be taking a significant portion of homes that would otherwise be sold to first-time and lower-income buyers.”
To better navigate the ever changing real estate market conditions, it’s even more important for you to work with a professional real estate advisor. Whether buying, selling, or investing in real estate, be sure to utilize the talent and expertise of our trusted real estate team, The Goelzer Home Team.
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Data
*Information and statistics compiled and reported by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
