Greater Seattle Real Estate Trends for April, 2017
In a Nutshell Takeaways:
It’s more of the same for the Greater Seattle real estate market.
Supply has been bouncing around a post-recession low, and although it has now been slightly more than 5 years of price appreciation in King County, the current inventory, demand, and job market are still keeping an upward pressure on home values.
A recent development that mirrored the winter and holiday months of the year prior, is how sellers again took the winter off. However, as sellers went into hibernation, buyers remained persistent, which dramatically reduced the supply of homes and resulted in a spike in selling prices.
Data Points:
For single family homes in Seattle… compared to this time last year, closed sales rose 17.6%, active listings fell 19.2%, and the median selling price rose 9.7%. The supply of homes for sale is at a shockingly low .6 months.
For single family homes in King County… compared to last year, closed sales rose 8.8%, active listings fell 21%, and the median selling price rose 12.9%. The supply of homes for sale dropped back below a month.
The job market cannot be overlooked as a driver of demand. Census data recently showed Seattle ranked 4th in the nation for population growth. We were 3rd the year prior.The year before that? We came in at #1.
On the Horizon:
The economic recipe that has kept an upward pressure on prices is at a pretty far end of the spectrum at less than 1 month supply. Meaning, there’s a long way to go until the market gets back to a neutral, 4-6 month supply that favors neither buyer nor seller. As in, the short and potentially mid-term outlook appears to be additional gains in prices.
