Frustrating is how brokers are summarizing the mood of buyers, brokers – and industry professionals – during the current housing market frenzy. New statistics from Northwest Multiple Listing Service show declines in inventory and sales, while prices continue their upward trajectory, but those numbers only tell part of the story.
“The real estate market is going absolutely gangbusters,” said OB Jacobi, president of Windermere Real Estate, in a Thursday media release. “The remarkably low number of homes for sale can be blamed for the drop in sales. The uptick in interest rates at the end of last year has clearly done nothing to slow things down.”
Inventory fell nearly 25 percent from the volume of active listings being offered a year ago. At the end of April, MLS brokers reported 10,679 homes and condos for sale across a 23-county area, which compares to the year-ago selection of 14,235 listings.
Viewed another way, there is only about 1.5 months of supply (about six weeks), which compares to 12 months ago when supply totaled about 1.85 months. (In general, four-to-six months is considered a balanced market.) There has not been more than two months of supply since September 2016.
MLS members continue to struggle to keep pace with demand. Brokers added 10,648 new listings to their database last month, down from 11,939 during April 2016, and they reported 10,514 pending sales. That total was down 893 transactions for a drop of year-over-year drop of 7.8 percent.
The near-match in new listings and pending sales meant little change in the number of total active listings, although inventory edged up slightly from March, growing from 9,774 listings to 10,679.
“Without a doubt this is the most frustrating market for both buyers and sellers that we’ve experienced in 24 years of business,” stated George Moorhead, designated broker at Bentley Properties.
He said the frustration of low inventory is prompting sellers who haven’t been able to find their next home to look into undertaking major remodels instead of moving, thereby putting even more pressure on buyers who are struggling to find a home. Although buyers are being aggressive, Moorhead believes offer prices are starting to plateau.
Prices area-wide shot up 10.4 percent from a year ago, from $325,990 to $360,000. The four-county Puget Sound region, which accounted for more than 77 percent of last month’s 7,276 closed sales, reported a price hike of nearly 14.7 percent, led by Snohomish County at 16.7 percent. In Snohomish County, the median price for single family homes and condos (combined) eclipsed the $400,000 mark, climbing to $416,668.
Homes and condos that sold last month in King County fetched a median price of $550,000, up about 15.8 percent from a year ago. For a single-family home (excluding condos) the median price was $625,000. That’s $85,000 more than the year-ago figure, and $25,050 more than the previous month.
Year-over-year condo prices increased more than 12 percent, rising from $285,000 to $320,000. King County prices jumped for $323,500 to $370,000, a gain of nearly 14.4 percent. There is less than a month’s supply of condos in the MLS database.
Escalating prices in King County are prompting house-hunters to head north, noted Diedre Haines, principal managing broker in South Snohomish County for Coldwell Banker Bain. She reported a sharp increase in the number of multiple offers from around 15 per listing at the beginning of the year to just under 20 in the past month. Frustration levels among buyers are on the rise, she said, adding “prices are beginning to increase at unhealthy levels. My fears of a newly developing bubble have not diminished.”
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