SEATTLE HOUSING MARKET FORECAST
Home Prices, Interest Rates, Real Estate Statistics, Video and Charts
The unique housing market in 2020 continues into 2021 in Seattle
The Seattle Housing Market Analysis INFOGRAPHIC
Click Image For Full Size
The Seattle Real Estate Market Analysis For January 2021
Every month we gather all the facts, data and statistics about the Seattle Housing Market and share them with you. We will discuss the 3 major factors in determining the strength of the market.
- Inventory
- Percentage of Homes That Go Pending In First 30 Days
- Interest Rates
The data tells a story about the current state of our local residential real estate market.
What this story tells me is...
That buyers are so hungry for inventory that lower quality inventory is selling. New Listings, Pendings and Solds are all way above average but the average sales price went down. In conjunction with the fact that homes priced in the $250-350k range are only selling in the first 30 days 28% of the time compared to 60% of the time for homes priced from $500k to $1m. Condos seem to be less desirable as they are taking on average 20 days longer to sell.
We now have a sever shortage of inventory in Seattle at 1.3 months of supply but if we look to the north and south of Seattle we are seeing .4 months supply in both Snohomish and Pierce Counties.
People have had plenty of time to think about what they want their home to be and have decided they need to make adjustments. In addition, many people have converted to working from home and no longer need to be commuting distance from Seattle or Bellevue.
Both of the these factors have driven people to the more affordable and more space that is available in Snohomish and Pierce County.
The major indicators are still above average for Seattle but much cooler than their neighboring counties to the north and south.
The majority of national economists have suggested that it will be the real estate market that pulls up the economy, and so far it is playing out.
As I have been reporting for the last 9 months that buyer indicators have never really declined, and we are continuing to see the seller indicators hit all time highs.
With still amazingly low interest rates, and a low level inventory the last couple of years the Seattle real estate market should remain in the surge to frenzy status for the foreseeable future.
The stay at home order continues to affect our industry in many ways, but it does not seem to be having a lasting impact on the Seattle housing market and residential real estate sales.
Read About How We Are Navigating Business During The Crisis.
Along with following all state mandated safety guidelines and taking extra precautions we are focusing on delivering Virtual Real Estate Services.
SELLING?
If you are selling the average sales price is at all time highs, and 56% of homes are selling in the first 30 days. The average home is selling in just 31 days.
BUYING?
If you are buying the interest rates have never been lower! Which means your buying power has never been higher.
Enjoy My Seattle Housing Market Report in 60 Seconds Video
INSTANT HOME VALUATION
Use this tool to get an instant estimation of the value of your home.
ESTIMATED HOME VALUEDREAM HOME SEARCH
Use our complete list of NWMLS search tools to find your Snohomish County Dream Home
SEARCH FOR HOMESSEATTLE REAL ESTATE
Market Stats, Neighborhoods, Video, Parks, Schools, Homes For Sale and more.
ABOUT SEATTLEThe unique housing market in 2020 continues into 2021, with surge-level sales activity intensity for each new resale listing, fueled by low interest rates and a huge backlog of buyers. Now that the holiday season is complete, Seattle will see a power surge of home buyers enter the market in 2021. Although there were more active listings in Dec. 2020 versus Dec. 2019, there is a severe shortage of inventory in the $500,000 to $1 million range. The Seattle market is virtually sold out up to $1.5 million, and sales activity intensity is predominantly surge in that price range. In the luxury price range above $1.5 million, sales activity intensity is healthy. J Lennox Scott
Seattle Real Estate GRAPHS AND Data
SALES ACTIVITY AND INVENTORY
With only 1.3 months of supply if no other homes were listed in the next 40 days we would run out of houses to buy.
New listings decreased again in December.
If you are looking for homes from 0-500k you are seeing more inventory.
As you can see from the table above anything below 5 months is considered low. Low inventory means higher demand. Higher demand drives the price up.
1,008 homes were sold in Seattle last month. That is down 52 from the previous month, up 153 from last year, and up 104 from 5 years ago.
As you can see in the Seattle housing market homes in the 350-1 million price range are the most commonly listed and sold. However, homes in the 500k-1m price range sold the fastest.
DAYS ON MARKET
56% of homes are selling in less than 30 days in Seattle. That number is usually closer to 30%.
Houses in the 750k-1mil price range are selling 64% of the time in the first 30 days.
Because there are less homes for sale and there are still many buyers trying to buy… the homes that do list are usually selling very fast.
PRICE
We have already seen where a low inventory should drive up prices. The average sale price for Seattle homes is $828,335. In comparison 5 years ago the average sales price was $617,574.
As Seattle condos are falling out of favor the average sales price for a condo has went into a free fall, dropping $114K in the last 2 months.
Listings are selling at 100% of their list price.
INTEREST RATES
In order for it to be a sellers market there must be buyers. With the interest rates at the Phenomenal rate of 2.77% a .05% decrease from last month (source: Mortgage News Daily)
There are plenty of buyers that are in the Seattle housing market.
TIMING
According to both Zillow and John L Scott’s massive data set we should be just getting geared up for real estate for the new year. Although this year we have not really slowed down.
If you’re a buyer you will want to position yourself to create a buyer advantage when competing with other buyers and walk in confidence when making an offer. We can consult with you to be up-to-date with current market intensity and pricing, get pre-approved or fully underwritten through a lender, and receive email/text notification of newly listed properties.
In today’s instant-response market, it’s key to ensure you’re ready to act when the timing is right and make sure you are Buyer Ready Day One.
Sellers should be Market Ready Day One.
JOB AND POPULATION GROWTH
WHILE WE ARE NOT SURE HOW THE EMPLOYMENT NUMBERS WILL END UP HERE IS THE CURRENT UNEMPLOYMENT SITUATION
CURRENT UNEMPLOYMENT RATES
WA Employment Security Department
EMPLOYMENT NUMBERS PRIOR TO THE HEALTH CRISES
As you can see from the charts above unemployment is only slightly higher that it was prior to the event.
“Over the past year, Washington’s ranking in economic growth and competitiveness rose from fifth highest to fourth highest in the nation, according to a September study prepared by the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council. Separate ESD data reported that Washington added 52,500 jobs between October 2018 and October 2019, with 41,600 of those jobs in the Seattle metro area.”(Seattle Times)
(Courtesy of Seattle Times)
According to the US Census Bureau Seattle the fastest growing city of the decade in the country.
Seattle Market Stats
STATS PROVIDED BY: INFOSPARK
- $28,335 was the average sold price for listings in Seattle.
- 717 new listings went on the market this month.
- 1,386 homes were for sale during the month.
- 886 homes went pending in Seattle.
- 1,008 homes sold this month
- 1.3 months of inventory available in Seattle
- 31 was the average days on market for a home to sell in Seattle
- 100% was the average listing price vs. sales price percentage
- $479 was the average price per square foot in Seattle
- $834,962,142 was the total closed sales volume for Seattle
- 2.77% was the interest rate
- 56% of homes sold in the first 30 days in Seattle
SEATTLE HOMES FOR SALE
SEATTLE HOUSING MARKET Summary
The Seattle Housing Market saw 717 new listings, 1,386 homes were for sale, while 1,008 homes sold in December in Seattle.
The average days on market increased 31 days, the percentage of sale price to listing price decreased slightly to 100%, and the average sales price decreased. The percentage of homes that sold in the first 30 days is 56%. Showing that despite the crisis, with interest rates low, buyers are out there. We have seen the market go to a Surge status over the last few months and the inventory to a severe shortage.
We should continue to see a surging to frenzy market for the foreseeable future.
Now seems to be an amazing time to sell your home as we are still seeing historically low inventory and high prices.
If you are considering a move up, a move down, or just want to sell your home… Months of inventory is still at well below average. Homes are selling at a rapid pace, the Interest Rates are still at below average lows.
The jury is still out on the job market and population growth.
For more information about the Snohomish County Communities including; Homes For Sale, Detailed School Information, Detailed Park Information, Livability Reports, Maps, Restaurants, Grocery Stores, Government Offices, Churches, and Things To Do.
Please Visit:
The Madrona Group Featured Communities
Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter to get updated information about the Snohomish County.