SNOHOMISH COUNTY REAL ESTATE MARKET TRENDS
Market Insights, Statistics, Graphs, And Infographs
THE SNOHOMISH COUNTY HOUSING MARKET STAYS STRONG BUT HAS LEFT OVER INVENTORY
The Snohomish County Real Estate Market Analysis For October 2018 Shows That The market is continuing to lean back toward buyers.
A few things that really stuck out to me as I was compiling the October stats.
Average Sales Price Increased slightly, in Snohomish County, despite most other stats being down.Click To Tweet- Average Sales Price Increased slightly to $486,484, despite most other stats being down.
- There are 835 more homes for sale than the same time last year.
- Average days on the market crossed the 30 day threshold for the 1st time since January.
- 99.1% is the lowest percentage of sale price to list price since November 2015
- Active listings decreased by 155 homes over last month. New listings decreased by 221 homes over last month. While pending sales stayed the same.
- Interest rates remain below 5%.
What this story tells me is that we have finally thinned out the buyer pool and finally have a little bit of leftover inventory.
We have sign a slight shift in the market over the last few months. Most people, expect maybe retiring home sellers, feel was necessary. It is important to note that a shift is not a crash. In fact the Snohomish County housing market remains in a Strong status. That means that over 35% of new listings sell in the first 30 days on the market.
Even with just under 3,000 homes for sale we are still seeing above average sales states. The number of new listings that came on the market in August was 1,903 in September was 1,680 and October 1,426. As we are seeing more new listings than pending transactions, now is a great time for buyers to shop with some selection.
“Following years of solid growth, 2017 was much of the same, with the state’s Economic and Revenue Forecast Council estimating the number of jobs in Washington grew by 3 percent last year.” (Seattle Times) “In 2018, the ERFC expects the rate of job growth to decrease slightly to 2.4 percent. “
According to the Seattle Times and US Census Bureau Seattle is the fastest growing city in the country.
With still amazingly low interest rates, strong job growth, more people moving to Seattle than anywhere else in the country, and an increase in inventory the last couple of months the Snohomish County real estate market should remain strong for many months to come.
If you are selling the average sales price is still at all time highs, and 44% of homes are selling in the first 30 days.
If you are a buyer we finally have some inventory to shop and are seeing contingencies back on the table, seller concessions, and price-drops.
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CONTACT JOE & JASONHOUSING MARKET REMAINS STRONGIn October, the more affordable and mid price ranges maintained a strong level of sales activity intensity for new listings selling in the first 30 days.
Moving forward into the winter months, we normally see higher pending sales activity than the number of new listings, because monthly new listing numbers dip down to approximately 30-40% compared to summer months. But for the first time since 2015, we’re entering the winter season with some unsold inventory. We will see good seasonal sales activity in the next 3 months because buyers will have a better selection to choose from, though inventory remains at a shortage level.
The fundamentals of the housing market remain positive. For those looking to sell, it’s ok to buy and sell withing same-market timing, but it’s still important to be buyer ready to get the home of your choice. In many cases this winter, people can purchase a home with a home-to-sell contingency, which gives buyers the opportunity to sell their current home.J Lennox Scott
Snohomish County Real Estate Data
INVENTORY
With only 1.8 months of supply if no other homes were listed in the next 1.8 months we would run out of houses to buy. This is considered a shortage.
New listings have slowed down, but so has pending transactions, which is leaving us with some good inventory.
If you are looking for homes above $750k you are seeing plenty of inventory with homes sitting 3.5 – 9.5 months.
As you can see from the table above anything below 6 months is considered low. Low inventory means higher demand. Higher demand drives the price up.
DAYS ON MARKET
The average home in Snohomish County is selling in 31 days. In contrast, 5 years ago the average days on market for Snohomish County was 40. Homes are selling 9 days faster today than just 5 years ago.
In addition, 43.9% of homes are selling in less than 30 days. That number is usually closer to 30%.
The average days on market over the last 10 years is approximately 66 days.
Because there is still an inventory shortage and there are still many buyers trying to buy… the homes that do list are usually selling faster than normal.
PRICE
We have already seen where a low inventory should drive up prices. The average sale price for Snohomish County residential homes is $486,484. A slight increase after we has just seen a 4 month trend of the average sales price dropping.
In comparison 5 years ago the average sales price was $291,942. That is a 60% increase over just 5 years ago.
The average sales price to list price percentage remained below 100% signaling that for the first time since last December buyers are paying less than listed price.
INTEREST RATES
In order for it to be a sellers market there must be buyers.
The interest rates have been steadily creeping up but remained at an amazing 4.97% (source: Freddie Mac). Leaving plenty of buyers that are still in the market.
With the strong job growth rate in the state and amazing interest rates the buyers are still out there.
SALES ACTIVITY
1,213 homes were sold in Snohomish County last month. That is down 30 from last month, down 256 from last year, and up 185 from 5 years ago.
As you can see in Snohomish County homes in the 350-750K price range are the most commonly listed and sold. However, homes in the 250k-350k price range sold the fastest.
Homes over 750k are much less common and sit on the market much longer.
TIMING
According to Zillows massive data set we are into the slow down season.
According to Homelight now is still a great time to list your home. According to their data homes that sell in October sell for the highest percentage gain.
With the listings coming we have seen a bit of an inventory bump for buyers.
If your a buyer you want may still want to hop in ASAP before interest rates increase any further and listings start to decrease for the winter.
JOB AND POPULATION GROWTH
According to the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council,“Washington employment is expected to grow 2.2% this year, which is slightly lower than the 2.4% expected in the November forecast. As in November, we expect growth to decelerate gradually as the recovery matures. We expect employment growth to average 1.6% per year in 2019 through 2021, which is slightly more than the 1.4% average rate in the November forecast.”
(Courtesy of Seattle Times)
According to the US Census Bureau Seattle was again the fastest growing city in the country.
The Snohomish County Real Estate Market Analysis INFOGRAPHIC
The Snohomish County Housing Market Analysis INFOGRAPHIC
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Download The Snohomish County Housing Market Report Infographic For October 2018
PAST MONTHS REPORTS
We put this list together every month. If you are interested in seeing past months you can access the archive below:
Snohomish County Market Stats
- $486,484 was the average sold price for listings in the Snohomish County
- 1,426 new listings were added to the MLS for Snohomish County
- 2,979 homes were for sale in Snohomish County
- 1,207 home were in pending status
- 1,213 homes sold in the county
- 1.8 months of inventory available in Snohomish County
- 31 was the average days on market for a home to sell in the county
- 99.1% was the average listing price vs. sales price percentage
- 261 was the average price per square foot in Snohomish County
- $588,158,633 was the total closed sales volume for the county
- 4.97% was the average interest rate (source: Freddie Mac)
- 43.9% of homes sold in the first 30 days in Snohomish County
Summary
The total inventory saw 1,426 new listings, 2,979 homes remained for sale, while 1,213 homes sold in September in Snohomish County.
The average days on market increased slightly, the percentage of sale price to listing price remained below 100%, and the average sales price increased. The percentage of homes that sold in the first 30 days decreased to 43.9%. Showing that while the job growth rate remains high and interest rates low, buyers are taking a rest. We have seen the market go from a Frenzy to surging to strong over the last couple months and the inventory go from severe shortage to shortage.
The projections and prognosticators are telling us that we should see a another year of frenzy and surging market, through the summer of 2019.
Now is still a good time of year to sell your home as we are still historically low on inventory and high on 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, and the job market and population growth remains strong.
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