SNOHOMISH COUNTY HOUSING MARKET FORECAST
Home Prices, Market Trends, Graphs Video and Infographics
We Discuss The New Year Housing Kick-Off For Snohomish County Housing Market January 2022
This article will be about the current and future state of the Snohomish County housing market.
We’ll start with my 60 second video pointing out the 3 key indicators and how they affect the market.
Next take a look at an infographic and some quick stats we think are important, then we’ll dive into what story the statistics are telling us.
Next we will hear from the 24th most influential person in real estate, Lennox Scott and what he sees happing in the Snohomish County market.
We will do a short breakdown on Sales Activity, Days on Market, Price, Interest Rates, Timing and Job and Population Growth. A complete list of the MLS Infospark stats for Snohomish County.
Lastly, don't forget to check out the newest Snohomish County homes for sale.
The Snohomish County Housing Market Analysis INFOGRAPHIC
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Snohomish County Housing Market QUICKSTATS
- Average Sales Price INCREASED by $35K ($738K)
- Pending Sales DECREASED to 784
- New Listings DECREASED to 699
- Homes For Sale DECREASED to 455 (lowest total in over 40 years)
- % Sold Price/List Price INCREASED to 104%
- Interest Rates INCREASED to an Unbelievable 3.29%
- Home Inventory INCREASED to .3 Months of Supply
The Snohomish County Housing Market Forecast For DECEMBER 2021
Every month we gather all the facts, data and statistics about the Snohomish County Housing Market and share them with you. We will discuss the 3 major factors in determining the strength of the market.
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- 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…
We are back to our seasonal norms as far as listings are concerned and we are still at our post pandemic level of buyer interest in Snohomish County.
What we mean is that we traditionally see less listings put on the market during the winter months, like we saw in December with only 496 new listings coming on the market. Compare this to 1,822 new listings in June. We traditionally also see fewer buyers in the market during the winter months as people travel, adapt to school being out and avoid being out in the weather.
"Compared to other past winter seasons, this winter season’s sales activity will be stronger,” agrees Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors®. “This winter, there will be more sales compared to pre-pandemic winters going back all the way to 2006.”
The combination of unbelievable interest rates, a strong job market and a large increase in both home equity and assets over the last couple of years has created what we call a backlog of buyers. This is evidenced by the .3 months of housing inventory or we call an extreme shortage.
There are other factors at work such as the astronomically high rents in the Seattle area.
According to ApartmentList.com Snohomish County median two-bedroom rent for an apartment is $2,501 month. Which equates to approximately a $625K home with 20% down on a 30 year fixed 3.29% interest rate loan.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported the US inflation rate rose to 6.8% the highest it has been since 1982. The best hedge for inflation is real estate. As we are seeing public figures like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos buy real estate at an extraordinary rate.
As we have been talking about for a few months Seattle has the 2nd highest percentage of tech workers in the country. Tech jobs bring people in from all over the world and tend to be come with an above average salary. So what do tons of new people with above average salaries need when they get to Seattle, a place to live.
When you add the large number of high income tech workers with the unbelievable low interest rates and the desire for people to move into larger homes that accommodate all the at home activities that people have gotten used to it is easy to see how we have a backlog of buyers.
The Mortgage Bankers Association estimates that rates will rise to 4% by the end of 2022.
As the rates creep higher we should see the buying pool thin out. Until that happens the levels of new inventory level out and the levels of new buyers stay above average we should continue to see record low levels of inventory and a uber-frenzied market through March of 2022.
All of the these factors have driven people to the more affordable and wider open space that is available in Snohomish County.
Although WA has essentially opened back up we continue to follow all state mandated safety guidelines and take extra precautions. We are focusing on delivering Virtual Real Estate Services.
Both of the these factors have driven people to the more affordable and more space that is available in Snohomish County.
New Year Housing Kick-Off2022 is here, and January 1 marked a historically low level of available unsold inventory in Snohomish County. Fresh off the heels of the holiday season and snowy weather, the local market will see continued strong buyer demand, multiple offers and premium pricing. The Snohomish County market is virtually sold out up to the $3 million price point. Sales Activity Intensity™ is predominantly uber-frenzy for homes priced up to $1.5 million, and is frenzy from $1.5 to $3 million. There is strong luxury sales activity above $3 million.J Lennox Scott
LENNOX SCOTT
CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate
Snohomish County Real Estate GRAPHS AND Data
With only .3 months of supply if no other homes were listed in the next 6 days we would run out of houses to buy.
If you are looking for homes over 1mil you are seeing a little more inventory with .8 months supply.
1,168 homes were sold in Snohomish County last month. That is down 201 from the previous month, down 224 from last year, and down 12 from 5 years ago.
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.
In Snohomish County homes in the 350K-1mil price range are the most commonly listed and sold.
DAYS ON MARKET
89% of homes are selling in less than 30 days in Snohomish County. That number is usually closer to 30%.
Houses in the 750K-1m price range are selling 94% 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
AVERAGE SALES PRICE: $738,766
AVERAGE SALES PRICE SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL: $788,755
AVERAGE SALES PRICE CONDOS: $539,674
We have already seen where a low inventory should drive up prices. The average sale price for Snohomish County homes is $738,766. In comparison 5 years ago the average sales price was $447,761 that is a 65% increase in equity.
In addition the average home is selling for 4% higher than it is listed as.
As you can see from the John L. Scott 6 phases to a yearly house cycle chart we are in a traditionally big drop in resale listings.
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
As you can see from the charts above unemployment is only slightly higher that it was prior to the event.
In 2019, "Snohomish County grew slightly faster than Washington as a whole. The state Office of Financial Management pegged Washington’s overall population at 7,546,410 this spring, an increase of 118,800 people, or 1.6%, over last year. Net migration accounted for 76% of the state’s population growth with natural increase making up the remainder." (Everett Herald)
Snohomish County Market Stats
STATS PROVIDED BY: INFOSPARK
- $738,766 was the average sold price for listings in Snohomish County.
- 699 new listings went on the market this month.
- 455 homes were for sale during the month.
- 784 homes went pending in Snohomish County.
- 1,168 homes sold this month
- . 3 months of inventory available in Snohomish County.
- 15 was the average days on market for a home to sell in Snohomish County.
- 104% was the average listing price vs. sales price percentage
- $372 was the average price per square foot in Snohomish County.
- $862,878,312 was the total closed sales volume for Snohomish County.
- 3.29% was the interest rate
- 89% of homes sold in the first 30 days in Snohomish County.
Snohomish County Housing Market Summary
The Snohomish County Housing Market saw 699 new listings, 455 homes were for sale, while 1,168 homes sold in December in Snohomish County.
The average days on market remained at 15 days, the percentage of sale price to listing price increased to 104%, and the average sales price increased just a bit. The percentage of homes that sold in the first 30 days is 89%. Showing that despite the crisis, with interest rates low, buyers are out there.
We have seen the market remain in an Extreme Frenzy status over the last 18 months and the inventory to a severe shortage.
We should continue to see a surging to frenzy market for through the Spring of 2022.
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.
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