Seattle Real Estate News

Seattle has been listed as tops in home-price growth in the country for seventh straight month. The local market has gotten so competitive that 90% of homes for sale ended up closed higher than the listed price. Seattle recorded 12.3% increase from 2016 in March compare to national average of 5.8%. There's simply not enough inventory in Seattle metropolitan area to calm a feeding frenzy. Seattle had the highest rate of bidding wards of any hot markets such as San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Portland, Denver, Boston, Austin and Washington, D.C. The typical single-famiy house in the city sold for a record $722,000.

Home buyers may take up between 6 months to a year largely due to keep losing to the highest bidder. Spring time is when competition at its peak. To stand out some buyers have resorted to waiving contingencies, inspections, and submitting a bigger portion in nonrefundable cash sums. And because houses can go so quickly, buyers often need to pull the trigger and submit an offer on a home within hours of it hitting the market resulting in less due diligence. Some even submitted offers sight unseen with escalating clause. 

Most of the cases, sellers will set a deadline of reviewing all offers and will pick the highest one. This trend seems to have spread out to adjacent Seattle neighborhoods as well.

King County's median single family home price was $560,000 in February up 6.7% from January (that's the biggest jump in home prices in since 2015). Seattle's median home sold for $675,000 in February - nearly doubled over the last five years. Prices are surging largely due to lack of inventory. The number of houses for ale in King County is at its lowest point since at least 2000.

The situation is even worst for condos. The number of condos for sale across the county plummeted 42% from a year ago.

Snohomish County median home prices increased 14.9% year-over-year with the median price of $412,500 in February. Pierce County home costs jumped 12% while Kitsap County saw 9.8% increase. King County's year-over-year price increase to 8.7% was the smallest of 4 local counties.

Welcome 2017. What will you unfold for us?

1. Interest rate. The Federal Reserve in on tract to raise interest rates through the end of 2017. The National Association of Realtors predicts that we will see conventional 30 Year Fixed at around 4.6% by end of 2017 (in retrospect still not as bad but not as good as 2016). Higher rates translate to less purchasing power. Please ensure that these 5 items are fully underwritten and that your Pre-Approval is bullet-proof.

2. Price point. Selling your house in multiple-offer situation. Ensure that you receive a complete comparative market analysis (CMA) without getting priced out.

3. Location. Allowance for 30 minutes commute may translate to about 10 miles radius for your search. Overlay that area with your other wish list such as school system, outdoor activities, city center etc. and constraint these items with your price range.

4. Home condition. You can't have it all in today's market. Be prepared to compromise with your "must haves".

5. Market conditions. Know what the current market conditions and what projections are and seasonality and inventory play a part in the buying and selling process. For example real estate market is usually the busiest between May and August and taper off in the winter time.