Tight inventory and rising prices make Seattle’s real estate market extremely competitive. Prices and inventory vary between each distinctive neighborhood. Curious about your neighborhood? Message me and I can put together a detailed overview for you.
The typical summer slowdown brought some good news for those looking to buy a home. While prices are still on the rise, there are more homes to choose from and multiple offers are down as compared to earlier this year. This easing, however, is slight, and the market continues to be very competitive for buyers.
While there was a small increase in homes for sale in July, inventory remains very tight. The region as a whole has just about a two week supply. And demand isn’t likely to ease up any time soon. The economy here is strong, and despite plenty of talk of an urban exodus due to the pandemic and the rise of remote work, our population grew steadily over the past year.
The blistering competition may have cooled a bit, but home prices are still heading up. The median single-family home in King County last month sold for a record-high $871,000, up about 20% from last July. In Seattle, the median price jumped 11% from a year ago to $896,500, down from a $919,000 peak in May. Home prices on the Eastside shot up 32% year-over-year to $1,330,563, just shy of the record set in June. Lack of inventory has propelled the particularly steep price hikes, with 90% of homes there selling for over list price. At the end of July there were just 350 single-family homes for sale on the Eastside. Seattle had more than double that amount of inventory. The limited supply of homes in Snohomish County also sent prices soaring. The median home there sold for $700,000, a 22% jump from a year ago, but down slightly from the all-time high in June.
Condos remain a more affordable option. And with employers saying that they’ll want employees working in the office at least part-time, an increase in condo sales indicate that buyers are looking at in-city living again. More plentiful inventory gives buyers more choices as well. The Eastside has about three weeks of available condo inventory; Seattle nearly two months. The median condo price on the Eastside was up 12% over a year ago to $558,000. Seattle’s median price was essentially unchanged from last year at $492,000.