Seattle’s real estate market update is gathered using info from NWMLS’ InfoSparks in City of Seattle using data for residential and condominiums sold only.
In March, Seattle home prices didn’t seem to be affected by the social distancing and stay-at-home order issued to fight Coronavirus. The median sales price for a home in Seattle is now up to $720,000, up from $660,000 in February. That number is also up year-over-year from March 2019, when the median sales price was $689,000.
Real estate activity has slowed in recent weeks and not many new homes have come on the market. Washington Governor Jay Inslee extended the state’s stay-at-home order until May 4th. Open houses are still banned, but home buyers can view homes privately with a realtor with strict social distancing rules observed. In King County, only 250 homes have been listed in the first three days of April. In the last 15 days, 168 properties have gone temporarily off market.
Windermere Chief Economist Matthew Gardner has been doing weekly briefings in order to sort out the unemployment and housing data for consumers. In this week’s video, he stated that the fundamentals of the housing market are strong. Watch below:
Economists seem to be in agreement that while there may be a significant contraction of the economy in the 2nd quarter, the 3rd and 4th quarter should bounce back up—but it depends on how long the COVID19 situation takes to improve. The National Association of Realtor’s Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun, said, “By year end, maybe no meaningful change to median home price for the country as a whole. That assumes some rebound in jobs and private sector income after the precipitous fall in the second quarter.” Other economists say it will take time to predict what will happen, and that will also depend on government response to the crisis.
Other Stats for Seattle:
- New Listings: 1,259 ↑
- Pending Sales: 880 ↑
- Closed Sales: 857 ↑↑
- Average Days on Market: 26 ↓
- Months of Supply: 1.2 ↑
- Percent of List Price: 102.8% ↑
- Average Price Per Sq Ft: $517 ↑↑
- Dollar Volume: $706.8 Million ↑↑
Key:
↑ = Up Slightly
↑↑ = Up Sharply
↓ = Down Slightly
↓↓ = Down Sharply
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.