New listings and inventory have been steadily increasing since the beginning of the year. There was a huge jump (68%) in inventory in NW Seattle, this week over last week. Most likely Brokers listed last week because the previous weekend was Mother’s Day and this upcoming weekend is Memorial Day. SW Snohomish county was also up by 43%.
Homes going under contract in both markets is down over the past few weeks – 12% in NW Seattle and 14% in SW Snohomish. The rise in new listings and decline in homes going under contract is causing inventory levels to increase. Currently, there are 356 homes available in NW Seattle. This is the highest inventory we have had since October 2011! However, keep in mind that over half of our current inventory is townhomes or other high-density housing, which was not the case in 2011. This type of inventory does tend to stay on the market longer.
Looking at Realtor Facebook group pages, open house attendance this past weekend seemed to be down everywhere. We definitely saw this at our own open houses and in chatting with other local Brokers.
We are probably at the beginning of the market slowing down, but only time will tell if this is accurate. We’ve had a lot of uncertainty in the economy, which is affecting consumer confidence and mortgage interest rates. The recent downgrade from Moody’s will cause interest rates to go higher. With this recent news, many economists are predicting only one rate drop by the Fed this year.
We do expect the next couple of weeks to be slower because of the Memorial Holiday weekend.
And as always, if you have any additional real estate questions, feel free to call/text us any time! We’re always here to help!
STEVE HILL
Broker | REALTOR®
CELL 206-769-9577
SANDRA BRENNER
Managing Broker | REALTOR® | MCNE | SRS | CRS®
CELL 206-271-7100
WINDERMERE REAL ESTATE / NORTHWEST
311 N 85th St
Seattle, WA 98103
MAIN (206) 527-5250
brennerhill.com
Equal Housing Opportunity
