Housing inventory plunges in November to record low

Shopping for a new home in late November most likely gave frustrated buyers little to be thankful for as demand for homes continued to outpace supply.

The number of homes for sale hit an all-time low during the week ending November 28, according to a new report from Redfin, a technology-powered real estate brokerage. During that period, sustained demand pushed the median home price to another record high, and a third of homes sold in one week or less.

“The number of homes for sale typically declines another 15% in December,” said Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather. “That means that by the end of the year, there will likely be 100,000 fewer homes for sale than there were in February when housing supply last hit rock bottom. I think more new listings will hit the market in the new year, but there will also be a long line of buyers who are queuing up right now.”

“Meanwhile, headlines and new restrictions related to the omicron variant of the coronavirus might fuel some uncertainty and volatility in the economy,” said Fairweather. “In the short term, global interest rates, including mortgage rates, could fall. In this extremely tight housing market, we would quickly see a proportional increase in competition and home prices.”

Key housing market takeaways

• The median home-sale price hit a new all-time high of $360,375, up 14% year over year. This was up 31% from the same period in 2019 and up 1.5% from a month earlier, far greater than the 0.2% increase seen during the same period last year.
• Asking prices of newly listed homes were up 12% from the same time a year ago and up 27% from 2019 to a median of $349,750.
• Pending home sales were up 8% year over year, and up 49% compared to the same period in 2019.
• New listings of homes for sale were down 4% from a year earlier, but up 12% from 2019. During the seven-day period ending November 28, active listings (the number of homes listed for sale at any point during the period) fell to a new all-time low. For the four-week period, active listings fell 23% from 2020 and 42% from 2019.
• 45% of homes that went under contract had an accepted offer within the first two weeks on the market, above the 39% rate of a year earlier and the 28% rate in 2019. Since the four-week period ending September 19, the share of homes under contract within two weeks is up 2.3 percentage points. During the same time in 2019, the share fell 3.1 points.
• 33% of homes that went under contract had an accepted offer within one week of hitting the market, up from 27% during the same period a year earlier and 18% in 2019. Since the four-week period ending September 12, the share of homes under contract within a week is up 2.9 percentage points. During the same time in 2019, the share fell 2.3 points.
• Homes that sold were on the market for a median of 25 days, down from 31 days a year earlier and 46 days in 2019.
• 43% of homes sold above list price, up from 35% a year earlier and 21% in 2019.
• On average, 3.8% of homes for sale each week had a price drop, up 0.7 percentage points from the same time in 2020 and up 0.2 points from this time in 2019.
• The average sale-to-list price ratio, which measures how close homes are selling to their asking prices, was 100.5%. In other words, the average home sold for 0.5% above its asking price.

Brenda Richardson, Forbes

Mortgage rates at lowest levels since late September

• The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances decreased to 3.16% from 3.24%.
• Refinance demand rose 7% last week from the previous week.
• Mortgage applications to purchase a home increased 3% for the week but were 4% lower than the same week one year ago.

Mortgage rates fell for the second straight week last week, and that helped boost refinance demand for the first time in a while. As a result, total mortgage application volume rose 5.5% last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($548,250 or less) decreased to 3.16% from 3.24%, with points remaining unchanged at 0.34 (including the origination fee) for loans with a 20% down payment. The rate is now down 14 basis points in the past two weeks, but still 18 basis points higher than the same week one year ago.

Refinance demand, which is highly sensitive to weekly rate moves, rose 7% last week from the previous week. It was, however, 28% lower year over year. The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 63.5% of total applications from 61.9% the previous week.

“Although overall activity remains close to January 2020 lows, homeowners acted on the decrease in rates,” said Joel Kan, an MBA economist. “Additionally, the average loan balance for a refinance application was the highest in a month.”

Mortgage applications to purchase a home increased 3% for the week but were 4% lower than the same week one year ago. The housing market is well into its slower season, and while demand is stronger than usual, homebuyers are still facing a lean and pricey market. The brief drop in rates may have brought some buyers back, but given how high the costs are today, it didn’t give them much more purchasing power.

Mortgage rates did drop slightly lower to start this week. They are now at the best levels since late September.

~Diana Olick, CNBC

Home shortage likely to outlast other scarcities

The scarcity of properties that plagued the housing market long before Covid-19 struck the U.S. likely will outlast other pandemic shortages, according to Goldman Sachs economists.

While the supply-chain disruptions impacting the availability of appliances, used cars and computer chips will ease as the pandemic ebbs, real estate won’t be so lucky, the report said.

“Of all the shortages afflicting the US economy, the housing shortage might last the longest,” the economists, led by Goldman Sachs Chief Economist Jan Hatzius, said in the report earlier this month. “While the supply of homes for sale has increased modestly since the spring, it remains well below pre-pandemic levels and the outlook offers no quick fixes for the shortage.”

The headwinds facing homebuilders trying to expand inventory with new houses include shortages of lots, labor and building materials, the report said.

Years of under-building in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis has left the market with a dearth of about 5.2 million single-family homes, according to a report last month from realtor.com.

The lack of new houses has increased competition in the existing-home market. Housing economists use a gauge called “months supply” to measure inventory. It’s an estimate of how long it would take to sell all the properties listed if nothing else came on the market. In a balanced market, it’s typically close to 6 months.

The latest data, for September, showed the months supply at 2.6, the lowest level ever recorded for the month, according to data released last week by the National Association of Realtors.

Some relief is on the way, according to NAR’s housing forecast. Ground-breakings for single-family homes, known as housing starts, likely will total 1.15 million this year, surpassing the 1 million mark for the first time since 2007.

It would be a gain of 15% from 2020, according to Commerce Department data. But, it won’t be enough to satisfy the demand for properties boosted by a Federal Reserve bond-buying program that has kept mortgage rates near 3% since last year.

“Homebuilders continue to face headwinds that were present before the pandemic – especially a lack of construction workers and a lack of available plots to build on – and the pandemic has exacerbated those problems with further delays from supply chain disruptions, lumber shortages, and now economy-wide labor shortages,” the Goldman Sachs report said.

~Kathleen Howley, Forbes

Recent price gains break records

Home-price gains in 2021 are on pace to smash last year’s all-time high after record-low mortgage rates fueled bidding wars across the U.S., Fannie Mae said in a forecast on Friday.

Home prices probably will surge 17% this year, beating the record gain of 11% set in 2020 that surpassed the prior peak of 10% seen at the height of the real estate boom that petered out in mid-2006, the largest U.S. mortgage securitizer said.

Prices for homes began spiking last year after the Federal Reserve stepped into the bond markets in March 2020 to purchase Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities to support the economy during the pandemic and prevent the type of credit crunch that crashed the U.S. financial system in 2008.

Both type of asset purchases — Treasuries and mortgage bonds — put downward pressure on rates because home-financing costs tend to track long-term Treasury yields. When the Fed became the 800-pound gorilla in the bond markets it boosted competition for the fixed assets, which resulted in investors having to accept smaller yields.

“We believe strong price appreciation is likely to continue in coming months,” Fannie Mae economists said in commentary released on Friday with the forecast. “When compared to this past spring, housing market activity has cooled, as indicated by measures such as the number of homes with multiple bids, average days on the market, and sales prices relative to asking prices. However, these indicators all remain well above the historical norm and point to a continued tight market.”

The U.S. real estate market struggled with low inventory prior to the start of the pandemic because of years of underbuilding after the 2008 financial crisis put hundreds of construction companies out of business.

Following an initial lull in the housing market during the first months of the pandemic, demand for real estate began to accelerate as Americans working from home, and often schooling their children at the kitchen table, became dissatisfied with their existing digs.

The average U.S. rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage dipped below 3% for the first time ever in July 2020, four months after the Fed started buying bonds, and went on to set new records a dozen more times in 2020. The current all-time low is the 2.65% set in the first week of 2021, as measured by a Freddie Mac data series that goes back to 1971.

Lower rates typically mean buyers qualify for bigger mortgages because lenders use a formula that compares the monthly bill of the new loan, with its cheaper financing costs, against income and other debts. That sparked bidding wars for property that drove up home prices.

The rate seen in 2021’s first week is likely to stand in the record books as the bottom, Fannie Mae said. The Fed is set to begin tapering those bond purchases in November of December, according to the minutes of last month’s meeting released last week.

The average 30-year fixed rate next year probably will be 3.3%, compared with 2.9% in 2021, the mortgage giant said.

Next year, home-price appreciation is expected to slow but not fall of a cliff, according to the Fannie Mae forecast. The sale price of U.S. homes probably will gain 7.4% in 2022, Fannie Mae said.

That would beat the 3.3% average annual appreciation seen in the decade before the start of the pandemic, according to data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Kathleen Howley, Forbes

‘Frenzied housing market has ‘slim pickings’ in Puget Sound

Housing activity in the Puget Sound region remained “very active” last month even as more inventory hit the market, according to a new report from the Northwest Multiple Listing Services (NWMLS).

While a slight cool-down in the market was detected in the late summer with less homes going under contract, the activity has bounced back with the report showing that brokers added a total of 11,373 new listings for single-family homes and condominiums in September. 

However, inventory remains historically low in the competitive market with prices only projected to increase in the next year. NWMLS brokers reported a total of 7,757 active listings in September, slightly up from August’s high of 7,425 active listings but down 14.8% compared to the same time last year. Inventory for single-family homes in King County took a steep plummet in September, with total active listings down 32.5% from a year ago.

Across all 26 Washington counties surveyed in the report, there is only 0.75 months of inventory. The agency noted that it hasn’t seen more than a one month supply in inventory since July 2020, when it reached 1.04 months.”The housing market intensity for each new listing will continue its upward trajectory as the first of the year approaches,” said J. Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate, in a news release Wednesday.

With slim pickings in inventory and fierce competition, prices have continued to increase. In the past year, the median sales price increased by 14% — or $70,050 — across the 26 counties surveyed by the NWMLS.

And it’s not just King County and the surrounding areas that have experienced steep price increases: “outer suburban” areas along Interstate 5 are also seeing growth, with home prices in Kittitas County jumping by more than 26% compared to a year ago.

The report did note that the market for condominiums — which saw huge declines last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and less people living in dense, urban areas — has stabilized, with an increase in both sales and prices. In King County, NWMLS showed a 20% jump in the number of condos that went under contract last month compared to a year ago, with median prices rising by 8% to $466,501.

Other nearby counties also saw huge increases in condo prices compared to a year ago: Kitsap jumped by 28.5%, Snohomish was up by 17.8% and Pierce County prices increased by 16.7%. Priced out of buying a single-family home, it is likely that more residential buyers are turning to condominiums, leading to a strong rebound in that market.

“We continue to see a migration of buyers to suburban markets which has resulted in significant year-over-year price growth in areas such as Shoreline, Lake Sammamish, Auburn, Skyway, Woodinville, and Burien,” said Matthew Gardner, chief economist at Windermere Real Estate. “It’s likely that buyers are drawn to these areas because housing is more affordable than in the urban neighborhoods closer to Seattle and Bellevue.”

Experts waned on whether the frenzy-level activity would continue into the winter and holiday season, which is typically slower.

“Buyers should consider staying in the market, if they can, as homeowners who are selling in the last quarter of the year tend to be highly motivated,” said John Deely, executive vice president of operations for Coldwell Banker Bain.

Callie Craighead, SeattlePI

After declining for 2 months, pending home sales increased in August

• Signed contracts to buy existing homes increased 8.1% month to month in August, according to the National Association of Realtors.
• Buyers encountered higher inventory and slightly more favorable prices.
• Analysts were expecting a 1% monthly rise. Signings were still down 8.3% compared with August 2020. 

Signed contracts to buy existing homes increased 8.1% month to month in August, according to the National Association of Realtors, as buyers encountered higher inventory and slightly more favorable prices.

Analysts were expecting a 1% monthly rise. Signings were still down 8.3% compared with August 2020. 

August’s increase followed two months of declines, according to the NAR.

These so-called pending home sales are a future indicator of signed contracts in one to two months.

“Rising inventory and moderating price conditions are bringing buyers back to the market,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “Affordability, however, remains challenging as home price gains are roughly three times wage growth.”

Home prices in July were up nearly 20% nationally year over a year, according to the latest S&P Case-Shiller home price index, but that is a three-month average going back to May. The increase in supply has lowered the number of bidding wars, according to real estate agents.

Sales rose the most in the least-expensive regions, namely the Midwest and South, reflecting how the shift to remote work in some industries gave buyers an incentive to relocate. 

“The more moderately priced regions of the South and Midwest are experiencing stronger signing of contracts to buy, which is not surprising,” Yun said. “This can be attributed to some employees who have the flexibility to work from anywhere, as they choose to reside in more affordable places.”

In the Midwest, sales rose 10.4% monthly and were down 5.9% from August 2020. In the South, pending sales increased 8.6% monthly and dropped 6.3% annually.

Sales in the West rose 7.2% monthly and were down 9.2% from a year prior. Pending sales rose 4.6% in the Northeast month to month but were down 15.8% from a year ago.

~Diana Glick, CNBC

Housing prices hit record levels in June

With little inventory, home-price growth in the U.S. hit a record high in June, rising 18.6% from the same period last year, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index.

June marked the highest annual rate of home price growth since the index debuted in 1987, beating out the 16.8% annual growth rate logged the month prior, in May 2021.

“While the housing market feels like it has legs that never get tired, inventory and affordability constraints are still expected to put a damper on price growth,” said CoreLogic Deputy Chief Economist Selma Hepp. “Some early data suggests that the buyer frenzy experienced this spring is tapering, though many buyers still remain in the market. Nevertheless, less competition and more for-sale homes suggest we may be seeing the peak of home price acceleration. Going forward, home price growth may ease off but stay in the double digits through year-end.”

The Case-Shiller 10-city home price growth index rose 18.5% over the 12 months that ended in June, compared with a 16.6% increase in May. The 20-city index rose 19.1%, following an annual gain of 17.1% in May.

Price growth occurred in all 20 cities tracked in the Case Shiller Index. As usual, Phoenix was the leader. For the 25th straight month, the desert city saw home-price growth, a 29.3% acceleration in June. San Diego had the second-fastest growth at 27.1%, while Boston, Charlotte, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver and Seattle all recorded record-high annual price gains. The lowest rate of home price growth occurred in Chicago, which saw an increase of 13.3% from June 2020.

“We have previously suggested that the strength in the U.S. housing market is being driven in part by reaction to the COVID pandemic, as potential buyers move from urban apartments to suburban homes,” said Craig Lazzara, Managing Director and Global Head of Index Investment Strategy at S&P DJI.

“June’s data are consistent with this hypothesis. This demand surge may simply represent an acceleration of purchases that would have occurred anyway over the next several years. Alternatively, there may have been a secular change in locational preferences, leading to a permanent shift in the demand curve for housing. More time and data will be required to analyze this question.”

Another report on home-price growth released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency this week pointed to an 18.8% increase in home prices in June from a year earlier.

Looking forward, there are signs that the market is cooling a bit, according to Zillow Economist Matthew Speakman. “

Demand for housing continues to far outweigh the supply of homes for sale: Competition remains elevated, and homes are still going under contract more than a week faster than they were a year ago. But despite the enduring market competition, more-recent data indicate that the scalding hot housing market may have cooled slightly in recent weeks,” Speakman said.

“The number of for-sale homes has risen meaningfully since the early spring and the increased listings have appeared to bring some balance back to the market. Sales volumes that were falling sequentially in the spring have recently leveled off and price growth has simultaneously softened. All told, home price growth remains sky high, but more signals are appearing that the housing market is likely to soon start coming back to earth.”

The National Association of Realtors earlier this month reported that the median existing-home sales price in July rose 17.8% annually to $359,900.

By James Kleimann, HousingWire

Is Seattle’s real estate market cooling?

After a chaotic summer that saw extremely low housing inventory, bidding wars and record-breaking jumps in median sale prices, Seattle’s tight real estate market could be showing signs of cooling off for the fall season.

A new market report form the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) found that competition for homes in Seattle eased slightly in July, with brokers adding more listings and less homes going under contract. The agency saw slightly fewer pending sales in July than in June and May.

Some of that slowdown might be seasonal, while other experts took into account that the state lifted all COVID-19 restrictions on June 30, and more people could be traveling after spending so much time at home.

“Although the local market is intense, buyers can find some relief because there aren’t as many offers to compete with compared to earlier this year,” said J. Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate in a news release Thursday. “August historically is the last month of the year with elevated levels of new listings before they slowly taper down in the fall and decline more substantially over the winter.”

However, inventory still remains historically low and prices are still climbing, meaning any breathing room for homebuyers might be short lived. Across all 26 Washington counties surveyed by the NWMLS, there is only 0.73 months of inventory. And only 12 counties report having more than one month of supply.

“Despite the extreme shortage of inventory and robust sales activity, there seems to be a bit of a leveling off from the market frenzy,” said Gary O’Leyar, broker owner at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Signature Properties. “In my opinion this is due to a typical mid-summer season market combined with some buyer fatigue.”

Prices also continued to climb. In June, median sale prices for homes in the region soared 30% compared to the previous year, marking a new record high. In King County, the median home sale price hit $775,000 in May, up 23% from the same time last year.

However, that growth is not just in the Seattle metro area. Many brokers said that suburban counties along the Interstate 5 corridor have seen sharp price increases, mirroring the fact that homes in the heart of Seattle are appreciating at a slower rate than homes located away from downtown.

“Prices in Lewis County are up 54.2% from the July 2019 level, Snohomish County is up 40.6%, and Island County is up 44.3%,” said James Young, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at the University of Washington. “The search for value in the suburbs with sharp price increases suggest households are making their housing preferences known. They want to own rather than rent.”

One area of the market continues to rebound from the pandemic: condominium sales. New listings outpaced pending sales in July, and prices rose more modestly at 12.6%. In King County, where the majority of condos are sold, the median priced condo sold for $460,000.

Brokers are advising residents to make the most of the seasonal lull in the market while also warning potential sellers about overpricing.

“My advice to buyers would be to take advantage of this time before Labor Day and the fall market,” said O’Leyar. “[For sellers,] don’t get overly hyped with anecdotal information about the real estate market. Overpricing a listing in this market is still a big mistake.”

~Callie Craighead, Seattle P-I

Housing boom will end when interest rates rise

The current housing boom will flatten in 2022—or possibly early 2023—when mortgage interest rates rise. There is no bubble to burst, though prices may retreat from panic-buying highs.

The boom produced some frantic buying, bids in excess of asking prices, and plenty of worry among would-be homeowners. But this has not been a bubble. A bubble is not simply rising prices, but demand not justified by fundamental economic factors. The key to the buying boom has been low mortgage rates plus a shift in desired housing type.

Mortgage rates hit what was then an all-time low of four percent in 2011, and then remained in that neighborhood until the pandemic, when they hit three percent. The decline in mortgage rates in 2020 dropped the monthly payment on a house by 12 percent, enabling many people to buy houses now rather than later.

In addition to the low mortgage rates, some people saw a future of remote work and wanted more space, which often means moving out of an apartment into a single family house. Others found urban living less fun, so they headed into the suburbs where houses are more common than apartments.

The increased demand for houses drove prices up, quite predictably. Yet the supply could not adjust as fast as demand. Home builders ramped up production in the second half of 2020, but after a few months they ran into supply constraints. Ready-to-build lots were all bought up, labor for construction was hard to find and social distancing made workers less productive. Now rising materials prices and goods on back-order squeeze profit margins. That’s how we find ourselves in the current housing boom.

But this boom is not a bubble, because the rise in prices is easily explained by the fundamentals of cheap mortgages and supply limitations. Recent housing starts are below historical averages, though that is justified by lower population growth. But with the shift from multifamily to single family housing, recent construction levels make sense. There need be no sudden drop in new construction to maintain a reasonable equilibrium.

When will the boom end? The two keys are satisfying the new demand and mortgage rates. Low mortgage rates allowed young families to buy houses earlier than they otherwise would have. It did not change the economics of buying for people who were never going to be homeowners. Instead, low mortgage rates enabled people to achieve their dreams earlier than they otherwise would have. In this sense, the strong housing market of 2020 and 2021 has been borrowing from the future. However, the shift in preferences from urban living to suburban living by people who previously could have bought houses is permanent new demand. At least, so long as they don’t become disillusioned about home ownership.

Mortgage rates are likely to rise when financial markets anticipate more inflation and action by the Federal Reserve to stem inflation. Although the Fed’s traditional tools impact short-term rates, with only small effect on mortgage rates, the new actions by the Fed impact mortgages directly. The Fed has been buying mortgages wholesale, depressing mortgage interest rates. The Fed has also been buying many treasury securities, which are often competitors to mortgages for institutional investors.

Mortgage rates are likely to rise a full percentage point by mid-2022, though this forecast exceeds the average prediction of my fellow economists. They doubt long-term interest rates will rise by a percentage point even out to December 2022. If they are right and I am wrong, then the housing market will remain strong longer.

Business leaders in the housing supply chain should enjoy their strong sales this year but not anticipate further growth in the coming years. Major capital projects must pencil out with sales back at 2019 levels.

Prospective home buyers should probably chill. It’s been a tough buying season. Although prices are unlikely to fall nationwide, there will probably be easier buying opportunities in 2023.

by Bill Conerly, Forbes

Market offers hope to homebuyers…but may be temporary

Homebuyers may find some good news in the latest report from Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS). The number of active listings at the end of June, 6,358, reached the highest level since November when buyers could choose from 6,505 properties. The volume of new listings added last month was the highest number in 17 months (13,111 last month versus 14,689 at the end of November 2019).

“Homebuyers will be happy to hear that between May and June the number of listings in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties rose, giving them more homes to choose from and possibly easing the pressure just a little,” remarked Matthew Gardner, chief economist at Windermere Real Estate.

For the tri-county area, total active listings of single family homes and condominiums increased 14.5% from May. System-wide, the report covering all 26 counties served by Northwest MLS shows month-to-month inventory improved 14.9%.

“Buyers need some relief, so I hope this trend continues,” said Gardner.

Broker Dean Rebhuhn, owner at Village Homes and Properties, agreed the slight increase in new listings is good news for buyers, but tempered his optimism. “Low inventory and high demand coupled with low interest rates continue to drive up the market.” He also noted Kittitas County “is no exception to brisk sales. Many homes in that county are selling within one or two weeks.”

NWMLS director Frank Leach, broker/owner at RE/MAX Platinum Services in Silverdale, described Kitsap County as another “heated market” but said brokers there are growing inventory very slowly, resulting in more selection for buyers. Brokers added 621 new listings to that county’s inventory, improving on May’s volume by more than 13%. That number also marked the first time since May 2019 that the number of new listings in Kitsap County topped 600.

Other industry analysts suggested the uptick in inventory might be short-lived, citing vigorous activity as Washington state lifts several strict coronavirus restrictions.

“We continue on a trajectory that will keep the Puget Sound region at the top of national lists for one of the hottest housing markets,” stated John Deely, executive vice president of operations for Coldwell Banker Bain. “Inventory on hand remains at two-to-three weeks in the larger counties,” he noted.

The latest report from Northwest MLS shows a year-over-year (YOY) drop in active listings of more than 34%, with only about two weeks (0.58 months) of supply available areawide. Last month marked the first time since July 2020 that the year-over-year decline fell below 40%.

Only 10 of the 26 counties in the MLS report have more than one month of supply. Of these, only one (Ferry) has more than two months of supply. Snohomish County’s inventory declined more than 44% from a year ago, leaving it with only about 10 days of inventory (0.35 months of supply), the lowest of all the counties served by Northwest MLS.

“While pending sales saw a significant drop over this time last year, we believe that rather than that being an indication of a flattening of the market, this is a result of our extreme heat events, a typical summer slowdown as schools let out and people starting vacations, and, this year, the reopening of the country and discontinuation of COVID-19 restrictions,” explained Deely.

Pending sales rose about 3.5% compared with a year ago (from 11,916 to 12,328) but fell slightly from May when mutually accepted offers outgained the number of listings added during the month.

“The local real estate market is virtually sold out in the more affordable and mid-price ranges, even into the luxury market in some areas,” reported J. Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate. “This places extra focus on each new resale listing as it comes onto the market.”

An analysis of last month’s statistics by price range illustrates Scott’s point. Fewer than 23% of June’s listings had asking prices under $400,000. About a third of the inventory was listed at $800,000 or above.

James Young, the director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at the University of Washington, said the decline in active listings volume suggests homes are selling and closing very quickly once listed. He noted that while listing levels for June were higher than two years ago, pending and closed sales are much higher. “This indicates that well priced properties are closing very quickly.”

Lennox Scott concurred. “Many homes are going under contract within days due to the intense buyer demand.” He anticipates two more months of “elevated new resale listings” before the selection starts decreasing. “We expect the extremely high intensity for each listing will continue in most price ranges locally into the spring of 2022 due to historically low interest rates creating a large backlog of buyers looking to purchase a home.”

Deely said affordability, especially for first-time homebuyers, continues to be a concern. “Given indications from tech companies like Amazon and Microsoft to lease large office spaces and hire thousands of employees in our region, drawing people from higher-priced markets like Silicon Valley with lots of money to spend, we don’t see much change in this scenario for buyers in the short term.”

Brokers reported 10,923 completed transactions during June, a 31.4% increase from twelve months ago, and up 16.5% from May’s total of 9,374. Prices on last month’s sales, which includes single family homes and condominiums, rose nearly 27% from a year ago, from $465,000 to $589,000.

The single family segment accounted for about 86% of the sales. The median sales price on those 9,417 transactions was $611,000, which was 27% higher than the year-ago figure of $480,950.

Condo sales jumped a whopping 59% from a year ago, with prices increasing more than 20%. For last month’s 1,506 closed sales, the median price was $440,000; a year ago it was $365,000.

Looking at month-to-month, rather than YOY changes, Gardner noted King and Pierce counties experienced only modest price increases, while prices in Snohomish County rose by “a solid 3.1%. I believe this points to an uptick in buyers who can continue working from home and have made the choice to move from King to Snohomish County where housing is more affordable. The same can be inferred for Kitsap County.”

A comparison of Northwest MLS figures shows the median price on last month’s completed transactions in King County was $779,919, while in Snohomish County it was about $105,000 less ($675,000). In Kitsap County, where the median price was $505,000, the difference is nearly $275,000. Pierce County homes that sold last month had a median price of $507,375.

Commenting on the NWMLS report, Dick Beeson, managing broker at RE/MAX Northwest, Tacoma-Gig Harbor, said it reflects a “slight turn of the wheel. Sellers are still in control, but their expectations need a slight readjustment. Instead of 20 offers, there may only be five or fewer. Maybe even only one.”

When that happens, some sellers balk at selling, thinking they are being undersold, according to Beeson. “Sellers must remember, you can’t underprice a home in this market. You can still overprice a property. The market will find you out and drive the price to the appropriate market value.”

Given the strong, competitive market across all price ranges, Beeson offered a recipe for buyer success. “Scour the new inventory coming on the market daily; write the best offer you can using all the offer strategies you’re equipped to employ, and then decide if the extra cost to win the sale is an acceptable value to you. Close the sale quickly, and don’t whimper!”

Rebhuhn also offered hope for buyers who are prepared to act. “Generally speaking, July and August provide more opportunities for buyers as there is less competition because of vacations and fewer relocation buyers in mid-summer.”

Builders are also caught in the frenzy. “Builders are racing to bring new communities online and hoping to hit the sweet spot as prices on building materials for new construction begin to fall,” reported Frank Leach. He said new apartment buildings and condos are being approved and built all across Kitsap County to accommodate newly arriving residents. Notably, Leach said an aircraft carrier due to arrive shortly could potentially add 3,500 people to that county’s rental market.

Although pending sales in Kitsap County dipped slightly from a year ago, they were up nearly 12% from May. “The market in Kitsap County is expected to remain very competitive with exposure of only eight days on the market, on average, across all price ranges,” Leach noted.

NWMLS Press Release, July 7, 2021