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

Trends fueling hot real estate market

The housing market is on fire.

What began as a pickup in demand early in the pandemic has evolved into an all-out buying spree. Sales of new and previously owned homes, while off their peaks, remain elevated. Construction has picked up somewhat, but contractors are struggling to shore up supply. With inventory sitting near record lows, price growth has accelerated to rival the 2000s housing bubble.

Reports published Tuesday confirmed the boom is alive and well. Prices soared through March at the fastest rate since 2005, according to S&P CoreLogic. Separately, Census Bureau data showed new single-family home sales slowing 5.9% through April. Still, the sales pace sits well above the pre-pandemic norm.

But it’s not just conventional gauges posting shocking superlatives — fundamental change is afoot in US housing. Alternative data, from lumber prices to the realtor-to-listing ratio, show a handful of structural shifts taking place throughout the market. Glenn Kelman, CEO of real-estate brokerage Redfin, unpacked several of them on a Twitter thread that racked up more than 14,000 likes in less than 48 hours. 

     Here are the five major changes reshaping the US housing sector.

1 – Buyers face a persistent shortage of available homes

At its core, the market boom is simply a result of too few homes. Economists are largely confident that, while trends are similar to the mid-2000s bubble, it’s a nationwide supply shortage driving prices higher, and not risky lending practices.

• More realtors than listings

The number of available homes in the US totaled 1.16 million at the end of April, according to the National Association of Realtors. NAR ended last month with 1.48 million members.

The association’s membership has exceeded listings through much of the year as sales bite into home availability.

• Historically low inventory

The national supply of available homes in the US plummeted to record lows at the start of the pandemic and have only just risen from those levels through 2021. The monthly inventory rose to 4.4 months in April, but the bounce has as much to do with a slowing pace of sales as it does with a pickup in construction.

• Homes selling at a record pace

When homes are coming up for sale, they aren’t staying on the market all that long. The average home now sells in a record-low 17 days, Kelman wrote on Twitter.

2 – People are fleeing cities for cheaper locales

The story of the 2020-2021 housing market is also one of migration. Americans largely fled densely populated cities for suburbs and traded their apartments for homes while mortgage rates were low. And after years of intense crowding in metropolitan areas, people seeking more space during the work-from-home period rushed to less populated states.

• Low-tax states seeing huge inflows

Attractive tax rates seemingly played a major role in the moving bonanza. Four people moved into low-tax states for every one that left, Kelman said. That ratio rose to 5:1 in Texas and 7:1 in Florida.

• Moving families face a new status quo

Americans who moved during the pandemic took a few risks. In a Redfin survey of 2,000 homebuyers, 63% said they bid on a home they hadn’t seen in person yet.

Separately, those moving to low-tax states enjoyed far lower housing costs. In many instances, the money saved allowed one parent to stop working, and many buyers are retiring early, Kelman said in a Wednesday tweet.

• Inventory and prices up in SF and NYC

Still, some of the country’s biggest cities aren’t down for the count. Inventory has swung higher in New York City and San Francisco by 28% and 77%, respectively, according to Kelman. Yet prices are increasing steadily in both markets, suggesting that, while many are moving out, enough are moving in to support already lofty prices.

3 – It’s getting more and more expensive to build homes

The simplest solution to slowing homes’ rapid price growth would be to increase supply. Yet the combination of a historic surge in demand with supply-chain bottlenecks as the economy reopened have hindered contractors.

• Lumber prices exploded higher

Most recently, surging lumber costs cut into builders’ efforts. Prices soared to record highs earlier in May and closed 280% higher year-over-year on Tuesday.

• Not enough building space

Even if lumber cost less, there’s scant room to build homes. The New Home Lot Supply Index — which tracks lots ready for building — fell 10% to a record low in the first quarter, according to housing analytics firm Zonda.

Even the firms that have empty lots are running behind in converting them to sellable homes. About 242,000 authorized homes hadn’t been started yet in April, the Census Bureau said last week. That’s the highest level since 1979. 

• Builders waiting for the opportune moment

The various shortages and bottlenecks have led builders to hit the brakes and wait for profitability to rebound. Nearly one-in-five contractors surveyed by the National Association of Realtors in April said they’re delaying construction or sales.

About 47% said they added escalation clauses to contracts last month. The clauses allow contractors to lift homes’ selling prices to offset an increase in building costs.

4 – Pricey construction, unrelenting demand is driving stronger home inflation

With builders unable to meet demand with new supply, prices predictably shot through the roof. Experts see home-price inflation staying hot into 2023, and with selling prices already elevated, a long rally could further dent home affordability across the US.

• Prices hit record highs

While the rate of sales has cooled slightly, price growth remains strong. The median selling price of new homes rose to a record-high $372, 400 in April, the Census Bureau said Tuesday.

The median price for previously owned homes rose to a record of its own last month. The average existing home cost $341,000 in April, the National Association of Realtors said on May 21.

• Sell-over-ask at record highs

For those looking to sell, there’s never been a better time. Homes are selling on average for 1.7% above their asking price, Kelman wrote on Twitter. That’s the largest average overshoot on record.

5 – Americans increasingly prioritize value and space

Still, not all buyers are losing out as the market boom charges onward.

• Two-thirds of buyers say they snagged great deals

A Redfin survey of 600 homebuyers found that about two-thirds of people who moved during the pandemic bought a unit that was the same size or larger than their previous home. The same share of buyers spent the same or less on housing, the firm added.

• Most had more cash after they moved

Moving during the pandemic also tended not to break the bank. Of the Americans reporting they moved into larger homes, 78% said they have the same amount of disposable income or more after their move, Kelman said.

“Idaho home price could triple and still seem affordable to a Californian,” the Redfin CEO said in a tweet.

~Ben Winck, Insider 

All-time record for home sale prices

The median home sale price increased 16% year-over-year to $331,590 – an all-time high, per a report this week from Redfin. But that’s not stopping buyers from snatching up homes days after they’re listed.

During a four-week period ending March 21 and covering 400 metros, 58% of homes that went under contract had an accepted offer within the first two weeks on the market. And between March 14 and March 21, 61% of homes sold in that timeframe had been on the market two weeks or less, and 48% had sold in one week or less.

And offers are coming in well-above asking price, too. Nearly 40% of homes sold above their list price – another all-time high – and 15 percentage points higher year-over-year. The average sale-to-list price ratio, which measures how close homes are selling to their asking prices, increased to 100.2%.

This is concerning for experts, though, many of whom believe home prices will remain high even after mortgage rates, inventory, and building material costs recover to pre-pandemic levels. Rates are already above 3% – after falling into the 2% range during the majority of 2020 – but construction companies are still struggling to keep up with insane lumber prices, stifling new builds.

National Association of Home Builders Chairman Chuck Fowke recently noted that supply shortages and high demand have caused lumber prices to jump “about 200%” since April 2020, and the elevated price of lumber is adding approximately $24,000 to the price of a new home.

When the pandemic is over, purchasing a home is going to cost much more than ever before, putting homeownership much further out of reach for many Americans,” said Daryl Fairweather, Redfin chief economist. “That means a future in which most Americans will not have the opportunity to build wealth through home equity, which will worsen inequality in our society.”

Fairweather noted that President Joseph Biden’s hopeful $3 trillion infrastructure plan includes building 1.5 million sustainable homes, but there is no guarantee the bill will be “passed with every policy proposal intact.”

“America needs an audacious goal to increase the housing supply, given the U.S. is short 2.5 million homes,” she said. “It may be expensive to build millions of homes, but ignoring the problem would only cause housing to become more unaffordable and worsen housing insecurity.”

The best chance at home prices lowering is the continued rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, experts said, which will allow lumber mills to reopen and material prices to lower. Builders will then be spending less on new builds, which will help the backlogging of inventory.

~Housing Wire

What Buyers Focus On Most When Touring A Home, According To Eye-Tracking Software

NOVEMBER 9, 2020 BY LAURA WHITE(EDIT)

Turns out, it isn’t all about the stainless steel appliances.

One of the many mantras in the real estate world is the saying “kitchens sell houses,” but until now there has been very little information about exactly what it was in a kitchen that would make buyers pay attention. With the help of a few homebuyers wearing glasses that track eye movements, we are beginning to have some hard facts.

It isn’t the shiny metallic fridge or the latest high-tech dishwasher their eyes go to when they first walk in the kitchen. It’s the oven. Many of the buyers in the study would go so far as to look inside the oven, and some of them would even turn it on to see how well it worked. So if you’re selling your home, make sure the oven is so clean it sparkles inside and out. If it isn’t in working order or has a few bad burners, you don’t necessarily have to get it replaced, but you might consider offering the buyer a credit for a new one.

Bedrooms are one of the next priorities in a house that can make or break a sale and eye-tracking software reveals a buyer’s eyes go straight to the bed when they walk into the room. Most likely buyers are wondering if their bed will fit in the space and if there is enough room to fit the rest of their furniture as well. This means if you’re in triage mode when it comes to decluttering on short notice, make the bedrooms a priority over other rooms in the house.

Outdoor accessibility was another big takeaway from the study. When buyers walked into a room that accessed the backyard their eyes immediately went to the outdoor space and the doors that opened out to it. Make sure the windows and doors (if they have glass) are as clean as can be so they show off the view to the outdoors in the best way possible.

But how about those stainless steel appliances? Are they worth it in the end? This study wasn’t designed to measure whether people’s eyes looked at stainless steel more than other types of finishes, but I’ll pass on the main reason why they have become so much of a trend: They can make a small kitchen look much bigger. The reflective surface acts the same way a mirror does by bouncing light around the room and giving the impression of spaciousness. To continue with the mirror example, a designer once told me hanging a mirror is almost as good as adding a window to a room. Stainless steel can have the same impact within a kitchen so it is still worth keeping it in mind if you are going to buy a new appliances.

~ Amy Dobson, Forbes

Would-Be Sellers Appear Ready to Boost Inventory

There’s a fresh sign that more inventory may be coming to the market, as homeowners deepen their faith in selling. The percentage of consumers who are “strongly” optimistic that now is a good time to sell hit 46% in the second quarter of this year, a significant increase from the 37% who said the same thing in the first quarter, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ Housing Opportunities and Market Experience Survey, which was released Wednesday.

Home prices have begun moderating in recent months, which may be prompting homeowners to consider selling sooner in order to cash in before prices go any lower. “With home price appreciation slowing, home sellers understand the days of large price gains from holding an extra year are over,” says NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.

Homeowners have been putting off a move in recent years, reluctant to give up low interest rates on their current loans and fearing the difficulty of finding another home to buy amid an inventory crunch. The inventory problem, though, could be eased if more would-be sellers decide to put their homes up for sale.

Other findings from the HOME Survey include:

Not just seller optimism. More Americans also believe now is a good time to buy. Thirty-eight percent of respondents to NAR’s survey say they “strongly agree” that now is the right time to purchase a home, and 27% “moderately agree.” Thirty-five percent say it’s not a good time to buy, according to the survey.
Confidence in the overall economy. A rosier economic outlook may be generating some of the optimism in the housing market. Fifty-five percent of consumers now say they think the economy is improving, up from 53% in the first quarter of 2019. Consumers who are the most upbeat about the economy tend to earn $100,000 or more and reside in rural areas, the survey shows.
Generation X offers important clues. The most notable change in consumer economic perceptions, Yun says, is among Gen Xers, who have tended to face the most financial pressures in recent years compared to other age groups. Fifty-three percent of Gen Xers say they believe the economy is improving, up from 50% in the first quarter. “Many in the Generation X population find themselves needing to purchase multigenerational homes,” Yun says. “Also, they may be feeling financial stress from caring for aging parents and children of all ages. Nonetheless, they have an optimistic outlook about the future.”
Mortgage rates boost sales. Overall, of the respondents surveyed who don’t currently own a home, 27% say they believe it would be difficult to qualify for a mortgage due to their financial situation; 30% said it would be somewhat difficult to qualify. Mortgage affordability showed some improvement in the second quarter, and the trend likely will continue, Yun says. “Lower mortgage rates, along with job and wage growth, will lead to an increase in sales and thereby contribute positively to economic growth in the upcoming quarters.”

~Realtor Magazine

Is spring going to be a Goldilocks housing season for everybody?

Have we arrived at one of those rare Goldilocks moments in real estate, where the market works well for sellers and buyers, strongly favoring neither?

Maybe. Based on the latest national consumer-sentiment survey by mortgage investor Fannie Mae, American consumers appear to think so. They’re more positive about the overall direction of the housing market than they’ve been in nearly a year. Growing numbers think it’s a good time to sell and a good time to buy. They expect their own personal financial situations will improve this year, and they believe that interest rates for home loans will continue to remain relatively affordable.

Housing and mortgage economists tend to agree. As Michael Fratantoni, chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association, told me: Six months ago, “I was guardedly optimistic. Now I’m just plain optimistic.” Mark Fleming, chief economist of First American Title Insurance, says: “So far in 2019, we’ve seen mortgage rates decline and wages rise — both trends work to boost home-buying power and fuel greater market potential for home sales, setting the stage for a stronger than expected” season.

Yet some economists warn that things are not necessarily as rosy as Fannie’s consumer survey would suggest. They point to troubling signs: Total home sales on a national basis continue to decline. That pattern historically has been a leading indicator that prices could actually fall during the year ahead, ending years of nonstop appreciation. Plus, houses are taking longer to sell — many owners are having to cut their asking prices. The days of widespread bidding wars are over.

So what’s really going on, and how do you relate it to your own situation, either as a potential buyer or seller? Some hard facts:

●Prices are still rising, but at a slower rate than in recent years past. The median home listing price hit $300,000 last month for the first time ever, a 7 percent jump over the previous year, according to Realtor.com. Fratantoni predicts price increases will moderate to an average of just 4 percent this year, 3 percent next year and 2.5 percent in 2021.

●A notable percentage of sellers’ asking prices are being reduced.

●Interest rates have been a great stimulus and are key to a strong spring. Lower rates are good for buyers, good for sellers. Last fall, average rates for a fixed-rate 30-year mortgage hovered near 5 percent, according to data from investor Freddie Mac. In the first week of April they averaged 4.08 percent. Homeowners and would-be buyers have responded enthusiastically to the lower rates, sending applications soaring by 18.6 percent during the week ending March 29 compared with the week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

●Inventories of available homes for sale continue to rise — meaning more choices for shoppers, according to National Association of Realtors researcher Michael Hyman. Listings nationwide were up by 3.2 percent year-over-year in February. That’s generally a good sign for buyers because it helps keep price pressures down. But homes for sale in the primary entry segment for first-time home buyers — houses priced under $200,000 — dropped by 9 percent year-over-year, according to Realtor.com, while they grew by 11 percent in the upper price brackets over $750,000.

All this is well and good, says Issi Romem, chief economist for realty marketing and data site Trulia, but the reality is that the housing market is in cyclical slowdown mode. Inventories of available homes may be increasing, but part of the reason is that houses are staying on the market unsold for longer times in many areas. The price cuts and longer days-on-market times reveal that significant numbers of “sellers are facing greater difficulties in selling.”

Romem and Trulia Senior Economist Cheryl Young issued a report last week that runs counter to the cheery outlook prevailing in the industry. “[It] is possible,” they say, that “by fall or next year prices might modestly decline.”

What that means is that the Goldilocks theory and perceptions of balance between sellers and buyers may not be quite right.

Advantage: buyers.

Kenneth R. Harney, The Washington Post

Housing crash a distant memory for Seattle homeowners, Zillow says

Now may be the best time to sell in Seattle, considering more than 97 percent of homes are worth more now than the peak level before the housing market crashed in 2008, according to a new Zillow study released on Thursday.
The median home value is 29.2 percent above the bubble peak level, with the average home worth $492,700 – an 11.4 percent increase compared to a year ago.
Unfortunately, the same can be said about rent, with a 1.9 percent increase over the past year and a median cost of $2,176.

The rest of the housing market around the country is doing pretty well, too, with half of all U.S. homes more valuable now than before the 2008 recession. The median home value stands at $217,300 — that’s 8.3 percent higher than last year. Home values have risen by 8.4 percent since the height of the housing bubble.

Similarly, six of the 35 largest housing markets – including five cities in Texas (Austin, San Jose, San Antonio, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Houston), and Denver, Colorado – have more than 95 percent of homes worth more now than pre-recession peak. Portland, Oregon comes in close, with 94.8 percent of homes more valuable now.

But, there are many home buyers across major U.S. cities still struggling to recover from the recession. Las Vegas remains one of the worst cities, with only 0.8 percent of homes more valuable than before the crash. Orlando, Florida comes in second, Riverside, California third, and Baltimore, Maryland and Phoenix, Arizona topping the list for the least valuable homes since the recession.

“Despite widespread and consistent home value growth today, the scars of the recession still run deep for millions of longer-term U.S. homeowners, and it may take years of growth for their home to regain the value lost a decade ago,” Zillow Senior Economist Aaron Terrazas said. “And while stabilizing growth in rents is likely a relief for those renters saving to become homeowners, many of those would-be buyers in a number of the nation’s hottest markets will be contending with home prices that are as high as they’ve ever been.”

~Karina Mazhukhina / KOMONews.com

In Seattle real estate market, inventory is finally up

According to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) Seattle ended June with more than a month of inventory for the first time since September 2016.

In the Seattle city limits in June 2018, NWMLS saw 1,246 active listings, a 75.5 percent increase from the year before. Seattle ended last month with 1.2 months of inventory—a figure based on number of homes for sale and typical sales time—which is nearly double what the market had the previous year.

While this didn’t translate to a decrease in housing prices, they did rise less than last month or last year. Median closing prices rose 8 percent compared to June of last year—but at that time, home values had risen 17 percent. So although the median closing price for last month in Seattle was a whopping $740,000, or $812,500 for a single-family home, it rose far less quickly than this time last year.

County-wide, the inventory picture also improved, although home prices continue to rise; King County ended the month with 1.3 months of inventory compared to .84 last year. And while home prices are rising less quickly than this time last year, too, it’s not by as much. County-wide, home prices rose 10.2 percent over last year—compared to 15.7 percent over the previous year.

Even if home values are rising less quickly, they’re still already high—and still, according to the Puget Sound Regional Council, going up by about $5 every hour of every day. With renters already cost-burdened at a higher rate than homeowners, there seem to be fewer options for entering into homeownership. For people already priced out, there’s not a lot of good news here.

But it’s decent news for current househunters worried about getting priced out before they can get an offer accepted, agents short on listings, or current homeowners sitting on their properties because they’re worried about their next steps.

Meanwhile, though, there’s not much relief in sight for would-be homebuyers in Tacoma. As the City of Destiny’s rent rises faster than Seattle, closing prices have jumped more than 13 percent in Pierce County. Inventory is down and median sale prices are up across the city proper, with the biggest jump in home price, 34.6 percent, in central Tacoma.

~Sarah Anne Lloyd, Curbed Seattle