Prices Down, Inventory Up

This week the Seattle Times reported on the state of the real estate market based off the numbers released by our local MLS for September, Seattle home prices still raging despite extra inventory, slow fall season:

The good news for buyers is that Seattle isn’t setting any more home-price records like it did this spring. And the rate of home-price increases has slowed to about half of what it was earlier in the year.

But the bad news is that home costs are still growing much faster than normal, and exceed recent pay hikes. The market remains one of the hottest in the country, even though the region is finally starting to see more houses come on the market.

So September prices are down and inventory is up. That is especially true for townhomes. There are a lot on the market now, with more hitting the market every day and they’re taking longer to sell and we’re starting to see price reductions. I’ve talked to a lot of listing agents for townhomes and they’re asking me what incentives they can offer, or want to know why their townhomes aren’t selling. I tell them, I don’t need to see their townhome, the answer is simple, if it hasn’t sold in a week, they’re likely over priced and/or poorly built.

Now, this isn’t true for new condos though, both Insignia and Luma have just a few units left. If you’re looking for a new condo, our prediction is they’ll be gone before the end of the year leaving just Gridiron and Hendon in 2017. After that there won’t be any new condos until Nexus in 2019/2020.