Last month’s headline to our monthly market report was, “Is the Market Softening?“, and it appears the answer is yes. This is great news if you’re a buyer and bad news if you’re a seller, but don’t worry sellers, it is still a seller’s market so no one is feeling bad for you yet.

Wait, what’s going?

What’s happening is that the number of new listings for June was at a ten year high, that coupled with a sales slow down in June means that the overall number of homes for sale is growing. There is much debate among agents if the summer slow down just came early or if something else is going on. My theory is that sellers have now realized just how much money they’ve made and are starting to try to take that money off the table en masse. Plus I believe that with the market being so crazy, many buyers started this year even sooner and so many serious buyers have already bought homes this year and are now out of the market.

For buyers – if you failed to buy earlier this year, good news! You know have more selection, a smaller likelihood of a bidding war, which should add up to you paying less for a home now than you would have in the spring. Thinking of buying next year? I would pull your plans forward and take advantage of this weakness now while also taking advantage of interest rates that are likely to rise.

For sellers – don’t get greedy and ensure your home is in tip top shape. Be ready to take an offer at list price. And if you can, wait until September when the buyers are back from vacation.

What does the future hold? It is anyone’s guess but a reasonable bet would be growing inventory over the summer as buyers vacation which will result in further softening of prices. But softening of prices in the back half of the year is pretty typical, just doesn’t make for a good headline.

Personally I’m glad I sold my condos early in the year though fearful I bought a very expensive home at the peak of the market. Time will tell :).

Single-family & townhomes:

• 766 homes sold
  • -3.04% from last month
  • -17.28% from last year
• $788,500 median list price
  • -2.05% from last month
  • +7.28% from last year
• 462 median list price per square foot
  • +0.87% from last month
  • +14.07% from last year
• 101% average sale-to-list price ratio
  • -2.32% from last month
  • -0.79% from last year
• 1,192 new listings
  • +4.56% from last month
  • +6.52% from last year
• 956 homes for sale
  • +22.25% from last month
  • +31.50% from last year
• 7 days is the average time homes have been on-market
  • same as last month
  • same as last year

Condos:

• 278 homes sold
  • -6.08% from last month
  • -6.08% from last year
• $515,627 median list price
  • -4.07% from last month
  • +10.89% from last year
• $ 613 median list price per square foot
  • -6.27% from last month
  • +6.42% from last year
• 100% average sale-to-list price ratio
  • -2.15% from last month
  • +6.98% from last year
• 396 new listings
  • -1.25% from last month
  • +31.13% from last year
• 376 homes for sale
  • +15.69% from last month
  • +93.81% from last year
• 7 days is the average time homes have been on-market
  • same as last month
  • same as last year

What did other outlets have to say?

• Seattle Times, Market Shift, Big spike in Seattle-area homes for sale slows price growth
• Seattle Bubble, June Stats Preview: Listings surge even higher in June
• PSBJ, Some relief for Seattle-area homebuyers as supply of homes rises, prices dip

Single-family & Townhomes

Condos