Weekly Wrap-up
As Seattle grinds to it a halt it seems like our real estate market is proving surprisingly resilient as there were more new listings this week than last. With over 300 listings on the market right now buyers continue to be very active – open houses this weekend were busy and there were many bidding wars making it still a seller’s market, but for how much longer?
Having talked to many buyers we’ve found that active buyers who liquidated their down payment before the stock market downturn are still eager to buy. While more casual buyers are waiting for their stock portfolio to recover. For our out-of-town clients hoping to relocate here soon, all are putting real estate travel plans on hold which has put their searches on hold.
Something for active buyers to keep in mind is that while 21-30 day closings have been typical, with many people (appraisers, escrow, etc), working from home and lenders experiencing a re-fi boom, closings are likely going to extend to 30-40+ days. Interest rates have also been volatile – after seeing all-time lows early in the week they moved up by end of week and with today’s announcement that the Federal Reserve is cutting their interest rate and buying $200b of mortgage backed securities mortgage rates may drop again or may not (mortgage rates are not tied to the Feds fund rate.)
Of those 300+ new listings our faves are a $3m loft at the Art Stable, a $2.4m Denny Blaine modern (already pending!), a $5m Beaux Arts NW contemporary and a 3-bedroom floating home with garage.
Who know what this week will bring, but I’m sure it’ll be another wild one. Stay healthy and hang in there!
