Condo January market report: median price is up?
The median price for Seattle continues to stump me! After a steep decline in from November to December it rose to $463,250 in January. Why am I stumpeD? There are many examples of condos out there listed at what the sellers paid in 2019, 2018 even 2016! We even saw one selling below what it sold for brand new in 2006.
Heads up that – we usually look at the data for all condo construction types, but this month, we’re looking at just resales (that is we’re excluding new construction.) I hoped it’d show that median price had declined, but alas no, median price wasn’t skewed by the few closings at Emerald.
Like median price, price per square foot is up and still below 2018 peaks.
If you’re shopping for a condo, we saw 287 new listings in January more than we’ve ever seen in January since January 2011’s 355.
At the end of January there were 498 condos for sale across the city the most we’ve seen at the end of a January since January 2012. Though certainly below the 882 on the market in September.
While it often feels like condo buyers aren’t out there. They are. 240 buyers put condos under contract in January and 144 closed on a purchase (likely from a condo they offered on in December).
With so much inventory, and not enough buyers, days on market is skyrocketing. Especially relative to what we’re seeing with single-family homes.
Where do things go from here? We’re working with a few condo buyers right now and it feels like we’re near a bottom. There are some great deals out there for condo buyers but as the light at the end of this pandemic tunnel brightens, I expect prices to slowly start climbing.
