Market Report: Inventory Down 18% YoY, Surprisingly Prices Up 18.8%

Now that November is behind us, time to check in on what the real estate market did Here’s a look at the three primary indicators:

• The median price is at $671,500, which is up $21,500 from October, and up 18.8% from last November – not good for buyers

• We saw 752 new listings in November, down from 1,076 in October but up from the 648 we saw last November – sellers know lots of buyers are still out there
• The number of homes for sale at the end of November was 696 down from the 849 we saw last November – months of supply almost at all time low of .7 months

Our experience touring clients every day and writing a couple offers a week is that there are still a lot of buyers out there that are determined to buy this year (though if you aren’t paying cash, if you don’t get under contract today, it’ll be hard to close by the end of the year) and that there are buyers who were planning to buy next year but are getting a jump start on things. On the seller side, even though this isn’t a conventional time to sell, sellers understand that there are still many buyers out there and bidding wars, for the most part, are still common.

What did other outlets have to say?

• Seattle Times, $500,000 for a 1-bedroom: Condo shortage worse than ever in King County
• PSBJ, Prices soar as demand for homes in Seattle remains high, tax changes loom