Seattle’s housing market is cooling faster than any other major U.S. city, according to a recent report from Redfin.
Redfin examined price drops, supply, pending sales, sale-to-list ratio, speed of homes sales and more from February to August to determine which housing markets in the 100 most populous U.S. cities are slowing the fastest.
The 10 fastest cooling housing markets, according to Redfin: Seattle; Las Vegas; San Jose, California; San Diego; Sacramento; Denver; Phoenix; Oakland; North Port, Florida; and Tacoma.
The markets cooling fastest are many of the same places that saw the biggest spikes in home prices during the last three years.
Seattle, San Jose, San Diego, Sacramento, Denver and Oakland are all among the 15 most expensive housing markets in the U.S. Las Vegas, Sacramento, Phoenix and North Port are all on Redfin’s list of the 10 most popular migration destinations, based on net inflow.
“These are all places where homebuyers are feeling the sting of rising home prices, higher mortgage rates and inflation very sharply. They’re slowing down partly because so many people have been priced out and partly because last year’s record-low rates made them unsustainably hot,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. “The good news is that the slowdown is dampening competition and giving those who can still afford to buy more negotiating power.”
Homebuyer demand and competition are dropping quicker in Seattle than any other major metro this year, the report said. About 34% fewer homes sold within two weeks in August than a year earlier, and Seattle-area home prices are falling from their peak, with the typical home selling for 2% less in August than a month earlier, the report said.
“A lot of sellers aren’t able to get the price they want because buyers don’t want to compete with other offers when mortgage rates are double what they were a year ago,” Seattle Redfin agent David Palmer said. “That means there are fewer sellers listing their homes and fewer buyers making offers on the ones that do hit the market.”