Seattle buyers competed over limited inventory during June, according to the latest report from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
Closed home sales reached the highest volume since September 2022 in June, with 6,842 closings during the month. Despite this significant jump in sales, closings are still down 24% from June 2022.
There were approximately six weeks of inventory during June, with 12 of the 26 counties in the Northwest MLS region having less than 2 months of inventory, including King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish. Only five counties had more than four months of inventory: Columbia, Ferry, Kittitas, Okanogan and San Juan. With buying activity heating up, active listings have declined by 22.4% year over year.
“In real estate, it’s all about the supply-and-demand principle,” said J. Lennox Scott, executive officer at John L. Scott Real Estate. “In the current housing market environment, in the more affordable and mid-price ranges where 80% of transactions are occuring, we are observing a virtually sold-out market which has been sending prices higher.”
It’s not all bad news for Seattle’s housing inventory, though. Realtors entered 9,481 new listings into the MLS during June — the highest level since August 2022, when agents entered 9,914 properties.
“It’s going to be a hot summer sales season, with low inventory and lifestyle changes driving the market,” said JoAnna Harrison, a member of the NWMLS board of directors. “Multiple offers over listed prices are increasing for well-priced properties.”
Seventeen counties in the NWMLS region reported sales-to-list price ratios of 99% or higher, meaning the average home sold for just 1% below asking price. Several counties had sales-to-list price ratios over 100%, meaning they sold for over asking price: Franklin, King, Kitsap, Pierce, Snohomish, Thurston, Jefferson, Skagit, Clark, Island and Cowlitz.
Meanwhile, the median sales price in June was $625,000, down 3.85% year over year but up 12% from January 2023.
“Sales prices in King and Snohomish counties rose for the fifth consecutive month and are only modestly lower than a year ago,” said Whindermere Chief Economist Matthew Gardner. “It will be interesting to see if this trend can continue given the stubbornly high mortgage rates.”
“That said, the number of homes for sale in the Central Puget Sound area in June was down 48% from the same month in 2019 (pre-pandemic),” Gardner added. “I believe much of the reason for this is that almost 33% of in-state homeowners have mortgage rates at or below 3%, and 87% of owners have rates below 5%. There is little incentive to list your home for sale if you don’t have to.”