Active listings increased 16.8% year over year and 15.2% month over month across the Northwest Multiple Listing Service coverage area in May, according to the latest NWMLS data.
Buyers had 21,381 northwest Washington homes to shop during the month, the highest inventory level of the year so far, fueled by an influx of 12,562 new listings. That inventory was up 3.4% month over month but down 4.3% year over year.
Both pending and closed home sales increased on a monthly basis, by 7.7% and 9.5%, respectively, as the spring market heated up. Home prices were stable month over month at $650,000 and declined 1% year over year.
“Following the general pattern we have seen in recent months, the number of listings continued to grow relative to the same month a year earlier, while sales transactions and prices were both down or flat due to the affordability constraint imposed by high interest rates,” said Stephen Bourassa, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at the University of Washington. “Without any clear resolution to [the Iran] crisis on the horizon, it is difficult to predict when interest rates will resume the downward trajectory that they displayed prior to the start of the war at the end of February.”
King County
In King County, active listings increased 13.7% year over year, with 6,961 single-family residences and condominiums added to the market. Pending sales declined 7.9%, with 2,549 listings going under contract, while closed home sales decreased 4.86%, with buyers purchasing 2,074 homes.
The county had a median home price of $875,000, up 1.2% year over year.
Given the rate of sales, King County had a 3.4-month inventory.
Snohomish County
Active listings in Snohomish County jumped 33.6%, with 2,424 properties added to the MLS. Pending sales increased 0.9% year over year as 1,154 listings went under contract, and closings declined 3.6%, with 890 home sales. Those closings had a median price of $759,875.
Snohomish County had a 2.7-month inventory in May.
Pierce County
Pierce County saw a 20% increase in active listings in May, with 2,678 properties on the market.
Pending sales increased 1.5% year over year, with 1,314 listings going under contract, but closings decreased 5.2%, with 972 sales. The county had a median home price of $580,000, unchanged from a year prior.
Given the rate of sales, it would have taken 2.8 months to sell every home in Snohomish County.
Kitsap County
Active listings increased just 1.1% in Kitsap County, with 707 total listings on the MLS. Five-hundred and sixty-one of those listings were new during the month of May.
Pending listings declined, but closings increased: Buyers contracted on 456 listings during the month, down 2.2% year over year, while completed home sales increased 2.6%, with 357 sales.
Kitsap County had a median home price of $585,000, up 0.1% year over year. Given the rate of sales, the county had a two-month inventory.