No need for St. Joseph in hot King County housing market
Dec 21, 2016, 2:08 PM | Updated: 2:34 pm
Maybe people selling their homes in the Puget Sound region have a figure of St. Joseph buried in their yards. (AP)
(AP)
The seller’s market in counties surrounding Puget Sound continues to flourish like a gift from God.
According to information from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, pending sales of homes in November in Washington state reached what Seattle Bubble is calling an “all-time high.” That includes King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish counties, which had the most pending sales for the month of November since 2005, a real estate agent told Seattle Bubble.
That’s huge, because the number of new listings jumped by 10 percent last month, the Puget Sound Business Journal reports.
The result is a housing market that continues to see soaring home prices. The Associated Press reports much of the Greater Seattle area has the hottest housing market in the country. The average single-family home in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties cost 11 percent more in September than a year prior. That was the biggest increase among 20 major metro areas.
“Overall, Seattle prices are rising twice as fast as the rest of the country, as they have for most of this year,” the Associated Press reported.
In November, sale prices for homes increased by about 15 percent in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties, according to the Business Journal. The median price in King County was about $550,000 in November. That $550,000 median price is an approximate 10 percent increase year-over-year.
Overall, things are weighing mostly against buyers, except, of course, for the number of active listings. Seattle Bubble reports active listings increased by about 0.3 percent year-over-year. Closed sales increased by 29 percent. Pending sales increased by 4.8 percent year-over-year.
Maybe home sellers are snatching up the “Sell Your House Kit” from Archie McPhee, which claims to help those who use it sell their homes “faster and better,” thanks to a Saint Joseph figure, prayer card, and booklet of house-selling tips.
Thankfully, the “Sell Your House Kit” comes with a “for sale” sign as well.
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