More new listings offer little solace for home buyers
Jun 7, 2017, 4:53 PM
While median home prices across the region continue a steady climb, there may be a glimmer of hope for buyers.
For the first time this year, there are more new listings, year over year. In May 2017, there were 4,484 new listings in King County – compared to 4,334 in May 2016. In Snohomish County there were 2,108 – compared to 1,862 in May 2016. And in Pierce County there were 2,235 new listings – as compared to 1,989 in May 2016.
RELATED: Housing market is booming, even outside of King County
Brokers also say that the market cools off a bit in summer months while potential buyers recreate or take off for vacations, which sounds more appealing than stressful bidding situations. This also means less competition for those willing to sweat it out.
“No one is talking about the large number of new listings coming to the market,” Ken Anderson, president/owner of Coldwell Banker Evergreen said in a report by Northwest Multiple Listing Service. “New listings are at a seven-year high, and fifth highest all-time in our South Sound market.”
While that may sound promising, the MLS report points to statistics that show that the overall inventory is still constricted with only 1.37 months of supply. In King County, it’s closer to three weeks of supply. MLS reports a balanced market is often described as 4-6 months.
“The spring Puget Sound housing market is in full swing and as intense and frenzied as it has ever been. New inventory outpaced pending sales,” J. Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate, said in the MLS report. “We’re seeing explosive sales, severe inventory shortages, intense competition, and multiple offer situations.”
The MLS report suggests the intensity is forcing buyers west from King County to Kitsap, where pending sales rose 8.4 percent from a year ago. No surprise the median home and condo prices sold in Kitsap County jumped 7.8 percent in a year.
A passenger-only ferry connecting downtown Seattle to Kitsap County next year may drive those stats even higher.
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