Despite snowy February, Seattle and King County home prices rebound
Mar 7, 2019, 9:06 AM | Updated: 11:24 am
(AP)
(AP)
Despite a massive slowdown in showings thanks to an historically snowy February, Seattle and King County home prices appear to be rebounding out of a mini-slump heading into spring.
“While the snow in February created a short distraction, the housing market is back on hot as we head into spring,” said John L. Scott Real Estate CEO J. Lennox Scott, in the latest report from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. “Dedicated buyers braved the snow. The market is on track for a strong spring.”
A month after King County saw its first year-over-year decrease in median home prices since 2012, the market is already bouncing back.
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Year-over-year prices in February in King County saw an increase from $649,950 to $655,000, a 0.78 percent bump. That was also up significantly from January’s $610,000 median price for residential homes.
January’s decline had many homeowners concerned that Seattle’s housing boom was officially over. As it turns out, though, that’s far from the case.
“Everyone worried that the sky is falling,” Windermere Chief Economist told KIRO Radio’s Dave Ross. “Is that the case? No it’s not.”
This all happened in the wake of the snowiest February the Seattle area has ever seen. Showing activity dropped 41 percent during the week of the heaviest snowstorms.
“The winter weather brought the market to a halt,” said John Deely, principal managing broker at Coldwell Banker Bain.
Meanwhile, the only county that saw a year-over-year decline for residential home prices in February was Snohomish, with a 2.07 percent dip. Both Pierce and Kitsap Counties saw significant increases over that period, at 9.23 percent and 3.67 respectively.
This is all consistent with forecasts from Gardner back in January, where he predicted home prices to trend up come spring, albeit at “far more modest rates” than in past years.
“The long term trend is still positive, and it remains to be positive given that our economy is doing remarkably well,” Gardner noted.
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