Local home prices wake up, overshadow lazy August

The King County housing market rocketed out of a laid-back August vacation mode, jumping up significantly in September, according to figures released by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

The median priced single-family, detached home in King County last month rose to $460,000, up 9.5 percent over September, 2013 ($420,000) and up 5.3 percent over August, 2014 ($437,000). The August-September bump was the biggest in the past decade for the two months.

The median, or mid-point, means half the homes sold for more and half for less than the median number.

The Eastside submarket jumped to a median price of $603,000 (up 6.3 percent from September, 2013) while Seattle leaped to $517,000, up 12 percent.

The Northwest Multiple Listing Service serves 21 counties in central and western Washington. The area-wide median price on last month’s closed sales of single family homes and condominiums was $285,000, which compares to the year-ago figure of $278,000. Five counties reported double-digit increases (Grant, Jefferson, Kittitas, Lewis, and San Juan).

Brokers say they’ve seen a cooling in the number of completed sales after months and months of bidding wars.

“I’m wondering if more buyers aren’t taking a step back either due to the time of year or are just kind of exhausted by that whole multiple-offer market that we were faced with in the spring time,” said Jason Wall, president of Lake & Company. “I think a lot of people got tired of pre-inspecting properties and not winning.”

The easing of competition reflects a national trend. Buyers are pushing back against higher home prices, according to the latest Credit Suisse monthly survey. Overall, agents in 37 of the 40 markets surveyed in September reported lower-than-expected buyer traffic, up from 31 markets in August.

“Many buyers have shifted from a negotiation mindset toward a willingness to sit on the sidelines and wait for lower prices,” according to the survey. “The resistance of buyers to higher home prices was broad-based with comments from agents suggesting that affordability and the future trajectory of home prices was a particularly large part of conversations with buyers.”

What’s in store for Puget Sound area home shoppers?

Gary O’Leyar, designated broker/owner of Prudential Signature Properties in Seattle, said he expects a “healthy glow” in 2015 so long as there is no radical increase in interest rates.

“I foresee a general leveling off in overall market activity as prices approach the affordability ceiling for many buyers,” O’Leyar said.