November Seattle Area Real Estate Market Update

This year of shifting in 2018 has produced some amazing trends, both consistent with recent times, and those of what many of us have wished for the past few years. On both the home seller and buyer side, both have experienced some very obtuse and nutty trends that have led to equally nutty consumer behavior. Here are a few of the things we’ve seen in the market.

We’ve essentially seen THREE different types of markets

#1 – The Obnoxiously One-sided Seller’s Market

Taking our gloves off, this was by far the craziest thing Seattle has ever seen. This began slowly in 2013 and by 2015 it was a full out blitz, lasting until this past Springtime. Waving contingencies, making offers without seeing a home in-person, seeing multiple offers on nearly every home and of course, buyers having to wait a year or two for appreciation to catch up on their high offer above list price. As a home buyer this is a market you would hope not to see again for awhile.

#2 – The Steady Yet Uncertain Market
This began in late May of 2018 whereby suddenly instead of seeing a flurry of multiple offers, we began to see bits of beautiful homes sitting on the market longer than expected. By the time July had arrived (which is usually when the market shifts yearly on a seasonal basis), we were already seeing a flurry of ‘extra’ homes it felt like on market. Suddenly the market felt uncertain and buyers were starting to feel like they should ‘wait longer’ for prices to go down or the market to continue shifting. Others still hung in there and went after properties with strong offers or were lucky enough to purchase at ‘List’ price or slightly under.

#3 – The Buyer’s-Favored Market (currently)

We’re there! Many home buyers have been waiting for this market, however this market now has slightly higher interest rates. This market allows home buyers to think for a minute (or a month or two) about what type of home they’d like to have before jumping in super competitively. Contingencies can be kept in the contracts such as having an inspection, not worrying about covering a low appraisal gap, and/or assuring the financing contingency is intact.

What does this mean for Homebuyers?

Inventory is up!..comparatively speaking to prior years such as 2015, 2016 and 2017 where inventory would only rise above the craziness for 2-3 months to end Summer and start the Fall season. This means home buyers can be more educated, make wiser choices and not have buyers remorse since they’ll have the appropriate time to think about their choices prior to taking action.

What does this mean for Home Sellers?

This means that ‘Marketing’ matters for Home Sellers! This means that simply hiring an agent to put a sign in the yard without proper staging, marketing, wordsmithing, and pricing strategy will likely result in losing money on your home’s sale value. This is where experience and knowing the market by working with an agent who knows their stuff will really matter. We’ve already begun to see drones of ‘discount’ or ‘part-time’ agents leave the business.

The Luxury Real Estate Market in Seattle & Bellevue

It all starts with Luxury. However fallible this may sound, it’s very true when it comes to real estate. When the Luxury market ($1.2 million and up) begins to slow down, we see a trickle down of sorts to the market directly below this price point, and so on. We began to see this early in 2018 and at the end of 2017 where there felt like more inventory was staying on market a bit longer and sellers were being more lenient with pricing and price drops.