Seattle Real Estate Market Update ~ Consistent Improvement into the Fall

The Seattle Real Estate market continues it's hot, hot run into the fall.  We have seen year-over-year appreciation for single-family homes of 3-11% in every month since February.  At the same time, we continue to see roughly two months of inventory, an anemic trend that started during 2011 and which looks and feels a lot like 2005-2007.  To top it off, cumulative days on market was at its lowest point in five years in September at 43 days on market.  We see these trends playing out in other markets as well, like in the Seattle condominium market and in Eastside communities. Consistent improvement for nearly a year now lends credibility to the idea that real estate has turned a corner in Seattle.

How does this play out in the lives of buyers and sellers?  Buyers are showing more confidence in investing in real estate.  They are showing up on Day One at hot new listings ready to jump into highly competitive multiple offers.  Sellers have much more leverage than during the downturn.  And all homeowners are seeing appreciation creep up, with some able to get out from being underwater.  Here are some anecdotes from the field:

• A buyer recently said the following to me: "Since we started looking 3-4 months ago, I am noticing that the price seems to be rising on what we can expect to get."  What she describes on the ground reflects what we are seeing in the statistics below, and it feels like prices are literally rising before our eyes.

• To further illustrate how things are playing out right now, let me tell you about the buyers I am currently working with.  I currently have buyers in the Green Lake/Wallingford $600-700K single-family home market, the $450-500K West Seattle single-family home market, and the $200-250K Capitol Hill and the Downtown Bellevue/Downtown Kirkland condo markets.  All of these buyers are facing multiple offers ranging from 2-10+ offers.  When faced with competitive bidding situations like these, very, very good offers usually come in second.  Speaking from experience (and with a touch of hyperbole!), these are bloody battles where the slightest difference in price, terms or intangibles like offer presentation and buyer effort can give the edge to the victor.  It's rare that I cannot get my client into the final round, and thankfully we are prevailing at a excellent rate.

Below you will find detailed statistics.  I have many other sets of data, including this same set of data for condos, distressed (short sale and bank-owned homes) vs. non-distressed homes, and various geographic areas like the Eastside. As always, let me know if I can be of help in any way! 

These charts come from Trendgrafix, Inc. and represent all single-family homes (not condos but including town homes) in all Seattle areas.