Seattle housing market – recent changes offer buyers more options

It is no secret that real estate is expensive in Seattle.

In Washington, the average home price is $627,000 but in King County, the average home price reached $1,078,000 at the beginning of this year.

But despite this big obstacle, right now might be a good time to buy a house, as Seattle residents haven’t had as many housing options as they have right now.

“Literally houses are staying on market a lot longer. House prices are dropping anywhere from $50,000-100,000. I’ve seen houses drop $300,000,” said real estate broker Ali Samael.

There has been a shift in the housing market in recent months, something that hasn’t happened for quite a while in the Seattle area. According to Realtor Brooke Davis, there are three main changes:

1. There are more homes for sale. June of 2022 had over 100% more homes on the market than June 2022, so if you are looking to buy right now, you will have more options to choose from.
2. Pending sales are down, meaning that houses are staying in the market for a little longer. If you are buying, you won’t see as many bidding wars. According to Davis, homes used to go on the market and go pending immediately but in June pending sales went down about 30% compared to last year.
3. On the other hand, interest rates are up, which means that buyers have “lost considerable purchasing power,” according to NBC News.

“If you like to have choices it’s a great time to buy a house,” said Davis to New Day NW.

Although home prices are still up over 2021, other factors make it a good time to be a buyer.

“I feel like there is a lot more inventory out there so they’re you know there’s more availability,” said Jennifer Lulu, who was looking for homes in West Seattle with her son Brandon.

This is a good thing, realtors say, since we’re seeing the housing market going back to normal.

So what should you keep in mind if you are trying to buy?

“Do your research, have an agent who can do their research, who is familiar with this type of market and really knows how to keep an eye on what’s happening right now,” said Davis.

Davis also mentioned that interest rates have also come down a bit since their peak in 2022.

But what about if you are trying to sell your house?

“To sell your home right now you need to do the same things that you’ve always done but just pay attention to detail,” said Davis. “Prepping your house is so important, just like always, buyers want to see a house that’s cleaned, that you’ve taken care of, deferred maintenance, that you’ve painted, if the walls need to be painted, if the floors are scratched up look into refinishing the floors. Just take care of all those details before putting your home on the market.”

The best barometer for pricing a home is to look at the most recent sales, due to changes in the market.

When will the market shift again? Davis said it is not clear, but she did say there’s always demand in Seattle.

Melisa Cabello Cuahutle, King 5 News