It's hard to know what’s going in the real estate market right now. News, both national and local, are reporting a mixed bag. On a local level, since the start of the new year, we're seeing renewed buyer interest with open houses heavily attended. We're also seeing multiple offers on great homes in key locations. The good I'm seeing is a return to normalcy. Even in multiple offer situations, we're seeing inspection and financing contingencies and a return to realistic escalation clauses.
To put some perspective on this market, we need to look at the beginning of last year. We saw an unprecedented jump in real estate values in King County as a whole between January through April of 2022. During that time King County median home prices jumped from $785K to $1M in value. Even nationally, CoreLogic repots this time frame as the highest reported growth in over two decades.
WHY DID WE SEE THIS?
Inventory: We had historically low inventory. There simply weren’t enough homes for the amount of buyers.
Interest Rates: With the looming interest rate hikes, those who were on the fence committed to buy.
Stock Market: With the instability of the stock market, many looked to real estate as a safer place to invest their money.
The market dramatically shifted in fall of 2022 as rates surged and prices remained high.
WHAT’S GOING ON NOW?
What we've seen in the past several months is a healthy return to a traditional, seasonal market.
I’m sure you're wondering if we will see a further softening of values. There are a number of factors that counter this:
Interest Rates: Economists are predicting interest rates won't go above 7%
Inventory: We continue to have a historically level of homes for sale.
Economy: Stability of our local economy.
Buyers: The pent up pool of buyers who were unable to compete the past 5 years who are now entering the market.
These factors should keep home prices stable and our local market active and healthy as our region continues to grow.
I’m here if you have any questions - just a filled-out form away!