Low Interest Rates, Low Inventory & High Buyer Demand Drive the Seattle Housing Market
The Seattle median home prices saw a slight ebb and flow the last few months during the COVID crisis. In May we saw a slight decrease in the Seattle median home price down 2.54%. But in June it was right back up, the median single-family home price was up 2.43% to $800,000. The slight downturn in prices seems to have been caused by outside influences like the difficulty in obtaining jumbo loans in April. Buyer interest never seemed to slow and now that the market has pieced together solutions for the jumbo market, we are seeing the rise in the median home price again.
The rise in home prices is not surprising. The supply/demand imbalance is creating an extremely difficult environment for homebuyers. Multiple offers are the norm with inventory being only half of what we were working with a year ago. And most would agree we did not have enough inventory in 2019. Compounding the difficulty for buyers is COVID-19 protocols for showing property. There can only be a limited number of people in the home at one time and all showings are by appointment only. Showing calendars for some properties are completely full leaving some buyers unable to see the interior in-person. Virtual tours and live-stream open houses are giving many buyers their only look inside.
Some might wonder why buyers are not waiting. One answer would be mortgage interest rates. In a recent report, Housing Wire, a news portal for mortgage and housing professionals, indicated last week’s average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage, at 3.07%, was the lowest in a Freddie Mac data series that goes back to 1971. Its Housing Recovery Index also shows Seattle is among markets showing the greatest recovery.
