If the past few months is any indication of how the summer will play out then you can count on it being hot and dry. Oh, and I don’t mean the weather.
Below is the Trendgraphix homes data for the last 15 months in King County. It shows an incredible lack of inventory and the trend is getting worse for buyers.
Where the time between January to June in 2014 showed a 42% increase in inventory, over the same time period in 2015 there was just a 28% increase. Current inventory levels are approximately the same as last April. That is to say, that June 2015, a summer month, when inventory is virtually always strong, currently looks like it last did in April of 2014, before the season got started.
Imagine all those crazy NASA pictures of the California drought floating around Facebook but for available houses.
There were 1000 less homes available in June, 2015 compared to June 2104, a 25% decrease, and at the same time there were 400 more houses sold over that same period- a 15% increase.
Anybody want to say what price does when shrinking supply meets increasing demand?
With the current crisis in Greece destabilizing the world markets, and creating a flood of new interest in bonds thus keeping the interest rates lower for time being the pressure to buy remains steady. Couple that with a strong job market and the other fundamentals that make Seattle an attractive market I can’t see where enough inventory could come from that would alleviate this kind of pressure in the short term.
My team has focused on finding off market properties for our buyers, having placed 3 families in homes that we found by door knocking in the last 60 days. Point is, finding a home in King County will take some creativity.
Sellers and investors will find it hard to lose in this environment – smoke ‘em if you got ‘em as they say. – but don’t underestimate the value of a smart marketing plan and an experienced realtor when selling in this environment. Many buyers are removing themselves from the market, having been burnt by one too many bidding wars. An accomplished listing agent can help create a marketing plan to attract the maximum number of possible buyers.
While we have experienced something of a softening in our listings, right now that means going from multiple offers within 3 days to selling at full price in 10. We are seeing more and more homes coming to market daily so watch for our updates in July and August – I hear a record breaking El Niño is brewing off the coast of California – maybe the same is brewing for our housing market? Stay tuned….
Aaron Hendon | Broker
Christine & Company
M: 206.280.3312
F: 206.547.1837
aaron@hendonhomes.com
1307 N 45th Street, Suite 300
Seattle, WA 98103
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