Home prices ticked up in October
It turns out that I was wrong last month when I wrote that "the selling season is behind us for 2019." Despite a slow September, October was a HOT little month! We saw more bidding wars in October than we'd seen since the spring. In fact, our clients lost out on this house in Seaview (West Seattle) when two other offers snuck in during the first weekend and drove the price up 6% beyond its (already high) list price!
We also received multiple offers on this West Seattle listing we sold in just two days, and heard a handful of similar stories from colleagues who listed homes around the same time.
With higher pending sales in October, we should see one more strong month of closed sales data before things slow down for the holidays. All in all, 2019 has been a breath of fresh air compared to recent years: rates have continued to drop throughout the year, while home prices are basically flat.
Read on for October market data and to see what else we've been up to! HAPPY THANKSGIVING! :)
October Market Data
The median sale price of single-family homes in Seattle increased to $750K in October, up slightly from the same period last year and, notably, up 3% from September's median of $730K.
Market times dropped to just 11 days on average in October, down from August and September and down 8% year-over-year. This is likely just a result of the looming seasonal slowdown. We noticed more bidding wars in October than we'd seen since the spring market.
There were 10% fewer homes for sale this October than the same period last year, which led to a hotter October than we were expecting. It was a surprisingly good month to be a home seller.
Pending sales were up nearly 30% year-over-year, getting back to the same level we saw back in March. You can expect November's sale data to look strong knowing most of these sales will close this month.
What we're reading
The Washington State Supreme Court upheld Seattle's first-come, first-served law, which requires landlords to accept the first applicant who meets their published requirements (https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/washington-state-supreme-court-upholds-seattles-first-come-first-served-law-for-renters/). Landlord aren't thrilled.
Cash is still king. A Redfin report finds that a cash offer is three times more likely to win in a bidding war (https://www.redfin.com/blog/win-bidding-war-on-house/).
From 2010 to 2018, Seattle’s rate of car ownership saw the biggest drop among big U.S. cities — by far. The Seattle Times took the opportunity to use the awful pun, "Car-less in Seattle" ;) (https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/data/seattles-rate-of-car-ownership-saw-the-biggest-drop-among-big-u-s-cities-by-far/).
Facebook lands another huge office lease in Bellevue as part of its Seattle-area expansion. Geekwire points out that Facebook currently employs around 5,000 people in Seattle, but "Using conventional office space ratios as an estimate, Facebook’s future capacity in the area could be somewhere north of 20,000 people." (https://www.geekwire.com/2019/facebook-lands-another-huge-office-lease-bellevue-part-seattle-area-expansion/)
On the blog: Landlord 101
It's been a couple of years since I first wrote this post for DIY landlords, but it was time for an update!
Clients often ask me for advice on being a landlord, so I've put together a summary of what I've learned from managing rental properties. This is not intended to replace the expertise of a property manager or attorney. If you don't have time to manage your own property, hire a professional! But if you want to save money and you understand the legal risks, here are a few pointers to get you started. Read more...
Thanks for reading!
Best,
Chad