Seattle home sellers aren't getting 100% of their asking price
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Signs of a cooling market persist in Seattle, where metro-area home sales were down 28.5% over last year, according to the latest RE/MAX report.
What's happening: Homes across Seattle sold in August for 98.6% of the asking price, the real estate company found. This time last year, homes were going for 104.3% of the list price.
Driving the news: Seattle had a bigger year-over-year decrease than most places when it came to this market indicator — known as the close-to-list price ratio — per the RE/MAX National Housing Report for August.
- If that number is above 100%, the home closed for more than the list price. If it's less than 100%, the home sold for less than the list price.
Zoom out: The average close-to-list price ratio of all 51 metro areas in the report was 99%, down from 102% a year earlier, RE/MAX found.
Catch up quick: A big chunk of Seattle home sellers dropped their asking price in July.
What they're saying: "Buyers in the Seattle area thought the summer home market was about to turn in their favor," as prices appeared to fall and competition seemingly eased, said John Manning, owner and managing broker of RE/MAX On Market in Seattle.
- "At the same time, rising interest rates coupled with lower technology stock prices sent a chill through the housing market," Manning told Axios.
The latest: As consumer expectations adjusted, buyers re-entered the market only to find almost no available homes for sale, Manning said.
- New listings in August fell 20.4% from July, and inventory declined 8.5% in that same period, per RE/MAX.
The bottom line: While Seattle's real estate market has shifted, buying a house isn't necessarily easier.