Seattle-area home prices soften as buyers hesitate
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Seattle's housing market is entering spring with more listings and softer prices, but many buyers still aren't biting.
Why it matters: Affordability has long been a top concern here, so it's notable one of the country's most expensive markets just saw one of the biggest home price drops among major metros, per recent REMAX data.
State of play: Active listings across Washington surged year over year in February, with most counties posting double-digit inventory gains, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS).
- Mortgage rates briefly dipped below 6% last month for the first time in years, but that didn't do much to boost sales.
- Closed deals still fell year over year, per NWMLS.
Zoom in: Single-family home inventory in Seattle jumped nearly 34% from a year ago.
- Median prices on those homes held relatively flat, but condo prices fell as sales dropped nearly 10%.
- The same pattern is playing out across King County, where listings are rising much faster than sales.
- On the Eastside, where the median price hit $1.4 million, listings surged nearly 50%.
Plus: More deals are falling through. Home sale cancellations around town have increased since last year as buyers have pulled back amid economic uncertainty, the Puget Sound Business Journal reported.
The big picture: What's happening here lines up with national trends. Zillow says home values across the U.S. are barely rising and more homes are sitting on the market longer.
Yes, but: The rich are still buying, often with cash, John Manning of REMAX tells us, and appropriately priced homes in desirable neighborhoods go fast.
- A roughly $1 million Beacon Hill home just got 15 offers within a week of hitting the market, per Manning.
- "But it's not a good thing when only the wealthy can buy houses," he says.
The bottom line: Hesitant buyers may have more on their minds than just costs, what with tech layoffs, high unemployment rates and larger geopolitical issues at play.