In January we forecast 2012 would be a strong year for Seattle metropolitan real estate with this post: http://justrealseattle.com/2012/01/predictions-for-2012/. Here’s what changed since last year:
- Inventory – decreased by 43%
- Sales – increased 26% compared to this time last year
- Values – increases in median prices by 12% in Seattle and 8% countywide (condos increased 16.6%)
In King County there is only 1.6 months of supply for the county overall and even less in the MLS areas covering the Eastside, north King County and Seattle. Here’s how to translate this info.:
>6 Months of Supply = Buyer’s Market
4-6 Months of Supply = Balance Market
<4 Months of Supply = Seller’s Market
Closed sales rose more than 33 percent in King County last month, led by the Eastside areas, which posted a 48.5 percent increase from a year ago.
Prices for homes and condos that sold last month in King County increased 19 percent compared with the same time a year ago, and rose 2.2 percent from September. The biggest gains occurred on Mercer Island (up 49.4 percent), Dash Point/Federal Way (up 46.7 percent) and Renton-Highlands/Kennydale (up 38.4 percent).
Very low inventory of available properties pared with historically low mortgage interest rates and pent up demand for homeownership are all factors contributing to growth in our local residential real estate market.
Will the low inventory trend be ongoing? What will come of our currently rock bottom mortgage interest rates? We’ll explore predictions for these questions and more next month.
