Looks like Seattle has become a buyers market. It’s housing market is seeing an uptick in supply and length of time homes are available. It was recently announced by Seattle-based Redfin that the City is experiencing a larger housing cool down than any other US city. In addition, home prices could skyrocket in West Seattle after the bridge reopening.
While houses are decreasing in price, the median price for a home is still higher than last year in Seattle. In September 2021, the median sales price of a home in Seattle was $765,000; In September 2022, it was at $815,000. The cool down is being attributed to the high mortgage rates, inflation and economic uncertainty. Houses are on the market longer than they were in 2021. In September of this year, the housing inventory was about two months.
Homes are also decreasing their listing prices, allowing buyers more opportunities to negotiate. One expert said that back in April, they had two to three homes to choose from, now they have ten to twenty homes to choose from and that might allow them to get into their favorite neighborhoods.
On the other hand in the same city, west Seattle’s real estate market grew 10% during the 2.5 years that the bridge was closed. The West Seattle bridge reopened Saturday night to much excitement from thousands of residents who have been largely cut off from other parts of the Seattle metro for more than two years.
And while many businesses took a loss during the bridge closure, the real estate market was not a total loss. Veteran real estate agents said they were glad to see that the bridge closure had little impact on the housing market. Locally, King, Pierce and Snohomish counties are still up 5.1% as of September and that’s over 2021. Interest rates are now at 7% which is considered high.
