Buyers are still buying, and homes are being sold as fast as they come on the market. We had 332 new listings since September, well above the 238 in August. While interest rates still low, they have been creeping up from 3% to the 3.25% range. Jumbo loan rates are pretty stable, below 3%. Rates are still in the buyers’ favor.
Approximately 50% of homes are selling over the asking price. Those that sell over asking typically sell for about 9% to 10% of list price. When homes are priced at the market value we don’t typically see as many multiple offers, or high escalations with those offers.
Steve and Sandra review the other market numbers this week and discuss how to correctly price your home and the strategy involved to get the maximum return.
-Steve & Sandra
𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠, 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠, 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙/𝑡𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒! 𝑊𝑒’𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝!
Video Transcript:
Steve:
So the stats are in for September and sellers are definitely back. Hi everyone, it’s October 11th and it’s time for our bi-weekly Market Update for Northwest Seattle. We had 332 new listings in September, which was well above the 238 we had in August. Buyers have not gone anywhere, they are keeping up with new listings which is why inventory levels haven’t gone up. Mortgage interest rates for conforming loans have been creeping up from 3% in mid September to about three and a quarter percent as of Friday. Jumbo rates though have remained pretty stable at under 3% with conforming rates rising the fear of even higher rates may be more motivating buyers even more.
Sandra:
Well if I was a buyer out there that would definitely be motivating me.
Steve:
Yes.
Sandra:
Yeah, for sure. So, one thing that we’ve really been noticing over the past several weeks is that on average approximately 50% of listings sell for over their asking price. And those that do sell for over asking typically sell anywhere right around nine to 10% above their list price. And in the past two weeks, 52% of sold listings did sell above their asking price at eight and a half percent above. So the number of homes selling above their list price has definitely been coming down. In June about 50% of the closed sales were above asking and then they sold for about 13% over their list price. And in September only 47% of homes sold above asking, on average 10% above their list price. So, yes our market is slowing down a little bit, this is really typical for this time of year. However, another reason that the number of above asking sales are down is because brokers are getting much better at pricing their listings closer to the true market value.
Sandra:
So when homes are priced at the market value, we don’t typically see as many multiple offers or high escalations with those offers. And this may be disappointing to sellers who are expecting multiple offers. This is why it’s really important that as brokers, we educate our sellers of the true market conditions and definitely set expectations from the beginning.
Steve:
That is right. And this is why we try to stress to sellers that you may or may not receive multiple offers on the review date and even more important, never list your home for less than you are willing to sell it for, because what happens if you only get one offer?
Sandra:
Right. And while multiple offers are down it’s definitely a great time to be selling. You have little competition, interest rates are amazing and buyers are super excited about buying. It’s pretty much the triple crown of real estate.
Steve:
That’s right Sandra. Hey everybody, thank you for watching, we hope you have a great couple of weeks and we’ll see you again in two weeks and don’t forget to like this video and subscribe to our channel.
