For the past two weeks Sellers in SW Snohomish have had a more robust market than Sellers in NW Seattle. It looks like Buyers did not get the memo that they were supposed to start Buying after the holiday weekend! Contracts were down 31% in NW Seattle and down 32% in SW Snohomish. One of the reasons the SW Snohomish market fared better is because new listings were down by 17% from the previous two weeks and in NW Seattle they were up by 5%. The higher listings and lower buyer activity caused the overall inventory in NW Seattle to go up by 15%. However, now that summer and the holiday is over, Buyers will most likely get more focused on Buying again.
You’ve probably heard on the news that mortgage interest rates are the highest they’ve been since June 2001. Wow…2001 feels so long ago! The Internet was just starting to become mainstream and in June 2001, 9/11 hadn’t happened yet and here we are today on the 22ndanniversary of this tragedy. So many things have changed since then – we went through the great recession and survived a global pandemic. Things have changed drastically in our real estate markets too. In June 2001, the average sold price was $317K in NW Seattle and $1,093K in June 2023, and in SW Snohomish the average was $246K in June 2001 versus $986K in June 2023. Yes, income is higher today. From what I can find online, in King Country the average income was just under $46K in 2001 and in 2021 it was just over $108K.
While yes, some Buyers have had to remove themselves from the market because higher interest rates have priced them out of the market, Buyers have been remarkably resilient and have adjusted to the current rates. There are many factors that influence mortgage rates. The two main influencers are the bond market and mortgage-backed securities and the spread between these two. The New York Times has a good article titled Why Are Mortgage Rates So High and How Long Will They Stay Up? from August 26th. Most economists predict that interest rates will not be returning to our historic lows, but they do expect rates to come down and may possibly be closer to 6% next Spring. Both Buyers and Sellers will welcome this!
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!
STEVE HILL
Broker | REALTOR® | Luxury Advisor | Premier Director
CELL 206-769-9577
SANDRA BRENNER
Managing Broker | REALTOR® | MCNE | SRS | CRS®
CELL 206-271-7100
WINDERMERE REAL ESTATE / FN
12250 Greenwood Ave N
Seattle, WA 98133
MAIN 206-367-4720
brennerhill.com
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