Home sales have fallen 19.3% compared to this time last year while a new report finds prices have started to drop in our area.
The report from Redfin sees median home prices in the Seattle and Tacoma areas are still significantly higher than last year, but they are unchanged the past month in Tacoma and down 3.1% in Seattle.
Mike Ferreri with Windermere Real Estate’s Seattle-Wedgewood office says available inventory is increasing, so interest rates aren’t necessarily a factor since it’s clear mortgage rates are going to hang at 5-to-6%. Ferreri says, “A lot of the sudden rise in interest rates often affect things such as car loans, credit card loans and what you would call a ‘HELOC’ – a home equity loan, which has a shorter term.”
Ferreri also says sellers aren’t fielding dozens of offers that come in well over asking price as they have for years, so they have to do the work to sell. “They know they’re going to have to do more than just put their house on the market, take the money and run,” Ferreri says, “To get to where they ultimately want to be, they need to be engaged in the entire process and be ready to negotiate with buyers.” Ferreri says it’s still a seller’s market, but available inventory, the number of homes on the market, is growing and is expected to keep growing, so buyers will increasingly find that ability to negotiate. That doesn’t always mean a reduced price, Ferreri says, but the ability to negotiate things like closing costs or when something comes up on a home inspection report.
Ferreri says what we’re seeing is a market stabilization, and he expects buyers to continue to gain some advantage after summer wraps up, people come back from vacation and home sales ramp up for the fall.
