Seattle Real Estate Fall Market Update 2023
Seattle mortgage rates drop and new listings surge
Mortgage rates in Puget Sound have been high over the last few years, but it appears that may be changing. With inflation cooling, mortgage rates finally dropped in August to 6.47%, the lowest rate across the prior 15 months. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell also suggested last week that the central bank will cut rates in September, which would likely have an impact on mortgage rates. The Fed will be meeting on this matter September 17th and 18th.
These anticipated interest rate cuts offer prospective buyers hope, although there’s no guarantee of how low rates will drop and for how long. The current average rate for a 15-year fixed rate mortgage loan is on the lower 5% range, while the 30-year fixed rate mortgage stands in the upper 5%, and any drop to these rates would make home buying more affordable.
Puget Sound's NWMLS listings surge
NWMLS brokers added 8,941 new listings to the database in August 2024, an increase of 9.7% compared to August 2023 (8,152). The five counties with the largest increase in the number of new listings added to the NWMLS database last month were Ferry (+83.3%), Douglas (+45.5%), Pacific (+43.4%), Clallam (+34.7%), and San Juan (+28.1%).
The number of closed sales remained virtually unchanged year-over-year (6,727 in August 2024 compared to 6,734 in August 2023). 15 out of 26 counties saw an increase in the number of closed sales year-over-year, while 11 saw a decrease. The total dollar value of closed sales in August 2024 for residential homes was $4,922,153,308 and was $497,416,449 for condominiums, an increase of 4.7% when compared to August 2023.
A balanced market is considered to be 4 to 6 months by most industry experts. At the current rate of sales, it would take a little over two months (2.30) to sell every home that is active in the NWMLS inventory. The six counties with the lowest months of inventory in August 2024 were Snohomish (1.41), Kitsap (1.61), Thurston (1.7), King (2.08), Pierce (2.08), and Skagit (2.23).
We are here to help you make sense of all these changes and opportunities. Feel free to reach out at any time to discuss goals and strategies. I’m here to help!