February 2020 NEWSLETTER
Greater Seattle Area Real Estate Updates & Insights

What's Valentine's Day without a little spat over who gets to play with the ball?

This year is turning out as interesting as ever in the real estate market. We've worked with several buyers already, and the competition is tough, even with highly qualified buyers putting down large amounts of cash. What's different is that the hottest part of the market is on the lower end value wise. Many buyers are seeking value investments, and we've seen all-cash buyers sweep in to overtake everyone else multiple bid escalation scenarios.

As we walk the dogs around the neighborhood, we continue to see "proposed land use" signs for town homes, row houses and apartment buildings. Growth is still gaining momentum. In fact, the highest rate of growth can be seen in the furthest areas of the area. We cover what we're seeing the data in this month's newsletter.

If you're new to our Newsletter, you can find past issues here. You can also sign up to receive alerts when we post to our blog on SettleInSeattle.com.

Happy Hunting (Houses, that is),

Vin & Candice

Check us out on Zillow!

Seattle Housing is Heating up Again

If you’re planning on purchasing a home this spring, it’s best to prepare yourself. Buyers are not waiting for the gloomy weather to clear out as larger numbers are shopping this winter than the last couple of years. The high demand has allowed brokers to reactivate the selling tactics of ’16 and ’17 with high pressure review dates putting bidding wars back in play. Historically low interest rates coupled with tight inventory and high demand is likely to present a challenging environment for buyers for the next few months.
The market is highly skewed in the Seller’s direction, especially in price ranges under $1M.

This chart highlights the months of inventory based on a range of home values. Inventory under the $1M mark has remained fairly steady with peaks in late '18 to early '19. There is much more volatility in the smaller group of multi-million dollar homes.

Growth Around the Metropolitan Area

Although the environment may feel like the mega boom years of ’16 and ’17, the pricing data is showing something very different. Those years posted double digit appreciation gains across Seattle and the East Side. So far, it’s a different segment of buyers that are fueling the market. The areas to the north and south of the city are greatly out-performing the pricey central and Eastside neighborhoods.

Although these areas were growing during the boom years; they were lagging the rest of the market. The catch-up in value for the farther areas of the greater region have some runway to continue increasing in value as buyers that can tolerate the commute seek value further away from Seattle. We should expect this to tide to linger as transit continues to improve and companies expand their shuttle services.

The appreciation percentages in the chart represent movement in value year over year from November - January 2018/2019 to November - January 2019/2020. The hot housing market has extended to Tacoma to the south and Marysville to the north. Hot homes that are priced to move are going in days and often with review dates, if they even make it that long. Buyers in these outer areas are now facing the same tough markets that were once reserved for Seattle and the Eastside.

In Closing...

There are many contributing factors that influence the real estate market locally, regionally and nationally. If you want to learn more about the topics covered in this month's Newsletter, feel free to reach out.

As always, our goal is to partner with you on your real estate decisions, whether buying or selling. We want to stand out in a crowded field by offering friendly & professional service that you can trust. The highest compliment we can receive is when customers recommend us to their friends. We appreciate referrals!

We’ll continue to share more insights into this developing period in the coming months. Stay tuned and don’t forget to reach out and drop us a line- even just to say hello!

Helpful Resources

If you are currently in a rental and are weighing the pros and cons of renter life vs. owner life, why not crunch the numbers with this Rent vs. Buy calculator from nerdwallet. It has numerous options to consider in your calculations.

Forward

Vin & Candice Cangialosi, Real Estate Brokers

North Pacific Properties, LLC

2224 Queen Anne Ave N

Seattle, WA 98109

V: 206.939.3778 | C: 206.595.9645

vin.candice@settleinseattle.com

www.settleinseattle.com