March was a great month overall with 82% of listings selling for a median of 21% above list price. Prices shot in rapidly in the last quarter and are now facing headwinds from rising interest rates and stock market woes. 

We have started to see a reduction of number of offers on properties. The market is very price sensitive right now and buyers are gravitating to properties that check all of their boxes and little to no drawbacks. Properties that are priced fairly are seeing price escalations with multiple offers. However I can’t say the same for all properties. Overpriced, less desirable locations, poor layouts, deferred maintenance or updates are getting less attention. 

Inventory in March was almost double of the month prior and with more options, buyers are willing to be patient. We have not seen a reduction of demand, but with interest rates 1% higher buyers are being cautious.

We live in a pretty special area and supply is still so far out of balance with demand that it will take a long time to fill all of the new buyers entering the market. 

Here are some facts to explain the rapid increase in demand:

• There is currently 16.4MM square feet of commercial space under construction in downtown Bellevue
• Amazon has committed to 6,332,000 sq ft in eight projects for about 30,000 employees
• Meta (Facebook) has committed to 1.8 million sq ft in Bellevue’s Spring District
• Microsoft is completing 17 new buildings which will house an additional 8,000
• employees
• Google is adding 1.65 million sq ft in Kirkland on a new campus