Seattle Housing Market: September 2024 Analysis
The Seattle, WA metro area housing market in September 2024 presents a complex landscape with varying trends across different metrics. The Median Sales Price for homes in the region stands at $825,000, reflecting a slight decrease of 0.3% year-over-year. In contrast, the Median List Price has risen by 2.3% to $844,291, indicating a divergence between seller expectations and actual sale prices.
Price Per Square Foot metrics also show an upward trend. The median Price Per Square Foot has increased by 2.7% to $463.30, while the Median List Price per square foot has seen a more significant rise of 7.0%, reaching $497.68. This suggests that while sellers are optimistic about the value of their properties, buyers are exercising caution, leading to a modest decline in the sales price.
In terms of sales activity, the number of Homes Sold has increased by 1.5% year-over-year, totaling 2,778 units. Pending Sales have shown a robust growth of 10.9%, with 3,117 transactions in the pipeline. New Listings have surged by 11.0%, reaching 3,804, contributing to a substantial 24.5% increase in inventory, now at 5,566 homes. This rise in inventory has resulted in a 40.0% increase in the Months of Supply, now standing at 2.00 months, indicating a shift towards a more balanced market.
The Median Days on Market have increased by 5.0% to 17 days, suggesting that homes are taking slightly longer to sell compared to the previous year. The average sale to list ratio has seen a marginal decline of 0.1%, now at 99.8%, while the percentage of Homes Sold above list price has decreased by 2.6% to 29.3%. These figures highlight a cooling in the competitive nature of the market.
Price Drops have become more common, with a 1.8% increase, now affecting 35.3% of listings. Additionally, the percentage of homes going off the market within two weeks has decreased by 2.4% to 52.0%, further indicating a slowdown in the pace of sales.
Overall, the Seattle housing market in September 2024 is characterized by a mix of rising inventory and list prices, alongside a slight cooling in sales prices and market competitiveness. Buyers appear to have more options and negotiating power, while sellers may need to adjust expectations to align with current market conditions.
