Published May 9, 2023
May Housing Market Update
The Spring market continues to heat up through April with more homes coming to market and homes selling much quicker than in previous months. Let's unpack the latest data:
INVENTORY... stayed steady in King County at just 1.3 months, though rose slightly in Snohomish county from March to April. These levels are still far below the 4-6 months we see in a 'balanced' market.
DAYS ON MARKET... the sustained low inventory is driving more activity and competition on each listing, which has driven down days on market by 3 days King County to just 6 days on market. In Snohomish County marketing time is down by 21 days to just 5 days which is as low as it's been over the past 10 years.
LIST TO SELL PRICE... the lower inventory and marketing time is directly affecting price ratios which are up 1% in King County, though down by 0.1% in Snohomish County. This is less than we saw this time last year, but higher than we saw earlier this year when they dipped to 96-97%.
MEDIAN HOME PRICE... is rising again after hitting lows in early 2023 rising 4.46% in King County and 2.20% in Snohomish County month to month, however we are still 10.83% (K) and 13.97% (S) below this time pricing last year. However, when reflecting back over 3 years, we're up 17.20% (K) and 26.48% (S) respectively.
MORTGAGE RATES... are up slightly from last month to 6.43%Around this time last year, we were in the middle of the major ramp up from 3% to the peak of 7.5% in late 2022.
WHAT'S NEXT
From what we're seeing in real time, we expect marketing time and inventory to stay low and list to sell price ratio to rise over the coming 2-4 months especially if we continue to see mid-6% interest rates. Month to month prices will continue to rise through the summer, though we'll still continue to see 'losses' in year to year numbers until late summer, early autumn this year.
The market condition will remain favorable for Sellers for the rest of 2023. It will be favorable for Buyers seeking to make a long term investment as prices will be better than they'll likely be in coming months and years, and interest rates will likely decrease into the 5% range in the coming years making refinancing and lowering housing costs possible. However, low inventory could make the Buyer experience challenging in the short term with less choice and more competition, which makes having an effective buying strategy incredibly important.
