Market Trends Around the Sound: Q1-2019
Data for the first quarter of 2019 has arrived and many of the fundamentals that marked the final quarter of 2018—such as mediating home price growth and an influx of inventory—continued into Q1-2019. The first quarter is an historically slower real estate sales season and while past years departed from seasonal trendlines, 2019 shifted back to it, with less sales, longer market times, and relatively steady year-over-year home prices.
SEATTLE SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES
Though the median sales price declined by just over 7% from the first quarter of 2018 to the first quarter of 2019, the average price per square foot held relatively steady. The number of homes sold likewise remained largely unchanged, falling by just 3.76%.
EASTSIDE SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES
Unlike other local markets, the median sales price on the Eastside increased slightly—by 1.7%—from the first quarter of 2018 to the first quarter of 2019. This gain came amidst higher inventory levels than the Eastside saw in all of 2018, at 2.4 months.
BAINBRIDGE ISLAND SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES
Inventory rose on Bainbridge Island in the first quarter of 2019, pushing into a neutral market, with 3.2 months of inventory. The average cumulative days on market was up slightly from the first quarter of 2018, at 67 days, yet remained much lower than the first quarter of 2017, when homes took an average of 83 days to sell.
SEATTLE CONDOMINIUMS
Sustained higher levels of inventory in the Seattle condominium market continued through the first quarter of 2019, which reported 2.8 months of inventory. The influx of options for condominium buyers has contributed to less home sales and lengthier market times, which reached just over two months in the first quarter of 2019, a markedly higher figure than the preceding two years.
