S&P CoreLogic Case Shiller recently released their Home Price Index for April 2018 and in news that won’t come as a shock to many, Seattle has now led the nation in home price growth for 20 months in a row, marking the second longest streak in the history of the entire index. At 13.1% year-over-year growth, the Emerald City showed impressive gains from March through April, with increases of 2.8 percent and 2.7 percent respectively, the first time the city has experienced back-to-back increases above 2.25 percent since May of 2013.
Read MoreMike Rosenberg of Seattle Times has launched “an occasional column that aims to take you deeper inside our housing market” by answering frequently asked reader questions that involve all things in Seattle real estate. He decided to kick things off with a question on many Washingtonians minds: “Why exactly are home prices skyrocketing so quickly here?”
Read MoreAfter a few years of staggering rent increases, single-family home rental prices in Seattle are leveling off, which Seattle Times predicts could bring more and more landlords to decide to list their homes for sale and benefit potential homebuyers (and renters). As the article outlines, approximately 1 in 6 single-family homes in the greater Seattle region is currently rented, and the last couple of years have seen dramatic decreases in what was once a burgeoning market for landlords. While “rents in local single-family homes rose a paltry 0.4 percent in February from a year ago,” landlords saw 4% increases last year, and “just two years ago, rents were soaring as much as 9 percent annually.”
Read MoreThe headlines over the past few months in the greater Seattle region have often felt like “stale news,” with housing prices continuing to increase as inventory dwindled and demand rose. Yet homebuyers received some welcome good tidings last week, as the latest Northwest Multiple Listing Service press release revealed that the number of homes available for sale actually increased in May. Puget Sound Business Journal reported on the news, writing that “the four-county metro area had nearly 10,500 new listings in May, 1,000 more than the same month in 2017.”
Read MoreThere was good news for Seattle-area homebuyers in the latest Northwest Multiple Listing Service Press Release, as April 2018 data revealed a slight increase in inventory. In all, “Northwest MLS brokers added 11,271 new listings to inventory during April, a gain of 6.3 percent when compared to March; and up nearly 5.9 percent versus a year ago.” Despite more homes on the market, just 6 of the 23 counties covered reported year-over-year inventory gains, and “King County was the only one in the Puget Sound region to notch a gain, up 13.6 percent from a year ago.”
Read MoreIn a recent real estate column in Seattle Times, reporter Mike Rosenberg asked a question on many minds: “Why are Seattle-area home prices so high?” At the most basic level, it all boils down to two factors: supply and demand.
Read MoreSeattle has now topped the nation in home price growth on the S&P/CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index for eighteen months in gains that are once again widening on a monthly basis. Despite slipping slightly last summer, February’s monthly increase exceeded January’s by 1.74 percent, representing an average price increase of 1% per month over the last twelve months.
Read MoreWilliam Hillis, RSIR's acclaimed Research Editor and Data Analyst, has assembled a year-over-year performance review of eight key counties and 29 regional markets, with trends to watch in 2018.
Read MoreI am pleased to present a look at the housing market trends for the first quarter of 2018, from the shores of Bainbridge Island's waterfront homes and in-city living opportunities to the Eastside's most distinguished residences.
Read MoreAccording to an article recently published by Bloomberg, home prices in San Francisco have continued to soar in the first few months of 2018, as the median sale price reached $1.6 million in the first quarter, “an almost 24 percent jump from a year earlier.”
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