Posts in Market Update
Seattle Leads Nation in Home Price Growth for 20 Consecutive Months

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.

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Why Are Home Prices So High?

Mike 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?”

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Slowing Rent Increases Could Bring More Landlords to List Single-Family Homes for Sale

After 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.”

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Quantity of Homes For Sale in King County Increases After Years of Shortage

The 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.”

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April Home Sales Data Reveal Rising Prices & a Rare Inventory Increase

There 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.”

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Seattle Tops the Nation in Home Price Growth for 18th Consecutive Month

Seattle 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.

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The 2017/2018 Market Report: Year End Review & Trends to Watch

William 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.

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Market Trends From Around the Sound: Q1-2018

I 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.

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Record-Breaking Price Gains in San Francisco As Median Home Price Reaches $1.6 Million

According 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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