Summer is in full swing and I was excited to be invited by the skipper of the boat I sail on in Duck Dodge (The Ignitor) to crew in Whidbey Race Week! I must admit we didn’t have much wind, but it was a lovely week with wonderful people. I hope you are also having a fun and enjoyable summer!

Once again we have data this month for the previous month (June) from Barbara Sanders, in our office, and Rainier Title. Following this year’s light blue line, we can see that active listings have still have been on the increase.

Pending listings peaked in May and showed a slight drop in June, while the absorption rate took a swing – up in March, down in April, up May, and even lower in June. The higher this number, the more of a seller’s market we have, while the lower tends towards a buyer’s market.

Through attending the weekly sales meetings in my office on Monday mornings, I have heard many brokers report higher days on the market and price reductions in more expensive listings.

As one might expect, there is a lot of action in certain price points such as the 300-500k range. Two listings I had scheduled open houses for went pending before the offer review date, as the sellers were so inundated with offers.

Taking the first offer can result in a lower price than waiting for all the offers to come in. It may seem confusing to a seller but the offers can be presented on a spreadsheet, which simplifies them (see below). This usually will get a better price for a seller.

Overpricing has been a bit of a trend in this seller’s market but tends to backfire as brokers and their buyers are very savvy. Overpricing generally brings a lower price in the long run than a properly priced listing.

Considering the above charts are for the whole of King County, I generated graphs in our Matrix program for active and sold numbers in Magnolia, Queen Anne and Broadview:

By the way, the multiple offer spreadsheet also works on the buying side – it is a good guide to what ducks one needs to have in a row for a strong offer. For example, many sellers will look at the lender as a partner in an offer wondering if the lender will be responsive to timelines. For this reason I recommend mortgage brokers I have worked with who are local. More likely than not, a local lender will understand what is going on in our market better than, say, a lender on the other side of the country. I had a situation where a buyer contacted a lender of a national institution on the front-end, but the person we ended up working with on the back-end was on the other side of the country and so didn’t know the local market. In that case we had to ask for an extension on closing (a bit scary in this competitive market).

Contact me for more information, I would love to help you buy a new home or sell your current home so that you can upgrade or downsize!

Appreciation Rates

On to the appreciation rates from Rainier!

Click here to see the reports! I’ve uploaded both the synopsis and the full reports for King, Puyallup and Snohomish counties. Many buyers are looking outside King county as prices are so high and the demand so great.

Thank you for reading; I hope you enjoy the great weather!