According to the latest NWMLS Market Update, September ended with 2.56 months of supply of single-family homes and condos system-wide. Despite supply remaining below the 4-to-6 month gauge of a balanced market, it is the highest since February 2015 when 3.56 months of inventory was reported.
King County also continued to see an increase in inventory with a 78 percent year-over-year gain. At the end of September, it recorded 2.83 months of inventory. This is the first time King County has exceeded two months of supply since January 2015.
The other Puget Sound-region counties reported increases in supply as well. Compared to 2017 Snohomish County is up from 1.26 months to 2.18 months; Pierce County is up from 1.58 months to 2.01 months; and Kitsap County is up from 1.46 months to 1.93 months.
The increase in supply isn’t due to a surge in the number of homes coming onto the market; rather, homes are sitting unsold for a longer period of time than we’ve seen over the past year.
SPIRE Condominiums
Condo inventory is up nearly 70 percent from a year ago, however it remains low at 0.34 months of supply available area-wide. This should ease as a number of new high-rise projects downtown have been announced, including: First Light, SPIRE, Third + Virginia, and The Emerald.
After seeing double digit price increases for quite some time, home prices were up about 5 percent from 2017, from $381,000 to $400,000; However, they are down $15,000 (3.6 percent) from August and $25,000 (5.9 percent) from this year’s peak in June.
The four-county Puget Sound region’s median is up 5.8 percent from a year ago to $455,000. King County’s median is now $610,000; Snohomish County is $458,197; Pierce County is $345,000; and Kitsap County is at $355,000.