Inventory continues to improve as it increased 24.5 percent system-wide from a year ago according to the latest NWMLS market update. Across the NWMLS there was 1.76 months of supply at the end of May which is still below the 4-to-6-month gauge of a balanced market. King County’s inventory was up more than 62 percent; however, it remains below two months along with the other Puget Sound counties: Snohomish, Pierce, and Kitsap.
In Seattle, the median price of a single-family home was down 5.4 percent from a year ago to $784,925. Meanwhile, the Eastside saw its median price go down 3.3 percent to $928,800. Despite their decreases from a year ago, prices were up slightly from April.
In Pierce County, the median price was up just over 4 percent to $365,000. As residents are increasingly becoming outpriced of Seattle and seeking more affordable neighborhoods, other cities are seeing an uptick in prices. Tacoma has become a popular destination for priced-out Seattle homebuyers. A recent report by Redfin shared that the Tacoma had overtaken Seattle as the hottest housing market in the country in several key metrics in the week ending May 19.
At that time, nearly half of the homes sold in Tacoma went for more than asking—compared to 37.8 percent in Seattle, and 23.8 percent nationally. Moreover, the median Tacoma home was on the market for 8 days, the shortest period in any U.S. metro, while home prices were up 6 percent from May 2018.
