Every couple days we hear something new about how crazy the Seattle housing market has become. Here's the newest stat.
Back in March, Redfin reported that the median days on market for Seattle-area homes was checking in at three weeks, way quicker than average. The expectation was that this number was only going to shrink.
That expectation has proven true. Redfin's latest numbers show that the Pacific Northwest can't keep homes on the open market to save itself.
Portland and Seattle were the fastest markets, with half of all new listings selling in 8 days or less.
Months of supply was lowest in Seattle at 1.2, followed by Oakland and Denver at 1.3.
That second number is the one that's really at the heart of all this. Seattle-area inventory is down 10.9 percent from the previous year, which already wasn't all that healthy a market for buyers to begin with.
The median sale price in Seattle has also crept up to $429,950, which is an 8.7 percent increase year over year.
Redfin shared a story from local agent Karlyn Goetz in their press release:
"I recently helped a couple of buyers in Oakland win a bidding war in Upper Queen Anne by being prepared and acting fast. On a Friday night, they received an Instant Update alerting them that the home had hit the market. They couldn’t make it into town that weekend, so we did a video tour of the home on Saturday morning and presented an offer after an open house on Sunday when the sellers said they’d begin reviewing. The sellers accepted the offer that day, which was only possible because my clients were well prepared, both with documentation from their lender and having considered in advance how far they were willing to go in terms of price and other conditions to win a home in this neighborhood."
Redfin also points out that there is very much a West Coast thing going on. The nation's biggest gains year-over-year homes sales are happening in the West.
How was the West won? With low inventory and staggering home prices.
· New Listings Fell Nationwide in April as Home Sales Declined in the West [Redfin]
· Seattle-Area Median Days on Market is Down to Record Levels [CS]