Seattle area home values at their highest point ever, report says

Home values in the Seattle metropolitan area are at a record-breaking high, according to a report last week by real estate and rental listing service Zillow.

They place the Seattle area’s median home value at $420,200—Zillow tells us that’s the highest it’s ever been. For Seattle alone, that jumps to $624,700.

The report notes that the Seattle metro area’s home values are among the fastest-rising in the country, with an 11.2 percent increase for February 2017 compared to February 2016. American home values as a whole, the report says, are at their highest point since the peak of the housing bubble in 2007.

These rising home values come hand-in-hand with a tiny inventory. Zillow reports a 10.5 percent inventory drop since this time last year in the Seattle metro.

The 23 Western Washington counties covered by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) saw a 25 percent drop in the same time period. Condo inventory took an especially big hit with a 33.2 percent drop.

In King County alone, NWMLS saw a 14.1 percent spike in home values.

The rise in home values coupled with a lack of inventory is consistent with what’s happening on a micro level Downtown, as the lowest-priced condos are being driven the highest above asking.

Monthly rent is, as usual, on the rise too, per Zillow’s report, at 7.2 percent year over year. Their rental index, which aggregates all units in their system, available or not, places typical Seattle metro rent at $2,100.

• Homes in short supply as home shopping season kicks off [Zillow]
• Seattle Home Prices & Values [Zillow]
• Housing Inventory Reaches Record Low [NWMLS]
• Affordable Downtown Seattle condos are getting competitive [CS]