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Thinking of getting into the Seattle real estate market in 2023? If so, you’ll want to be as informed as possible about the market and what steps to take to ensure a successful transaction and a great deal. Read this guide to gain some valuable tips about buying in Seattle.
Do you plan to buy a home in Seattle sometime in 2023? If so, we have an important Seattle house hunting tip for you: Be prepared for competition, but also consider this a great time to buy based on relatively low mortgage interest rates that are expected to inch up this year.
Recent reports from a number of sources indicate that the Seattle real estate market is still very competitive, as we head further into 2023. Competition among buyers still remains high.
Plus, home prices are on the rise in Seattle, which means home prices will be more expensive in a few months compared to where they are now. That’s because local housing inventory is well below what is considered to be a “balanced” market.
Related: What to expect from Seattle’s Eastside housing market?
Home buyers entering the market this year should be prepared to act quickly and decisively due to a high level of competition. This is one of our top house-hunting tips for Seattle home buyers in 2023.
When it comes to supply and demand, a “balanced” housing market is generally defined as having five to six months of supply. But regional MLS officials recently reported that the Seattle area has barely one month worth of inventory right now.
That’s essentially the situation in surrounding King County as well. Overall in Washington State, the situation isn’t that much better with about a 0.43-month supply worth of available housing, including in Snohomish, Pierce, Kitsap, and Thurston.
This brings us back to our #1 house-hunting tip for Seattle home buyers. Anyone planning to buy a home in the area during 2023 should be prepared for a high level of competition, due to an imbalance between supply and demand.
So what does “prepared” mean, exactly? For one thing, buyers should have their financing arranged before entering the Seattle real estate market. For cash buyers, this means having bank statements to show that the funds are in the bank. Home buyers using mortgage loans should get pre-approved before house hunting, to increase their competitiveness.
(In a related article, we’ve covered the importance of mortgage pre-approval when house hunting in Seattle.)
Home buyers should also be familiar with current real estate market trends, including recent sales prices within the area where they want to buy. This will help you make a strong and timely offer, when you find a home you wish to purchase. Use websites like Zillow and Realtor.com to research recent sales prices in your desired neighborhoods.
In Seattle, the average home price is currently $834,356 as of March 2023, according to Zillow. That’s a decrease of 2.2% from the same time last year.
Mortgage Rates Are Still Low But Are Inching Up
As you may know, the interest rate charged on your mortgage has a direct impact on the overall cost of the home loan. And right now, mortgage interest rates in Washington are relatively low. Right now, the rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is 6.27%
Prices are expected to increase, so you will likely be seeing lower prices today for homes than you will in the near future.
You can also prepare for your house-hunting experience by downloading our exclusive and highly informative e-book, the Seattle Home Buying Guide.
This 23-page guide offers insight into the current real estate market, and provides a wealth of tips relating to house hunting, mortgage loans and more.
Best of all, you can download the Seattle home buying and house hunting guide for free, to start reading it immediately. Click here to get your copy.
Sammamish Mortgage has been serving home buyers across the Seattle metro area for more than two decades. We are a family-owned company located in Bellevue, Washington. We offer highly competitive rates on a variety of mortgage products. And, as you can see, we go to great lengths to educate our customers!
In this tutorial, we discussed the importance of getting pre-approved before house hunting in Seattle. We can help you with this as well. Please contact our knowledgeable staff to start the pre-approval process, or with any financing-related questions you have.
Will you need mortgage financing to buy a home in Seattle? We can help. Sammamish Mortgage has been serving buyers across the Pacific Northwest since 1992. We currently lend in all of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Colorado and offer a wide variety of mortgage programs and products with flexible qualification criteria. Please contact us today with any financing-related questions you have.
Whether you’re buying a home or ready to refinance, our professionals can help.
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No Obligation and transparency 24/7. Instantly compare live rates and costs from our network of lenders across the country. Real-time accurate rates and closing costs for a variety of loan programs custom to your specific situation.