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Seattle’s home prices have traditionally been very high relative to other centers across the state of Washington, and tight inventory is one of the driving factors behind this.
Here’s a look at Seattle’s current housing inventory situation and how it could impact buyers looking to buy in Seattle in 2024.
According to reports, the Seattle metropolitan-area housing market is one of the tightest markets in the country in terms of inventory. The number of active listings has declined year-over-year, leaving fewer homes available for Seattle homebuyers.
Related: Seattle housing forecast
Over the past year, housing inventory has been on a decline in Seattle. In fact, data suggests that inventory in the area is nearly at a two-year low. Year-over-year, supply in the Seattle Metro Area and surrounding King County is down, with factors such as high interest rates and economic uncertainty influencing the situation.
Last year at the same time, inventory in Seattle was much higher, which put a damper on soaring price gains and actually caused the average home price in Seattle to decline. This is precisely what happened from mid-2018 to mid-2019 when prices in Seattle went from a peak of $787,000 to $741,000. Over the last three years, however, prices have been climbing back up.
Supply is particularly tight in the lower price range, where demand is a lot stronger.
Right now, there is barely a one-month supply of available homes for sale in Seattle and surrounding King County, and single-family home supply (not including condos) is sitting at an inventory level of barely a month’s worth. Other counties are seeing similar inventory crunches, including Snohomish and Pierce Counties.
The tight inventory can explain why Seattle home prices are starting to pick up speed in terms of appreciation. Prices in Seattle are now averaging $850,272, according to Zillow, as of October 2024.
Among the largest metro areas in the US, Seattle’s real estate market recently saw a sharp decline in available housing inventory, and the situation seems to continually tighten in 2024.
Changing inventory conditions had a cooling effect on home-price appreciation across the metro area last year, but things have shifted gears. We’re starting to see signs of this already. Affordability continues to be an issue in Seattle, even during the lull in prices a couple of years ago.
And now that prices are starting to pick up again, the situation will be even more of an issue from an affordability standpoint.
A shortage of supply is one of the key reasons why home values in the area rose so much over the past three years or so. Housing demand far exceeded the available supply, and so prices shot up.
And after a brief blip in home price declines from mid-2018 to mid-2019, home price appreciation has picked up speed once again. According to Zillow, home prices in Seattle have increased 3.1% over the past year.
While prices in Seattle have increased over the past year and were expected to continue on an upward trajectory into the remainder of 2024 and into 2025, there is now some uncertainty over the market.
While it’s still possible that home prices will continue to increase over the next 12 months, the current health crisis could be a major influencing factor. Only time will tell where things are headed into the near future.
Mortgage interest rates have been quite high over the past year and are currently sitting at 6.44%. However, if home prices keep appreciating, it still could be a good time to buy a home in Seattle. It’s still a seller’s market, however, and pockets must be deep to get a home in high-demand neighborhoods in Seattle.
Will you need mortgage financing to buy a home in Seattle, WA? We can help. Sammamish Mortgage has been serving buyers across the Pacific Northwest since 1992. We offer a wide variety of mortgage products and programs with flexible qualification criteria for borrowers across Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Colorado. Visit our website to get an instant rate quote or 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.