In October of this year, Washington’s housing market began its usual seasonal shift toward the colder 4e quarter. Things looked particularly cool compared to last year, as there was a sudden burst of buying activity last October after the Fed finally started cutting rates.
In the Northwest MLS, closed home sales were 4% below last October’s total. MLS. Pending sales, which provide some signal about next month’s sales, fell 6% from the same period last year.
On the supply side, the flow of new listings remains approximately the same as last year, or only 4% higher. Finally, the month ended with 29% more active listings than last October, continuing the slowdown in inventory growth but still giving buyers more options than last year or the year before.
These higher inventory levels are starting to put some downward pressure on prices, which fell 2% to an average of $660,000 for October residential home sales.
Now I will take a closer look at the four counties that comprise the greater Seattle area.
Closed sales were down 8% from last October, although that month saw unusually high sales last year, especially in King County, where 2024 sales were up a whopping 33% compared to 2023.
Median sales prices were broken down: 4% higher in King; 9% higher in Kitsap; just 2% lower in Pierce, and 5% lower in Snohomish County. That could represent a continued trend of declining demand for the region’s employment hub, around Seattle and Bellevue, as new return-to-office policies take effect.
Looking ahead, pending sales fell 9% across the region, although King County’s sales decline once again looks somewhat like a mean reversal after a standout figure from 2024.
On the supply side, the four-county Seattle region had 31% more active listings than at the end of October 2024. That continues the moderation in inventory growth we’ve seen since May, when this metric peaked at 45% year-over-year growth.
Looking ahead, we’re entering one of the best times of the year for savvy buyers and their agents to find a bargain, and with much more inventory than even this time in the last two years. Whether they seize this opportunity will be evident from next month’s data!
#Local #Western #Washington #Housing #Update