June was only just a little less hot than May, at least as far as the area’s real estate market was concerned, according to a new report.
Sales of King County houses and condos were up 14 percent from a year earlier, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported Wednesday. That’s a lot, but less than May’s increase of more than 19 percent.
New listings and slightly lower sales boosted the county’s inventory of homes for sale to 1.7 months (that’s how long it would take to sell all the homes listed at the current sales pace), up from 1.5 months in May. That’s still down from 2.4 months of inventory a year ago and way below the 6 months generally considered the balancing point between favoring buyers and sellers.
Pending sales — which don’t all close, but can be the best indicator of recent activity — rose 10.4 percent from a year earlier, compared with a 6 percent increase in May.
“I’ve never seen the in-city market so stressful for buyers, because there is such intense competition on anything priced well,” Mike Skahen, the just-retired owner/designated broker at Seattle’s Lake Co. Real Estate, and a 37-year market veteran, said in a listing service news release.
Skahen gave as an example a Wallingford listing priced around $650,000. which drew 14 offers and 12 pre inspections (conducted so buyers can waive inspection contingencies).
“Often, buyers are even waiving financing (continencies) and risking low appraisals where they have to make up the difference in cash,” he said.
Mike Gain, president and CEO of Prudential Northwest Realty Associates, added: “We desperately need more properties to sell to satisfy the current demand.”
Gain and others said rising interest rates are spurring buyers to act now.
The median price of a King County house that sold in June was $427,500, up 12.5 percent from a year earlier and 2.4 percent from May. The median condo price was $244,950, up 11.3 percent from a year earlier and 4.2 percent from May.
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