Summer of 2018 is upon us and the King County real estate market is showing a big increase in inventory. In fact, we haven’t seen this many single family homes hitting the market in one month since May 2008! The NWMLS reports that in May 2018 its member-brokers added 14,524 new listings throughout the region. As shown in the table below we see that 5,251 or 36% of the new listings added were in King County alone! The number of homes hitting the market in King County grew by about 1,000 from April to May. As you can imagine, King County also led the region with the most expensive average and median home prices in May, at $771,889 and $650,000 respectively. To compare home cost in King County to Snohomish County (the second most expensive county in the region), a home in King County on average costs 49% or $254,025 on average. Regionally we’ve seen about an 11% growth in home prices over the past 12 months, with the average price of a home rising from $378,475 to $420,000. Thanks to lots of action in King County the region saw a record $6.36 billion under contract in May! Here is a breakdown of how the top 3 counties performed in May:
| County | New Listings | Active Listings | Pending Sales | Closings | Average Price | Median Price | Months of Inventory |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| King | 5,251 | 3,562 | 4,176 | 3,194 | $771,889 | $650,000 | 1.12 |
| Snohomish | 2,157 | 1,421 | 1,833 | 1,427 | $517,864 | $478,615 | 1.00 |
| Pierce | 2,380 | 1,929 | 2,151 | 1,559 | $381,352 | $350,000 | 1.24 |
Source: NWMLS May Report
While the market appears to be shifting, there are many buyers out there who became tired of losing out to all cash, quick close offers and are eager to get back into the market. The NWMLS is currently reporting 1.44 months of inventory for the region to date in 2018. Months of inventory means how fast it would take all the current homes on the market to sell based on the average amount of time it has taken homes to sell over the past 12 months and assuming no more listings were added to the market. Industry experts say a balanced market will have 4-6 months of inventory. With as hot as a market as King County is, it fell below the regional average of inventory months at just 1.12. With buyers seeking close-by Snohomish County with more affordable pricing, it led the region with only 1.00 months of inventory in May.
Overall I’m happy with where the market is heading right now. With inventory up (King county is definitely leading the way here compared to the region) and price growth looking to slow down some, this is shaping up to be a more equitable market between buyers and sellers and I’m excited to see what the rest of the summer has to bring.
-Jennifer