Your Seattle Real Estate Market Update

How is the Seattle real estate market doing? I’ll go over everything homebuyers and sellers need to know today.

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The No. 1 question I get from everyone out there is, “How is the Seattle real estate market?”

This is the first of many videos I’ll share about real estate. I’ll cover things like market updates, buyer tips, seller tips, and more.

So, how is the market doing? The answer really depends on whether you are a buyer or a seller, as each are facing very different scenarios.

Everyone knows that the Seattle market is booming. Seattle has led the nation in price appreciation for 15 straight months with an average appreciation rate of 12.7% year over year.

For the Seattle area, the average sales price is $650,000. That’s including condos. If we look at single-family homes alone, the average sales price is $750,000.

Homes spend an average of eight days on the market before going under contract, and we’re seeing a list-to-sales price ratio of over 100%. The average ratio for the Seattle market is 101.5%, and the average ratio for our clients is 108%.

What do all of these numbers mean for you?

If you are a buyer, the market is going to be extremely competitive. Recently, we’ve seen situations where clients have bid against 13 or 17 other offers. That’s because we have ridiculously low inventory right now. However, as the weather gets better, inventory should increase, as more sellers tend to put their homes on the market in the spring. So buyers, hang in there!

If you are a seller, it may seem like you can just put your home on the market, wait for offers to come in, and collect your cash. That’s not necessarily the case.

You may be leaving money on the table if you’re not taking the proper steps to prepare your home for sale. Some of our recent clients have made small investments up front in order to get a bigger return on their home sale. These include small updates like a fresh coat of paint, updated flooring, new appliances, updates to the kitchen or bathrooms, and landscaping. These simple things can get you a 4x or 5x return on investment.

It’s also important that you hire an agent who knows what it takes to generate excitement, create a frenzy, and get you a bidding war.

Each of our recent clients was able to get $25,000, $30,000, or $50,000 more than they expected by following those simple tips.

If you have any other questions about buying or selling in our current market, just give us a call or send us an email. Also, if there are any real estate topics that you would like to know more about, send them in and we’ll answer with a video.

We look forward to hearing from you!