Sell, Sells, Selling - Sold

Our market is boring. Well, it’s scary for buyers, fast for sellers, and then it’s boring. And writing about the market is boring because I have no news. There is nothing exciting going on, and it is beginning to look like 2018 will just be a replica of 2017.

Top 5 statements:

The inventory is between slim and none as there is not much on the market.

Let’s look at it. How slim is it? Is it going to get any better later in the spring? Yes and no. Most likely though, spring won’t really change anything even if we were to have more inventory by numbers, as the pace of the cycle will stay the same.

To be exact, there were 538 homes listed on Seattle Eastside when December ended. Today the number is 481. Out of those 481, only 165 are listed below $900K. That is about a third of all the listings available. 17.7% of them land between $600K and $899K, and the median listing price is $1.2 million. Just to remind you, this is the entire Seattle Eastside we’re talking about, not just Bellevue-Redmond-Kirkland.

We will most likely have a slight improvement on Thursday, “listing day” and then it will go away again by late Tuesday as that’s how we tend to roll. Listings go out on Wednesday and Thursday, maybe some open houses during the weekend if the property has not sold yet, and by Wednesday morning the home has sold. Obviously, there are exceptions, but that’s how it works in general.

Almost anything listed between $600K and $900K sells lightning fast for the very reason explained above. Just think about it, how many potential buyers do we have per a home listed?

Past few weeks I have had a home sell before my clients had a chance to even see it, and let me tell you. These people were not dragging their feet. They were ready. They were able, and they were on top of it. But. Just. Like. That. Puff… it was gone merely hours after it was listed.

I have seen homes sell for prices that will make the most seasoned brokers raise their eyebrows. Prices that don’t follow the general rules of pricing a property, and yet they sell in just a few days, because it only takes one buyer that has stop caring, and just wants to find a home. It does not always make sense, the rules we play by have stopped making sense a long time ago and they are by no means fair.

It’s all very fast. So fast that it is overwhelming to those whom are just about to start. It’s unbelievable for those out of state. Sticker shock combined with the speed. You fall in love, but before you even have a chance to speak out your love it has already been taken.

And the prices keep climbing. We’ve been up about 18% since I started following the housing market, and it does not look like it’s gonna change anytime soon.

The problem is that we have not seen a normal market in a long time. I don’t think anyone even remembers what a normal market is. Lack of inventory will drive both prices and speed up whether we want it or not. It is not uncommon to see over 20 offers on the review date, nor is it uncommon to get a great offer an hour after the home has been listed.

The absorption rate hit 100% for the first time in March of 2015 and since then it’s been speedy around here. In 2016 the absorption of our inventory was over 100% for 9 months out of 12. In 2017 it was 11 out of 12. We obviously need to find a better way to measure, as our data is currently unable to keep up with the speed of the market.

Interest rates are up – supposedly. At least the Fed tries to keep pushing them up to change where we are at, but it hasn’t really done its trick yet despite it increasing the rates thrice in 2017. There is a rumor though, that by the end of 2018 the 30-year fixed will be touching 5% as the rates keep creeping up. With this being said, I do see more people going with an ARM instead of the 15 or 30-year fixed, and if you’re not looking for your forever home that’s not an entirely bad idea. Not at all.

Are you sleeping yet? I don’t think I have been able to give you anything off a value, as this is something that has not changed.

If I were a CPA, I would talk about the tax plan, but as I’m not, I will only refer you to your CPA to have the discussion. The questions to ask are: How will this affect me if I choose to sell my home? What about buying? How will this affect my monthly income? Is it going to grow or am I going to see a smaller paycheck? All of these questions are worth asking, and figuring out before making any decisions.