Why I Avoid Doing Market Reviews

Haven’t done a market review in a long time. The main reason for not doing one is market reviews being ultimately boring for anyone whom does not eat, breath and sleep real estate. It’s boring because there are no changes and everyone in the industry knows what the reports will look like even before our laptops spit them out at the beginning of each month. I doubt there are much news for anyone or what do you think about the Seattle Times headline last week; “Home prices have risen fastest in South Seattle, as citywide mediannears $820,000” or “Why is Seattle home inventory so low?” by Curbed.

We live in an area were the cost of housing is high and it keeps creeping higher month by month. Close to my house there is a home listed for over $2 million. When the current owner bought it less than twenty years back, it was listed for under $500K. Yes, a lot has been done to make this home the home it is today and it’s a truly beautiful property, but it’s also a great example of what has happened in the area in past years. It’s also the perfect explanation to why the property taxes are starting to be a true problem for many long-time homeowners in our area as many aging home owners suddenly find themselves sitting on multimillion-dollar properties instead of just a home. An easy fix would be to sell, but where does one go? Many potential sellers choose to stay for the fear of becoming a buyer.

I haven’t been posting market stats because I don’t necessarily see the value in them. I don’t have a solution to offer, I don’t see this ending anytime soon, and I don’t know how to solve the fact that we don’t have enough merchandise to satisfy our growing pool of buyers. I wish I did.

A healthy market is considered a real estate market where the inventory is about 4 to 6 months’ supply. Today, in most areas our inventory is less than a month’s supply of homes. An even bigger problem is that the supply of homes considered to be in the affordable range is even more sparse. This morning there are 8 homes listed under $1 million in Redmond. Five of those homes are listed below $700K, two are manufactured homes, and one is in a 55+ community meaning at least one of the owners has to be at least 53 years old. The remaining two are closer to 1,000 SqFt and in need of a remodel. So how do I make this look not scary? I wish I knew.

1.0 month supply for King County. 0.6 month supply for Redmond and Redmond/Carnation area (including unincorporated Redmond like Redmond Ridge, Union Hill, Ames Lake...)

All I have to offer is my I expertise, my knowledge and my skills to fight the battle against all the other buyers. There are ways around, ways like “magic letters”, being quick and knowing how to write a competitive offer. Please don’t get discouraged, it’s another week again and we’ll see what Wednesday and Thursday will bring about. Every week, there is a bunch of buyers finding their dream home, and every week there are buyers getting to buy that home.

Lately I have been previewing homes in the Tacoma area. The view above could be yours for less than $800K.