It’s a seller’s market in Washington state, with more demand for houses than a supply of ones for sale.
Seattle’s home prices, just behind Phoenix, have risen faster than any other city in the country, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index.
Initially, experts thought COVID-19 would tank the housing market, but that hasn't been the case.
“It’s been remarkably stable and almost a shining lighting in a very, very unique economy,” said Windermere Chief Economist Matthew Gardner.
Less people are listing homes in Washington.
According to Gardner, only 3,970 homes were up for sale in King County in September. That’s a 27% decrease from the same month in 2019.
In Snohomish County, it’s an even greater disparity with a 59% decrease in listed homes from the same time last year.
The lack of homes for sale has driven prices up.
“Very limited supply. Very significant demand,” Gardner said.
While Boeing’s announcement that 787 production is moving to South Carolina could cause people to move out of Everett looking for new jobs, Gardner predicts it might not be bad for the housing market.
“You’ve got almost one in three homes in Snohomish County that has more than 50% equity. So, they’re not going to walk away from that. They will sell, but I would argue there’s going to be more than enough demand from buyers to suck up that excess of supply,” he explained.
High housing prices in King County and the fact that many people are now working from home, has caused an influx of people moving out of Seattle to other areas with lower median home prices, like Snohomish County.
“If we do see more homes coming online which, quite frankly we need, I just don’t see it having a compressing effect rather, in terms of home prices,” he said.
The rise in home prices isn’t sustainable, according to Gardner, he predicts that rise will start slowing, we’re just not seeing it yet.
