© Mariko Mitsui Real Estate

Volume 11 2020 Issue

A nxiety among home buyers “incredibly high”
as they vie for unpreceded shortage of homes
across much of Washington state“Finding and buying a home today is more difficult than at any time in thepast 40 years of my career,” was how broker Dick Beeson summed up thelatest statistics from Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
The Northwest MLS report recapping October activity showed a 40% dropin active listings compared to the same month a year ago, an increase of 16%
in pending sales (mutually accepted offers), and a year-over-year (YOY) jumpof nearly 30% in closed sales.
Beeson, the managing broker at REMAX Northwest in Tacoma-Gig Harbor,said he has never seen so many buyers needing to write multiple offers before
securing a home. “Interest rates are incredibly low. Inventory is incredibly
low. And anxiety is incredibly high among buyers,” he remarked.
NWMLS members added 10,428 new listings to the supply during themonth, improving on the year-ago total of 8,394 for a gain of 24%. In keepingwith the pattern of previous months, October’s 11,039 pending sales
surpassed the number of new listings.
“Yet again, the four-county area of King, Snohomish, Pierce, and Kitsap
counties broke the record for the month of October for the number of homes
going under contract,” stated J. Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO of John L.
Scott Real Estate. The MLS reported 7,934 pending sales for the four-county
region. A comparison of October pending sales dating to 2002 shows theprevious high of 7,740 occurred in 2017.
Area-wide the median price for last month’s sales of single family homes(excluding condos) was $515,000, a 20.2% jump from a year ago. For single
family homes and condos combined, prices rose by double digits in 21 of the23 counties in the MLS market area.
Scott noted the luxury market in the Puget Sound region also had recordbreaking sales for the month. Last month, NWMLS brokers notched 1,004
sales priced at $1 million or more in the tri-county area of King, Kitsap andSnohomish. That volume easily surpassed the previous high of 553 luxury
sales in 2019.
Condo shoppers are less pressured in some parts of the market. Systemwide, inventory is up about 5.4% compared to twelve months ago, aided inpart by the addition of 1,589 new listings during the month – a healthy 37.6%
YOY improvement. At month end there was about 1.5 months of supply.
Pending sales of condos jumped nearly 35%, while area-wide closingsnearly doubled from a year ago, rising from 950 transactions to 1,414. Prices
were up slightly more than 14%. The overall median price on last month’s
sales was $395,000. In King County, which accounted for nearly six of every
10 sales (58.7%), the median price was $459,970, which reflects a 19.5%
increase from this time a year ago.
Market Activity Summary for October 2020
Listings
Single Family

NewHomes & Condos Listings

Closing Sales

Total

Pending

Active# ofAverage

Closings

Price

MedianPricecompany Redfin, also found that average home prices shot up by morethan 14% nationwide in September over the same month last year - thesteepest increase ever recorded. In Seattle, the median home sales
price in September rose by 18.5% over the same month last year to$640,000. For the third month in a row, Tacoma also was the fastest
market in the nation, with half of all homes pending sale in just six
days, down from 16 days a year earlier.

B reakouts! – Residential SOLD Average
October 2020 (King/Snohomish County) SOLD Average
Area (Area Code)Average $Average $2020 VS

October 2020

October 20192019

Auburn-Federal Way (110-310)$

508,158$

440,789

15.28%

Kent-Maple Valley (320-340)$

583,247$

518,578

12.47%

West Seattle (140)$752,556$695,920

8.14%

SODO-Beacon Hill (380-385)$

741,794$

709,606

4.54%E.lake-Madison-Capital Hill (390)$

1,212,188$ 1,231,858-1.60%

Queen Anne-Magnolia (700)$1,152,588$ 1,360,246-15.27%*Belltown-Downtown Seattle(701)$

1,095,660$988,234

10.87%

Ballard-Greenlake (705)$908,648$

832,493

9.15%

North Seattle (710)$

1,017,949$ 1,000,663

1.73%

$

15.91%

Shoreline/Richmond Beach (715)$770,707

Bellevue Downtown (520)$

3,010,183$ 3,032,062-0.72%

Mercer Island (510)$2,122,288$ 1,834,254

15.70%

Bellevue South-Newcastle (500)$1,147,295$ 1,038,906

10.43%

Renton Highlands-Downtown (350)$744,974

Microsoft-Bellevue East (530)$1,276,920

Kirkland Downtown (560)$Redmond (550)$Issaquah-Sammamish (540)$664,909594,78925.25%$ 1,098,097

16.28%

1,739,164$ 1,389,706

25.15%

1,143,973$

957,11419.52%$

1,109,582$

961,458

15.41%

Juanita-Bothell-Woodinville (600)$

979,418$

838,141

16.86%

Bothell North-Mill Creek (610)$826,029$712,418

15.95%

Edmonds-Lynnwood (730)$

701,972$

640,113

9.66%

Everett-Mukilteo-Snohomish (740)$599,054$534,593

12.06%*Condominium SOLD Median

Record high delinquencies
Extremely serious delinquencies, those loans 150 days or more pastdue, reached historically high levels in August. Five months into theCOVID-19 crisis, Corelogic said the rate of delinquencies among thoseloans spiked to 1.2 percent, the highest level since at least January
1999, which we assume is the limit of the company's records.
CoreLogic said this surge was likely due to large volumes ofdelinquencies moving in tandem through the pipeline.

King

3,971

3,806

3,833

3,857

$853,099$685,000

Snohomish

1,626

844

1,761

1,734

$589,989$549,994

Gina Brown (NMLS#115337)

Pierce

1,614

986

1,786

1,619

$473,143$425,000

Senior Loan Officer

Total

7,211

5,636

7,380

7,210

$638,744$553,331425-766-5408
gina@gmgloan.com
www.loansbygina.com

Weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®)
November 12, 2020
Regional Breakdown

Average Rates
Fees & Points

30-Yr
FNMA
2.50%

30-Yr
FHA
2.75%

15-Yr
FNMA
2.125%

5/1
ARM-*All loans are with a one point origination fee.

Seattle price increase and fast selling Tacoma

APR

Home prices skyrocketed in September by more than 18% in Seattle,and Tacoma was the fastest-selling real estate market in the nation for
the third month in a row, a new analysis shows. The study, by real estate**** 5/1 ARM’s are not pricing right now due to liquidity issues
with the Forbearance due to COVID 19** Owner Occupied / Single Family Residence
740 credit score and 20% down payment for conventional

2.637%

3.016%

2.375%-