© Mariko Mitsui Real Estate

Volume 6 2019 Issueand San Jose. According to Redfin, the rise in homebuyer interest islargely due to buyers being priced out of Seattle. The median sale pricefor a home in Seattle is $595,000, compared to $370,000 in Tacoma.

H ome Buyers Are “Better Off”, But
Market is Heating Up
The housing market in western Washington may not be as hot as it was last
spring, but it is heating up, suggested one industry leader in commenting on
the latest statistics from Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
Matt Deasy, president of Windermere Real Estate/East, Inc. said hisanalysis of single family home sales in King County reveals 7 out of 10
properties that sold during May had 15 or fewer days on the market. He also
noted more than half the listings (55 percent) in the county sold for at or
above list price, the highest ratio since July 2018.
Northwest MLS figures show last month's 12,006 pending sales across its
23 county service area nearly matched the year-ago total of 12,168 mutuallyaccepted offers. Nine counties notched increases.
Two other indicators of activity - the volume of new listings, and thenumber of closed sales - both showed slight gains from a year ago. MLS
member brokers added 14,689 new listings to inventory during May, up 165
units from twelve months ago. Year-over-year (YOY) closed sales rose about
1.6 percent (from 9,011 in May 2018 to last month's total of 9,153).
In addition to favorable financing, J. Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO ofJohn L. Scott Real Estate said, "Increased inventory and continued job
growth built on April's momentum, translating to strong results in May."
While inventory has increased in many areas, Scott noted there are stillsevere shortages of listings in some price ranges.
Inventory improved 24.5 percent from a year ago, with brokers adding
14,689 new listings to outpace the 12,006 pending sales. The MLS report for
May shows 16,133 active listings at month end, up from the year-ago total of12,956. King County recorded the largest gain in total inventory, at morethan 62 percent, but supply remained below 2 months in that and several
other counties.
"Home prices in the Seattle metro area are still lower than they were a year
ago, but only marginally," remarked OB Jacobi, president of Windermere
Real Estate, but added, "Thanks to the pretty significant drop in interest rates
last month, we can expect to see home prices trending higher through the endof the year, but at a far more moderate pace than the last several years.""We're in the midst of the four best months in the year for buyer activity,"
Scott emphasized. "I recommend sellers ensure their home's appearance,
marketing strategy and broker associate relationship are all in tip-top shape,"
he added.
Market Activity Summary for May 2019
Listings
Single Family

New

Homes & Condos Listings

Closing Sales

Total

Pending

Active# ofAverage

Closings

PriceMedianPrice

King

5,483

5,785

4,196

3,378

$785,368$645,000

Snohomish

2,157

2,052

1,725

1,396

$522,196$476,025

Pierce

2,347

2,000

2,081

1,470

$410,616$365,000

Total

9,987

9,837

8,002

6,244

$572,727$495,342

B reakouts! – Residential SOLD Average
May 2019 (King/Snohomish/Pierce County) SOLD Average
Average $Area (Area Code)May 2019

Average $2019 VSMay 2018

2018

Auburn-Federal Way (110-310)$

465,281$430,086

Kent-Maple Valley (320-340)$

512,385$

506,428

1.18%

West Seattle (140)$754,479$

790,512-4.56%$

702,949

1.65%$ 1,334,612-10.10%

8.18%

SODO-Beacon Hill (380-385)$

714,528

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

1,199,808

Queen Anne-Magnolia (700)$

1,192,579$ 1,278,611-6.73%*Belltown-Downtown Seattle(701)$734,509$872,686-15.83%

Ballard-Greenlake (705)$892,595$

943,069-5.35%

North Seattle (710)$991,996$969,095

2.36%

Shoreline/Richmond Beach (715)$

727,184$

789,027-7.84%

Bellevue Downtown (520)$

3,332,638$ 2,969,142

12.24%

Mercer Island (510)$

2,063,642$ 2,058,014

0.27%

Bellevue South-Newcastle (500)$

1,076,828$ 1,103,799-2.44%

Renton Highlands-Downtown (350)$

671,501

700,331-4.12%

Microsoft-Bellevue East (530)$1,031,765$$ 1,144,962-9.89%

Kirkland Downtown (560)$

1,540,007$ 1,459,621

5.51%

Redmond (550)$

1,019,635$ 1,049,261-2.82%

Issaquah-Sammamish (540)$929,425$

977,978-4.96%

Juanita-Bothell-Woodinville (600)$878,057$

860,704

2.02%

Bothell North-Mill Creek (610)$731,135$

763,506-4.24%

Edmonds-Lynnwood (730)$

631,677$

635,331-0.58%

Everett-Mukilteo-Snohomish (740)$

526,755$

535,794-1.69%*Condominium SOLD Average

G oldman Sachs says the Fed won’t cut
rates this year
“Although it is a close call, we still expect the FOMC to keep thefunds rate unchanged in the remainder of the year,” says Jan Hatzius,the bank’s chief economist.
Chairman Jerome Powell said last week the Fed will “act asappropriate to sustain the expansion.” Goldman said it was not astrong hint of an upcoming cut.
The fed funds futures market is pointing to a nearly 70% chance of arate cut in July and about 60% probability of three rate cuts this year,
according to the CME FedWatch tool

T he hottest housing market in U.S. - Tacoma
Tacoma is currently the hottest housing market in the United States,
according to a report released late May from real estate brokeragecompany Redfin and reported by KOMO news. Half the homes in thecity 35 miles south of Seattle sold within two weeks in May, with thetypical home finding a buyer in a little more than a week. Redfin alsosays Tacoma was left with just 1.3 months supply of homes as of thefirst week of May. The lowest supply in the country. Almost half of theTacoma homes sold for the four weeks ending May 19 sold above theasking price, more than any other metro except San Francisco, Oakland

Weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®)

Gina Brown (NMLS#115337)
Senior Loan Officer
425-766-5408
gina@gmgloan.com
www.loansbygina.com

June 10, 2019
Regional Breakdown

Average Rates
Fees & Points
APR30-Yr
FNMA
3.625%

30-Yr
FHA
3.25%

15-Yr
FNMA
3.125%

5/1
ARM
3.875%*All loans are with a one point origination fee.

4.689%

4.384%

3.613%** Owner Occupied / Single Family Residence
740 credit score and 20% down payment for conventional
620 credit score and 3.50% down payment for FHA

4.009%