© Mariko Mitsui Real Estate

Volume 12 2018 Issue

more. Trulia finds that Bellevue has the highest percentage in theH ome buyers have “Window of Opportunity” orregion of “Million Dollar Neighborhoods” where more than half theｗwith shift to more Balanced Market
homes are worth $1 million or more. Other cities noted with at least
With more plentiful inventory, recently announced increases in lending
limits, and moderating prices, prospective home buyers are finding more
options around Western Washington, according to industry experts fromNorthwest Multiple Listing Service.
House hunters have a much bigger selection than a year ago. Northwest
MLS figures for the 23 counties in its report show the year-over-year
volume of inventory rose from 11,193 homes and condos to 15,830. The
increase in active listings represents a gain of more than 41 percent.
Members added 6,399 new listings to inventory last month, up from 6,098
for the same month a year ago.
King County registered the biggest gains, with active inventory surging
135 percent from a year ago. The number of single family homes more thandoubled from a year ago, rising from 1,879 to 4,020, while the condo
selection more than tripled, jumping from 355 active listings twelve months
ago to last month's total of 1,221.
"Months of inventory is still slim compared to historical norms,"
emphasized Mike Grady, president and COO of Coldwell Banker Bain.
Using this metric, both King County and the Northwest MLS market area
overall have 2.3 months of supply. While supply is improving, it's still well
below the 4-to-6 month level industry analysts use as a gauge of a balancedmarket.
The surge in supply is not yet reflected in sales during this typicallyslower holiday season. Pending sales for November were down 10.4 percent
from a year ago. Thirteen of the 23 counties in the report registered drops inpending sales versus a year ago. Compared with October, mutually accepted
offers fell 17.5 percent. That was less than the falloff in 2017, when thevolume of pending sales from October to November shrunk by 21.5 percent.
Closed sales declined about 15.3 percent from twelve months ago, with
13 counties reporting double-digit drops. Year-over-year prices still rose(up 4.2 percent overall). Ten counties had double-digit appreciation in their
median sales price for single family homes and condos (combined).
J. Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO at John L. Scott Real Estate, expects
slightly higher unsold inventory between now and February "for the firsttime in years, instead of a market that's virtually sold out." Describing 2018as a "transition year" from an extreme frenzy market to a "strong" housing
market, he predicts the holiday backlog of buyers will start searching inJanuary. "We will experience a strong/surge housing market in the spring,which will taper off to a strong market for the remainder of 2019."
Market Activity Summary for November 2018
Listings
Single Family

NewHomes & Condos Listings
King

2,196

Closing Sales

Total

Pending

Active
5,241

2,467

# ofAverage

Closings

Price

Price

$715,067$605,000

2,258

Median983

2,086

1,160

1,019

$498,377$450,000

Pierce

1,036

2,186

1,308

1,207

$374,775$337,000

Total

4,215

9,513

4,935

4,484

$529,406$464,000

SnohomishMillion Dollar Neighborhood
Seattle now ranks 10th among U.S. metro areas for percentage of homes
worth $1 million or more, according to a newly-released study by Trulia.
In 2018, 13.3 percent of all homes in the city are worth at least seven
figures, up from 11.8 percent last year. The median house price stands atjust under $565,000, Trulia says. We're still a far cry from the Bay Area
though, where 81 percent of homes in San Francisco are worth $1 million

one million-dollar neighborhood are Kirkland and Shoreline.
Nationally, the share of homes worth $1 million or more has doubled
since 2012 from 1.5 percent of all homes to 3.6 percent today.

B reakouts! – Residential SOLD Average
November 2018 (King/Snohomish/Pierce County) SOLD Average
Area (Area Code)Average $Average $2018 VS

Nov. 2018

Nov.2017

2017

Auburn-Federal Way (110-310)$

414,547 $386,547

7.24%

Kent-Maple Valley (320-340)$

507,510 $449,099

13.01%

West Seattle (140)$721,571 $654,225

10.29%

671,839 $SODO-Beacon Hill (380-385)$643,568

4.39%

E.lake-Madison-Capital Hill (390)$1,121,541$ 1,160,774-3.38%

Queen Anne-Magnolia (700)$

1,167,453$ 1,213,018*Belltown-Downtown Seattle(701)$766,163 $

887,019-13.62%

Ballard-Greenlake (705)$810,769 $838,067-3.26%

North Seattle (710)$913,201 $

855,682

6.72%

Shoreline/Richmond Beach (715)$

810,190 $

714,449

13.40%

Bellevue Downtown (520)$

2,550,750$ 2,518,427

1.28%

Mercer Island (510)$

2,158,945$ 1,670,305

29.25%

Bellevue South-Newcastle (500)$974,098$ 1,046,139-6.89%

Renton Highlands-Downtown (350)$630,073 $Microsoft-Bellevue East (530)$

Kirkland Downtown (560)$Redmond (550)$913,861 $827,965

10.37%

Issaquah-Sammamish (540)$964,351 $

857,248

12.49%

Juanita-Bothell-Woodinville (600)$

877,125 $

799,613

9.69%

Bothell North-Mill Creek (610)$706,049 $695,473

1.52%

Edmonds-Lynnwood (730)$590,302 $553,281

6.69%

Everett-Mukilteo-Snohomish (740)$484,510 $478,371

1.28%-3.76%

623,477

1.06%

900,893$ 1,062,680-15.22%

1,387,096$ 1,157,836

19.80%*Condominium SOLD Average

U pcoming Fed Meeting:On Friday we had the last jobs report before the Federal Reserve
Board meets again next week to consider whether to raise interest
rates one more time in 2018. Market analysts were pegging theprobability of a hike at close to 80%. The volatility in the stock andoil markets did not seem to sway market analysts much with regard tofeeling that the Fed would back off. With the jobs numbers out, theprobability of a rate hike initially trended lower, but was still greaterthan 70%.
Weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®)

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

December 14, 2018
Regional Breakdown

Average Rates
Fees & Points
APR30-Yr
FNMA
4.75%

30-Yr
FHA
4.25%

15-Yr
FNMA
4.125%

5/1
ARM
4.25%

*All loans are with a one point origination fee.

4.895%

5.221%

4.372%** Owner Occupied / Single Family Residence
740 credit score and 20% down payment for conventional
620 credit score and 3.50% down payment for FHA

4.390%