© Mariko Mitsui Real Estate

Volume 11 2017 Issue

K ey indicators for Western Washington
housing still rising, but brokers detect
slowdown and uncertainty

breweries (also ranked No. 1). Its weaknesses include lack of diversity
and small business growth. The No. 1 coolest city, according to Forbes,
is San Francisco. San Diego is third-coolest, New Orleans is fourth - andPortland, Ore., comes in fifth.

Early seasonal snow and questions swirling around the tax plan unveiled
last week by House Republicans could make the usual seasonal slowdown
more pronounced, say industry leaders from Northwest Multiple Listing
Service. For October, however, key indicators trended upwards.

B reakouts! – Residential SOLD Average
October 2017 (King/Snohomish/Pierce County) SOLD Average
Area (Area Code)Average $Average $2017 VS2016
4.91%

Oct. 2017

Oct. 2016

Auburn-Federal Way (110-310)$

384,868$ 366,859

Kent-Maple Valley (320-340)
West Seattle (140)$$449,824
644,877$ 404,167$ 589,918

Northwest MLS figures for the 23 counties it serves show members added
8,466 new listings to inventory during October, outgaining the year-ago
total of 7,575 by 11.8 percent. Buyers outnumbered new listings, with
10,586 of them having their offers accepted. That number of pending sales
was up nearly 8 percent from the same month a year ago.

SODO-Beacon Hill (380-385)$

665,338$ 525,319

9.32%
26.65%

E.lake-Madison-Capital Hill (390)$ 1,144,025$ 1,005,976

13.72%

Queen Anne-Magnolia (700)$ 1,082,368$ 974,644

11.05%

Ballard-Greenlake (705)$Northwest MLS data show 66 percent of single family homes sold so far
this year (Jan. - Oct.) in King County had selling prices of $500,000 or
higher.

North Seattle (710)$

Shoreline/Richmond Beach (715)$

For single family homes (excluding condos), the median sales price forlast month's completed transactions was $381,000. Within King County
prices are considerably higher. In Seattle, year-over-year prices jumped
17.6 percent, from $625,000 to $735,000. On the Eastside, the median pricefor a single family home rose 10 percent from a year ago, increasing from$768,000 to $845,000. Nevertheless, high prices did not seem to deter many
house-hunters.
Northwest MLS brokers reported 7,740 pending sales in the four-county
region (King, Snohomish, Pierce and Kitsap), bettering the year ago markof 7,487 mutually accepted offers. System-wide, pending sales increased
from the year-ago total of 9,805 to last month's total of 10,586 (up 7.97
percent).

Pending sales rose nearly 8 percent from a year ago, closed sales were up
5.2 percent, and prices jumped about 8.2 percent, with 14 counties reporting
double-digit gains. Even the number of new listings improved on the yearago total.

"With a large buyer pool for each new listing, we saw a higher percentageof new listings sell within the first 30 days of coming on the market," J.
Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate reported,
while also noting the seasonal change in housing market dynamics. "As weenter the winter market, the number of new listings being added will be inshort supply from now through February," he explained.
Compared to spring months, Scott expects volumes in the next few
months will be at 30-to-50 percent of spring totals. "The stage is set once
again for a frenzy housing market after the first of the year in the priceranges where there is a shortage of active listings for sale."
Market Activity Summary for October 2017
Listings
Single Family

New

Homes & Condos Listings

Total

Closing Sales
Pending

Active# of

Average

Closings

Price

Median
Price

King

3,088

3,108

3,533

3,174

$676,398$565,000

Snohomish

1,284

1,476

1,710

1,428

$450,057$415,000

Pierce

1,441

2,204

1,934

1,546

$341,741$309,000

Total

5,813

6,788

7,177

6,148

$489,399$429,667

Second Coolest City in America
Seattle is the second-coolest city in the country, according to Forbes
Magazine's list of “America’s Coolest Cities 2017” released lastmonth. The Emerald City's key cool strengths include its recreational
opportunities (ranked No. 1 in the nation), coffee shops and beer

11.30%$ 745,293

4.95%

852,138$ 680,010

25.31%

796,457$ 890,268-10.54%

634,153$ 518,657

22.27%

Bellevue Downtown (520)$ 2,704,921$ 1,943,661

39.17%

Mercer Island (510)$ 1,857,896$ 1,456,931

27.52%

Bellevue South-Newcastle (500)$931,319$ 961,574-3.15%

Renton Highlands-Downtown (350) $566,205$ 509,126

11.21%

Microsoft-Bellevue East (530)$ 1,052,090$ 830,630

26.66%

Kirkland Downtown (560)$ 1,296,874$ 1,059,399

22.42%

Redmond (550)$892,563$ 792,994

12.56%

Issaquah-Sammamish (540)$888,273$ 797,737

11.35%

Juanita-Bothell-Woodinville (600)$

768,709$ 691,628

11.14%

Bothell North-Mill Creek (610)$

668,487$ 575,151

16.23%

Edmonds-Lynnwood (730)$553,077$ 485,779

13.85%

Everett-Mukilteo-Snohomish (740) $456,809$ 410,996

11.15%*Belltown-Downtown Seattle(701) $782,195*Condominium SOLD Average

Mortgage Interest Reduction
A new article by Alan Rappeport and Thomas Kaplan for The New
York Times reveals multiple senators announce the new bill will keep
the current mortgage interest deduction cap at $1 million.
This is a change for the House tax reform bill, which would slash the
MID in half to just $500,000.
This plan will likely receive much more support from the housing
industry, which is currently united against the House tax bill. Housing
experts explained the House bill could cause inventory shortages inmany cities and be especially hard on areas such as California where
home prices are higher.

Gina Brown (NMLS#115337)
Mortgage Specialist /Mortgage Capital Associates
425-766-5408
gina@gmgloan.com
www.loansbygina.com

Weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®)
No vember 9, 2017
Regional Breakdown

Average Rates
Fees & P o ints
AP R

30-Yr
FNM A
3.75%

30-Yr
FHA
3.25%

15-Yr
FNM A
3.125%

5/1
A RM
3.25%

*All loans are wit h a one point originat ion f ee.

3.976%

4.512%

3.224%

3.322%** Owner Occupied / Single Family Residence
740 credit score and 20% down payment for conventional
640 credit score and 3.50% down payment for FHA