© Mariko Mitsui Real Estate

Volume 7 2018 Issue

B rokers Seeing “Simple Economic
Recipe for a Softening Housing Market”
Home buyers around many parts of Washington state had more choices
and less competition during June, prompting some industry leaders tocomment on "a feeling of change in the market.“"Inventory is up and demand has dropped," reported Robert Wasser, anofficer with the board of directors at Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
That combination is "a pretty simple economic recipe for a softeningmarket," he added in commenting on the latest MLS statistics.
Figures for June show a 5.2 percent improvement in the number of activelistings system-wide, coupled with drops in the volume of pending sales(down 8.4 percent) and closed sales (down .07 percent) compared with ayear ago. Despite the shift of some indicators favoring buyers, prices areawide continued to rise, increasing more than 10% from twelve months ago.
NWMLS brokers added 13,153 new listings to inventory during June, adrop from both a year ago when they added 13,658, and from May when
14,524 new listings were added. With new listings outgaining sales, total
inventory as measured by active listings and months of supply improved.
"Although still a quick response market, with more new listings comingon the market during the summer months, we experienced dispersed buyer
energy due to the greater availability and selection," stated J. Lennox Scott,chairman and CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate. He estimates sales activity
is off 15-to-20 percent for each new listing's first 30 days on the market.
"Now through October will be the best time of year for homebuyers," heremarked.
Of the 29 map areas the MLS tracks within King County, six areas,including Queen Anne/Magnolia and most sub-areas of the Eastside,reported median prices topping $1 million for sales of single family homes
and condos that closed during June.
Despite the overall gains, buyers might be cheered by one notable figure:The median sales price of a single family home (excluding condos) in KingCounty fell from May, at $726,275, to June, a $715,000, for a drop ofnearly 1.6 percent. That May-to-June decline hasn't happened since prerecession, noted MLS director Wasser, owner/broker at Prospera Real
Estate in Seattle.
The softening was evident in the four-county Puget Sound region wherepending sales (mutually accepted offers) were down nearly 11 percent froma year ago. Last month's 8,052 mutually accepted offers in King, Kitsap,
Pierce and Snohomish counties was the lowest total for June since 2014.
Wasser agreed. "It's still a seller's market out there, but I'm seeing signs ofa more balanced market on the horizon," he stated.
Market Activity Summary for June 2018
Listings
Single FamilyNewHomes & Condos Listings

Closing Sales

Total

Pending

Active# ofAverage

Closings

Price

MedianPrice

King

4,896

4,503

3,830

3,502

$784,396$650,000

Snohomish

1,995

1,831

1,652

1,526

$518,242$485,000

Pierce

2,082

2,227

1,982

1,772

$382,928$346,975

Total

8,973

8,561

7,464

6,800

$561,855$493,992

hosting the headquarters of Amazon. Seattle's 2016 GDP per capita
of $86,889 was the fourth-highest among the 40 largest metro areas,
and its third-quarter 2017 average weekly wage of $1,445 was thethird-highest in the nation.

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

June 2018

June 2017

Auburn-Federal Way (110-310)$432,242 $

401,481

2017
7.66%

Kent-Maple Valley (320-340)$501,472 $

453,157

10.66%

West Seattle (140)$713,953 $

682,284

4.64%

SODO-Beacon Hill (380-385)$

663,426

13.97%

E.lake-Madison-Capital Hill (390)$1,377,679$ 1,087,370

26.70%

Queen Anne-Magnolia (700)$1,394,099$ 1,144,130

21.85%*Belltown-Downtown Seattle(701)$

853,854 $

710,278

20.21%

Ballard-Greenlake (705)$937,346 $

820,00814.31%

North Seattle (710)$

966,518 $

904,667

6.84%

756,135 $Shoreline/Richmond Beach (715)$

650,146

33.53%

Bellevue Downtown (520)$

2,845,050$ 2,446,812

16.28%

Mercer Island (510)$

1,946,392$ 1,904,033

2.22%$ 1,076,561

6.20%

868,130 $Bellevue South-Newcastle (500)$Renton Highlands-Downtown (350)$

1,143,324

596,885

8.51%

Microsoft-Bellevue East (530)$1,240,428$ 1,039,45719.33%

Kirkland Downtown (560)$

1,658,358$ 1,315,558

26.06%

Redmond (550)$647,699 $956,521 $942,146

1.53%

Issaquah-Sammamish (540)$964,385 $

872,522

10.53%

Juanita-Bothell-Woodinville (600)$

889,132 $795,220

11.81%

Bothell North-Mill Creek (610)$723,013 $640,54212.88%

Edmonds-Lynnwood (730)$

616,270 $

574,996

7.18%

Everett-Mukilteo-Snohomish (740)$524,743 $

467,440

12.26%*Condominium SOLD Average

T he way homeowners are treating equity
This month's Mortgage Monitor Report from Black Knight, Inc. isagain about equity, but this time with a twist regarding the way
homeowners are treating it. The company says that the tappableequity held by homeowners increased by $820 billion dollars over the12 months that ended in March, $380 billion in the first quarter of2018 alone. Those numbers equate to 16.5 percent growth year-overyear, and 7 percent for the quarter.
It was the highest single-quarter increase recorded by Black Knight
since it began keeping records in 2005.
Still Borrowers are leaning towards doing a cash out refinance vs. aHELOC due to the increasing prime index.

Gina Brown (NMLS#115337)

Weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®)

F ourth-strongest Economy in the Nation

Mortgage Specialist /Mortgage Capital Associates

July 12, 2018

A new survey ranks the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area as having thefourth-strongest economy in the nation. The new report, by Business
Insider, ranked the strength of the nation's 40 largest metropolitan areas
based on five criteria: unemployment rate, average weekly wage, job
growth rate, gross domestic product per capita, and GDP growth rate.
According to the report, Seattle's economy has been supercharged by425-766-5408
gina@gmgloan.com
www.loansbygina.com

Average Rates

Regional Breakdown

Fees & Points
APR30-Yr
FNMA
4.375%

30-Yr
FHA
3.875%

15-Yr
FNMA
3.75%

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

4.439%

5.021%

3.892%** Owner Occupied / Single Family Residence
740 credit score and 20% down payment for conventional
620 credit score and 3.50% down payment for FHA

3.962%