Seattle weekly wrap-up: last big bump of new listings before summer slowdown?
With nearly 400 new listings last week it was a busy week for sellers and their listing agents trying to steal buyers’ attention away from summer. Proving not all buyers are out-of-town, buyers put 200 listings under contract. So demand recovered from the 4th of July slow down, but will likely trend, at or below, 2019 levels. And with the number of new listings outpacing the number of homes going under contract, expect pricing to continue to soften. In fact this week a third of Seattle listings had a price drop. And just yesterday we negotiated a seller down nearly 7% with a long close and lots of contingencies for one of our clients. If you’ve been on the fence about buying, you might be surprised by what we can negotiate. Plus rates have been fairly steady in the high 5s for a 30-year fixed even with the talk of a larger fed rate hike (good reminder: the fed doesn’t directly control mortgage rates). Though most buyers in Seattle use jumbo financing which is in the high 4s for a 30-year and savvy buyers get the seller to pay down their rate for them (oh how the tables have turned!).
I have too many browser tabs open with all the hot new listings this week! (My favorite part of sending the newsletter is finally getting to close them all and yes, I’m looking forward to new listings slowing down so this newsletter gets shorter.)
The most striking is this $4.75m waterfront Bainbridge Island midcentury that sits on free-standing concrete platforms supported by single pillars. Other homes that caught our eye, a $6.2m view home in Magnolia, an Olson Kundig remodel of a Capitol Hill home, a net-zero home by Dwell Development, a $2.6m Fauntlee Hills modern, a $2m Leschi townhome, a top-floor loft at Trace, and a brand new $2.35m home on Phinney (the DADU will cost you an extra $800k.) We also listed a standalone contemporary for $1.3m that grosses nearly $100k a year on Airbnb.
Finally, need a pool? Enjoy summer in-style with either of these mid-centuries – $1.5m in Wedgwood or $1m in Crown Hill. Or here’s a sweet waterfront 60s home on Whidby. This Sandy Hook home also has potential.
