Eastside weekly wrap-up: two weeks of buyer/seller parity?
Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you’re all spending time with family while you’re reading this!
The last two weeks look a bit strange in this market as we’ve seen near parity in the number of new listings and pending sales across the Eastside. Last week, 87 new listings hit the market and buyers put 84 homes under contract – the prior week we had 94 new listings and 92 pending sales. This comes on top of two-plus weeks of stable mortgage rates as noted by Matt in his Seattle wrap-up (we’re currently at 6.64% for 30-year fixed rate loans as I write this). It seems like the drop and then stability in rates have gotten a few buyers off the sidelines to buy a home before the end of the year.
Even though we’re trending below the levels of the three previous years (broad layoffs in the tech sector are having an impact for sure), it’s a good sign to see balanced buyer activity with seller activity. However, both sellers and buyers will tail sharply off through the end of the year in line with seasonal demand but we’re also expecting January to be quite slow. Some clarity on how deep the Amazon cuts will be in Seattle will put folks on hold as well as waiting for signs of an improving stock market.
For those keeping track at home, we also set a record for the longest stretch in November with no rain which was an excellent opportunity to clean my gutters and hang Christmas lights. Last year it was pouring when I did both! It’s a good idea to take a peak in your gutters after the high winds we had a couple of weeks ago. Just be safe climbing those ladders!
The only home to catch our eye this week was a $12M West Bellevue home custom built in 2021. Sitting on Lake Washington Blvd, you’ve got west-facing views and lots of windows to enjoy them!
Let us know if you want to game plan buying or selling in 2023! Our last Zoom home buying class of the year is on December 6th or shoot me an email to set up a coffee chat: [email protected]
