The inventory of homes for sale has always been a leading factor for home prices in national real estate markets. When inventory contracts to a breaking point and there just aren't enough homes for sale to supply the number of home buyers in the market, prices naturally rise. That seems to be what is beginning to happen in many parts of Seattle and the Eastside.
While we've started to see small price increases in many neighborhoods, the Seattle market is continually making national lists for inventory decreases. The latest report from Realtor Magazine showed Seattle with a 34% drop in inventory over the past year, and just 46 days as the median age of inventory. This is actually a larger metropolitan area being used including parts of other counties. If we took statistics specifically from Seattle and close-in Eastside cities, those numbers would be even more dramatic.
From Realtor Mag:
Home inventories of for-sale listings continue to fall, which may help raise overall housing prices as demand picks up.
Inventory of for-sale single-family homes, condos, townhouses, and co-ops dropped by 18.85 percent in April compared to a year ago, according to housing data of 146 metro markets tracked by REALTOR.com.
“These key indicators continue to suggest the housing market may be at a turning point and headed towards a broad-based recovery,” REALTOR.com notes in a release on its April housing data. “Lower inventories, combined with faster moving markets and relatively stable median listing prices are indicative of the kind of balanced housing market that has not been seen in many years.”
On a national basis, the median age of inventory dropped nearly 12 percent year-over-year. The median age of inventory dropped by the highest percentages in the following metro areas:
1. Oakland, Calif.
Median age of inventory: 20
Year-over-year drop: 54.54%2. Miami
Median age of inventory: 41.08%
Year-over-year drop: 763. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Median age of inventory: 36.19%
Year-over-year drop: 674. Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash.
Median age of inventory: 46
Year-over-year drop: 34.28%5. Pensacola, Fla.
Median age of inventory: 33.33%
Year-over-year drop: 106
© SeattleHome.com - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Coldwell Banker Danforth
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