Home prices in the Seattle area continued to rise in June, with an increasing real estate inventory and continued demand from home buyers. While the number of active listings has finally increased this month, the total crop of available homes is still fairly low at just around 2 months of inventory.
King County Median Home Prices
Real estate values in King County rose to a median home price of $385,000 in June. This was a 2.3 percent increase over May's home sales. Compared to June of 2012, median home prices have risen 11.6 percent, a striking turnaround for a market that had seen more than five years of stagnant or declining prices.
In the city of Seattle, prices rose 0.4 percent in June, a modest gain but still significant because of the continued streak of appreciation for the year. Year-over-year, home prices in Seattle are up 8.4 percent, a healthy gain in any market. The median home sale in Seattle for June was $408,990.
Some of these median price increases have to do with true appreciation of real estate values in the greater Seattle market, while a portion has more to do with category shifts. More people are buying larger homes, and more luxurious homes, than were in previous years. The amount of actual value increase that individual homeowners are realizing is likely somewhat less than the 11.6 percent figure we see across the entire market
Interest rates have been rising, which will affect some buyers' ability to purchase as we head into the summer, but for right now that just seems to be causing more motivation. Buyers who understand the ramifications of higher interest rates on their buying power are moving aggressively to close homes quickly.
© SeattleHome.com: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor
State Director, Washington Association of Realtors
Coldwell Banker Seattle: Coldwell Banker Danforth & Associates
Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Google + | Sam (at) SeattleHome.com
Source: NWMLS Stats - The Northwest Multiple Listing Service did not compile or publish this information.
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