Brokers with Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported “plenty of buyers” competing for sparse inventory during November, which ended with a 7% year-over-year increase in pending sales. The volume of mutually accepted offers rose even more (9.2%)  in the tri-county Puget Sound region consisting of King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, with Snohomish leading that list with a jump of about 12%.

Median sales prices also jumped compared to both a year ago and to October. For November’s 7, 216 closed sales (which were up 5.5% from a year ago), the area-wide sales price was $434,900, a gain of about 10% from the same month a year ago. Compared to October, last month’s price on sales of single family homes and condos (combined) jumped 3.5%.

King County’s median price of $612,000 led all other counties, but prices there edged up just over a percentage point compared to a year ago.

November’s 7% increase in pending sales was the highest year-over-year gain for November since 2016. In 2017, the YOY figure was a modest 1.6%, while last year’s comparison showed a drop of more than 10%

Brokers could not replenish inventory to keep pace with demand.

MLS members added 5,437 new listings system-wide, far fewer than a year ago when they added 6,399 residential properties to the MLS market area that covers 23 counties. The imbalance between new listings and pending sales resulted in supply falling to 1.58 months, the lowest system-wide level since last December.

Brokers reported 11,366 total active listings at month end, down more than 28 percent from twelve months ago when there were 15,830 active listings. November’s selection was down about 21 percent from October.

Source: NWMLS 12/5/19