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The NWMLS report covering 26 counties, shows a Year Over Year increase in new listings of single family homes and condos (up about 5.5%) and a jump of more than 16% in closed sales, rising from 5,074 transactions to 5,896. The median price for last month’s sales ($483,250) surged 14.3% from the year-ago figure of $422,750. Pending sales grew slightly from last year (less than 1%) but were up 7.4% from December.
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Source: NWMLS 2/4/21
Spokane-Spokane Valley is expected to be a “top 10” market during and in a post-COVID environment, according to the National Association of Realtors®, which made the prediction as part of last month’s second annual Real Estate Forecast Summit. It was the only area within Washington state to make the list.
In addition to demonstrated resilience, NAR considered a variety of indicators deemed to be influential for a metro area’s recovery and growth prospects. The factors for the “top 10” list included unemployment rate; net domestic migration, including movers from expensive West Coast areas; share of workers in retail trade, leisure and hospitality industries; mobility to retail and leisure places; and the fraction of the workforce working from home.
“Some markets have been performing exceptionally well throughout the pandemic and they’ll likely carry that momentum well into 2021 and beyond because of strong in-migration of new residents, faster local job market recoveries and environments conducive to work-from-home arrangements and other factors,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist and senior vice president of research.
Housing experts tended to be optimistic about a post-pandemic rebound, citing improving conditions for jobs and stable interest rates as key reasons.
More than 20 leading economic and housing experts participated in the summit, which was held virtually. Among their predictions they expect GDP growth of 3.5% and an annual unemployment rate of 6.2% this year. The forecasters believe the unemployment rate will decline to 5.0% in 2022.
Yun said another 9.8 million more jobs are needed to match the prior peak.
Housing prices are expected to rise 8.0% during 2021 and 5.5% the following year, while 30-year fixed mortgage rates are projected to be 3.0% this year and increase to 3.25% in 2022.
The panels of prognosticators also anticipate:
An overwhelming 90% of the experts surveyed expect the Federal Open Market Committee will make no change in the current federal funds rate of 0% during 2021. For 2022, a rate increase of 0.25% is predicted.
“It is an understatement to say the year 2020 has been filled with challenges and full of surprises,” said Yun. “Yet, one astonishing development has been the hot housing market as consumers eyed record-low mortgage rates and reconsidered what a home should be in a new economy with flexible work-from-home schedules.”
In his presentation, Yun said the months supply of inventory is at an all-time low.
In 2020, home sales will reach 5.52 million, the highest annual mark since 2006, with the median home price setting a record high of $293,000, according to NAR.
“Overall, residential real estate will continue to be an important driver of our nation’s economic recovery and the activity in these markets will help lead the way,” stated NAR President Charlie Oppler, a Realtor® from Franklin Lakes, N.J., and the CEO of Prominent Properties Sotheby’s International Realty.
The 2020 NAR Real Estate Forecast Summit consensus forecasts are compiled as the median of the responses of 23 economic and housing market experts who participated during the 2019 and 2020 summits. The survey was conducted from November 19 through December 4, 2020.
[Source: Seattle King County REALTORS® NW Reporter]
December home sales increased 6.2% over November and 21.9% year-over-year, capping a record-breaking second half of 2020 that set new overall monthly benchmarks for most sales, highest price, lowest inventory and quickest closings.
Although December is typically a month with fewer sales, December 2020 ranked 5th in highest number of home sales for the year – and its sales exceeded all but two months of 2019.
Down 17.9% from November 2020 and 33.0% from December 2019, December 2020 established a record low for inventory in the 13-year history of the report. It also set multiple new December records:
• Average Days on Market of 37, over two weeks less than the 53 days a year ago.
• Median Sales Price of $290,000 – up 9.4% year-over-year.
• Months of Supply of Inventory at 1.8, which was less than half of December 2019’s 3.9.
After the pandemic’s initial impact on the housing market last spring and early summer, 2020 ultimately posted a number of highlights in the report’s history:
• Home Sales: 5 of the top 10 months of sales since 2008 occurred in 2020 – July (the new record), August, September, October and December
• Inventory: 7 of the top 10 months with the lowest inventory; August through December became the five lowest months in report history, with each month’s inventory lower than the previous month’s
• Days on Market: 5 of the top 10 months with the report’s fewest Days on Market; September through December comprise the four months with the fastest average time for listing to sale
• Median Sales Price: 9 of the top 10 months with the highest Median Sales Price; at $290,000, August, November and December tied with the highest mark in report history
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“Insatiable buyer demand” is keeping inventory scarce as house hunters try to outmaneuver and outbid each other, according to reports from Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS). Its statistical summary for December showed strong activity throughout the holiday season with double-digit increases in new listings, pending sales, closed sales, and prices.
Northwest MLS brokers added 5,260 new listings to inventory during December, a hefty 39.3% increase over the same month a year ago. Last month’s additions fell short of meeting demand as members reported 6,883 pending sales (mutually accepted offers). That number surpassed the year-ago volume by 940 transactions for an increase of 15.8%.
At month end, there were 4,732 total active listings system-wide in the MLS database, which encompasses 25 counties. That’s down 44% from a year ago when the selection included 8,469 listings. Measured by months of inventory, there is only about two weeks of supply (0.53 months) overall. Only five counties had more than a month of supply, well below the four-to-six months of supply used by housing analysts as a gauge of a balanced market.
Home prices continue to rise. For the 9,008 sales of single family homes and condos that closed last month, prices jumped nearly 12.2% from a year ago, increasing from $435,000 to $488,000.
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Source: NWMLS 1/6/21
The housing market continued its extraordinary half-year run of high activity, with November 2020 home sales up almost 20% over November 2019 – establishing a new high for the month in the 13-year history of the report.
November did experience the normal seasonal decline from October, with home sales decreasing 14.5% month-to-month, but that drop was in line with the 12% average of the past five years. In fact, November 2020 broke several records for the RE/MAX National Housing Report, and inventory reached its lowest point since the report debuted in 2008.
In addition to Home Sales that eclipsed the previous high for November, set in 2017, new November records reflecting averages across 52 U.S. markets included:
Home sales continued to far outnumber new listings. November was the fourth consecutive month of 2020 to set a new report record for fewest listings.
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Some real estate brokers expect the competition for homes to ease somewhat over the holidays, but the latest statistics from Northwest Multiple Listing Service indicate activity is unusually strong heading into December.
The Northwest MLS report summarizing November activity shows strong year-over-year (YOY) increases in closed sales (up about 23%) and prices (up 13.8%). Pending sales (mutually accepted offers) rose 7.9% from a year ago, and the year’s saga of depleted inventory continued last month with the number of total listings down nearly 43%.
While overall inventory is down, a comparison of counties shows a wide range of deficits, according to NWMLS data. Perhaps surprisingly, King County’s supply declined “only” about 18% from a year ago, while five counties (Clallam, Clark, Island, Mason, and Snohomish) reported drops of at least 63%. A closer look at the MLS report for all counties shows the shortages are most acute for single family homes (off 50.6% area-wide), while the condo supply improved (up 7.1%). Thirteen of the 23 counties in the MLS report had less than one month of supply at month end. Overall, there was about three weeks (0.73) of inventory at the end of November, well below the four-to-six months many analysts use as a gauge of a balanced market.
One indicator of brisk activity is the ratio of pending sales to new listings. November’s 8,584 pending sales outgained the month’s new listings, which totaled 6,425 area-wide, continuing a pattern reported during much of the year. New listings surpassed pending sales during only two months (March and April) this year, resulting in the depleted supply of active listings. Brokers reported 6,505 total active listings at the end of November, down from the year-ago total of 11,366. Supply was at the lowest level since February.
Prices on last month’s 8,875 closed sales were up nearly 14% from a year ago, rising from $434,900 to $495,000. Seventeen of the 23 counties in the report had double-digit price gains compared to a year ago.
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Source: NWMLS 12/7/20
For the first time since 2009, homes sold faster in October than the preceding summer peak season, according to the RE/MAX National Housing Report. And across 52 markets, the average of 38 days from listing to contract marked the fastest pace of any month in the report’s 13-year history.
Defying seasonality in a year upended by the pandemic, October sales were the third-highest year-to-date. Home sales were slightly up compared to September 2020 (+0.1%), and 20.8% ahead of October 2019. The Median Sales Price of $295,000, which was 0.9% higher than September’s median price and 15.4% higher year-over-year, set a report record for October.
Reflecting an abundance of home buyers and a shortage of sellers, inventory fell 32.5% year-over-year to set another report record.
October’s average Days on Market of 38 was one day less than September and down 11 days year-over-year. The average Months Supply of Inventory at 1.7 tied July and August for the smallest in report history, with a handful of markets reporting less than a one-month supply.
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The Northwest MLS report recapping October activity showed a 40% drop in active listings compared to the same month a year ago, an increase of 16% in pending sales (mutually accepted offers), and a year-over-year (YOY) jump of nearly 30% in closed sales. The median price of single family homes and condominiums that sold last month was $500,000, up 19% from the same period a year ago, according to the MLS summary, which encompasses 23 counties, mostly in Western and Central Washington.
NWMLS members added 10,428 new listings to the supply during the month, improving on the year-ago total of 8,394 for a gain of 24%. In keeping with the pattern of previous months, October’s 11,039 pending sales surpassed the number of new listings.
Area-wide the median price for last month’s sales of single family homes (excluding condos) was $515,000, a 20.2% jump from a year ago. For single family homes and condos combined, prices rose by double digits in 21 of the 23 counties in the MLS market area. The highest median prices for homes and condos that sold last month were in San Juan County at $705,000 and in King County at $685,000. Those two counties also had the highest median prices for single family homes (excluding condos). In San Juan County the price was $753,250, while in King County it was $745,000.
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Source: NWMLS 11/5/20
The streak of record-shattering home sales stretched to three months in September, as closings rose 21.1% from a year ago. On average, homes sold in a mere 39 days – a full week faster than in September 2019.
Meanwhile, inventory plummeted 31.9% year over year as the number of homes on the market dropped to an all-time low in the 13-year history of the report.
Delayed by pandemic-related lockdowns, summer’s peak homebuying season pushed into fall. September sales were only 3.3% lower than August’s, while the average seasonal August-to-September drop-off over the previous five years was 15.3%.
September inventory sank below the previous report low set in August 2020. Thus far, six months of 2020 rank among the 10 months with the lowest inventory in the history of the report.
The Median Sale Price of $289,900 was just $100 below the report record set in August 2020, and 12.8% above September 2019. Also increasing in September was the Months Supply of Inventory, which ticked up to 1.8 from the record low of 1.7 set the previous two months. A year ago, Months Supply of Inventory totaled 3.8.
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