high rates brings low interest from buyers and sellers King County’s housing market in August mirrored that of July, with little changes to either sales or listings. With uncertainty still swirling around inflation and interest rates, buyers and sellers continue to wait on the sidelines.
The fact that the Federal Reserve held its policy rate in the range of 5.25%- 5.50% in early September may pad the confidence of some potential buyers and sellers heading into fall. That being said, it’s unlikely that the September announcement will move many off the sidelines with the Federal Reserve continuing to strike a hawkish tone on rates, suggesting that more interest rate increases may be on the way. Instead, expect September to eschew typical seasonality– which would be expanding inventory and decreasing sales— and to appear strikingly similar to its preceding months.
King County’s housing market in August looked an awful lot like July, with would-be market participants still waiting for more certainty about the level and direction of change in interest rates and inflation. Once again, total MLS sales failed to reach the 3,000- mark, a streak that has now reached 14 consecutive months. Both sales and inventory continue to be at very low levels—significantly lower than their respective long-run averages. Despite King County sales growing by 2% (to 2,233),--when they typically fall by that amount– they were 34% below the long-run August average (of 3,408), and what’s more, were the lowest total sales count for the month of August since 2010. Inventory, on the other hand, decreased by 0.2% month-over-month (to 4,129),
which was in line with the typical seasonal decline of 0.4% observed between July and August. Inventory, like sales counts, was one-third less than the August long-run average, and the second-lowest August inventory count on record (considering data that goes back to 2006). Given the relatively small changes to both sales and inventory, the months of inventory metric (MOI) did not change much from July to August. The overall MOI decreased to 1.8 in August, from the previous month’s 1.9, and market conditions continued to favor sellers. When looking at the respective product types, both the residential and condominium markets were unchanged, with MOI’s of 2.0 and 1.5, respectively—market conditions that also favored sellers.
Copyright © 2023 rennie group of companies. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced or distributed, in whole or in part, without the prior written permission of the rennie group of companies. Current as of September 20, 2023. All data from Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley & Rennie. While the information and data contained herein has been obtained from sources deemed reliable, accuracy cannot be guaranteed. rennie group of companies does not assume responsibility or liability for any inaccuracies. The recipient of the information should take steps as the recipient may deem necessary to verify the information prior to placing any reliance upon the information. The information contained within this report should not be used as an opinion of value, such opinions should and can be obtained from a rennie and associates advisor. All information is subject to change and any property may be withdrawn from the market at any time without notice or obligation to the recipient from rennie group of companies. E.&O.E. 3
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