Historically low interest rates and changing lifestyles are contributing to the lowest number of homes for sale in the 23 counties that the NWMLS covers. With only 1.16 months supply of homes to buy at the end of June, buyers are once again faced with bidding wars and other market conditions that are generally in the sellers favor. As always, properly priced and properly presented homes are selling quick.

As one would expect, this imbalance in supply & demand is leading to rising prices. Pierce County lead the way in the Central Puget Sound region with a 8.2% year over year increase, with Snohomish County registering 6.7% & King County coming in at 5.9%. This is as expected as buyers are being pushed out to more affordable areas. Also trends which were emerging Pre COVID, like buyers seeking more space & / or less urban areas, seem to be accelerating in pace as workers & employers are finding that ‘work from home’ solutions, put in place for COVID, work long term as well.

The silver lining for buyers is record low interest rates, at an all time low of 3.07% (FreddieMac 30year fixed), has increased their purchasing power. For sellers, this translates into buyers paying more for their home, making this ‘a particularily good time to think about selling’.