Not simply Seattle: Homebuyers face stiff competitors from Bellevue to Poulsbo

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As West Washington home prices continue to rise, some potential buyers may feel the growing pressure.

“A lot of people between their mid-20s and mid-40s feel like they’ll never make it if they don’t do it now,” said first homebuyer, Julie Farris, “because we all see the numbers increasing year after year.”

House prices have risen double-digit percentages in West Washington over the past year, with some of the steepest rises outside of Seattle. The price increases reflect a combination of wealthy buyers looking for luxury homes, first-time buyers entering the market and a limited supply of homes.

At the beginning of spring this year, more new offers came onto the market than in the winter months, which gave buyers some breathing space. But homes are still selling fast and prices remain high, according to new home sales data released Monday by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

The average single-family home in King County sold for $ 869,975 last month, up 29.5% from the same point in time last year.

The median was $ 697,000 in Snohomish County (up 35%), $ 510,000 in Pierce County (up 29%), and $ 500,000 in Kitsap County (up 25%).

With current demand in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties, it would take less than two weeks to sell all available single family homes.

With home buyers looking for more space during the pandemic, the average Seattle home sales price remained largely unchanged over the last year and the condominium market cooled off. Now there are some signs of recovery.

Seattle closed almost twice as many single-family home sales last month as it did a year ago. And there were 62% more condominium sales pending in King County than last year. Compared to 2019, pending condominium sales increased about 17%.

The average price of single-family homes in Seattle reached $ 919,000 in May, compared to about $ 791,500 at the beginning of the year.

Not simply Seattle: Homebuyers face stiff competitors from Bellevue to Poulsbo

South of Seattle in areas like Federal Way, Auburn, and Kent, single-family home prices are up 26% to 29% year over year. In the Burien / Normandy Park area, the average single-family home sold for $ 600,000 last month, up 18%.

With the money saved during the pandemic and her parents’ help, Farris was able to draw 20% off a $ 440,000 three-bedroom home in Burien that she wasn’t sure would ever be possible would.

Make offers for apartments near where you grew up: “I just never expected anything to be accepted,” she said.

Buyers looking for more homes to choose from had good news this spring with more new listings than this time last year. But the houses were sold so quickly that by the end of May the number of active advertisements had decreased compared to the previous year.

Sellers also take note of the competition.

When Marnie Clark and her husband put their home for sale near Kingston earlier this year, 10 offers were received in just a few days.

“In any market other than now, these would have been amazing offers, incredible offers,” said Clark. “It was really amazing.”

All of the offerings in Clark’s home, which overlooks the Hood Canal and the Olympic Mountains, were more than the asking price of $ 1.1 million and about half the price, she said. The house eventually sold for $ 1.4 million.

“We’re on the radar in ways we didn’t have before,” said Bridget Young, co-owner of a Windermere office in Poulsbo. Before, she said, people who moved to the area would “think they’d discovered something. Well, we are definitely on the map. “

The median price for a single family home in Poulsbo rose 54.5% in May, although the sample size is small. 25 sales were completed last month, compared to seven in May 2020.

To compete, buyers take out annuity funds or stocks “so they can be a cash buyer and win in a multi-offer situation,” said Joni Kimmel, who co-owns the Poulsbo office with Young.

The competition has its downsides everywhere in the region.

South King County and Tacoma grapple with gentrification and displacement as the money flows south from Seattle. At Naval Base Kitsap, some veterans are losing because their zero-down VA loans are less competitive with wealthy or pure cash buyers, Young said.

On the east side of King County, average single-family home prices are up about 37% year over year.

Competition on the Eastside felt cooler last month, but buyers continued to forego safeguards, withdrew stocks and added “very aggressive escalation clauses,” said Redfin agent Pauline Corbett, who works with buyers in the Bellevue area. (An escalation clause is placed in an offer to buy to ensure that a buyer is the highest bidder.) Corbett and other brokers said buyers are increasingly agreeing that sellers can stay rent-free on their homes for a month or two to view their offer.

Even as local businesses announce plans to return to office work, home shoppers are still looking for additional home office space, she said.

“If a couple in our area isn’t in the high-tech industry, they can’t afford a home,” said Corbett.

Competition is especially fierce in South King County for buyers looking to spend less than $ 600,000, said Leslie Newman, a RE / MAX broker based in Burien.

Shoppers are drawn to area amenities like parks, vistas, and homes with more space and more affordable prices, she said.

As the economy continues to reopen and the kids return to school, some potential buyers may be more focused on family needs and travel, Newman said. If they decide to withhold home buying for the time being, it could defuse competition.

“The change in focus could open up other options for buyers,” she said.

Deb Boston and her husband made the decision to move to Poulsbo from Woodinville this spring, partly because they can both work more from home as they prepare for retirement.

Attracted by the waterfront views and proximity to nature, the couple waived their inspection contingency, added an escalation clause, and placed a large down payment on the home they bought in May.

“At first I thought, ‘We have to take the ferry further out. Maybe it won’t be as competitive as it is here in the greater Seattle area, ‘”she said. “I’ve learned that’s not the case.”