Looking Good Seattle!
I just attended an incredibly valuable class by Denise Lones, a real estate coach and admirably smart lady. The class was about pricing homes and the discussion was mostly around how to accurately track the real estate market and how to use this information to correctly price our clients’ homes. I have long used more oomph than just a plain CMA to arrive at pricing but this class really opened my eyes to improving the way I look at MLS statistics. With Denise’s method I will track the ups and downs in the real estate market for specific areas, or sets of criteria. It is a close micro-analysis of what is happening with the market. After some time I can start to ‘predict’ where the area is headed – is it a buyer’s market, seller’s market or balanced. This of course does not calculate the price but it helps choose where on the price spectrum the home should be listed. Love it!
Denise also shared her thoughts for where the Seattle area market is headed. Tides have turned and we are now (and have been for some time) in a Seller’s Market. We have a very low inventory of homes and prices are going up. Why? Simple supply and demand. Way more buyers than listings and the listings are not catching up. There has not been hardly any new building in the several years after the bust and even banks are holding on to real estate because they ‘know’ prices are on a trend up. I recently heard that banks are prepping houses as rentals! So, for couple / several years more we are likely to see low inventory and the multiple offers and frustrated buyers that come with them.
I believe every word of this. I experience this every day as I scour the neighborhoods for good homes for my buyer clients and as I write yet another offer on a multiple-offer house. Builders have started to buy massive amounts of land in the area. Previously forgotten housing tracks are filled with the sound of hammers again and many homes are selling pre-sale. These are good things for homeowners and the general economic morale. I just say to you, my buyer clients, “Hang in there, I will work hard to make it happen for you!”