Heidi Groover

Despite an unpredictable year, one degree of normalcy has returned to Seattle-area home sales: In a dip typical of the winter season, fewer homes were on the market in November and fewer new sellers were listing.

Yet buyers were still eager to purchase homes, and prices all over the region were still up. The median sale price last month in King County was up 10% over November 2019.

The imbalance in supply and demand is deepening the crunch home shoppers have faced all summer and fall.

“It feels as if everyone is looking for the same things,” said Redfin buyers agent Shoshana Godwin. 

New listings of homes for sale fell 43% last month in King County compared to October, according to data released Monday by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. The number of new listings was down 44% in Snohomish County and 35% in Pierce County.

Fewer sales took place, too. The number of pending sales in King County fell about 27% in November compared to October, an even steeper monthly drop than in March and April when the pandemic first hit locally.

Similar trends are playing out nationally, with sales falling during the week of Thanksgiving and active listings nationwide at the lowest point since at least 2012,according to Redfin.

Not everywhere is showing signs of a cooldown. Home prices edged down in King and Snohomish counties in November, but Pierce County prices ticked up.

The median sale price in King County was $730,500 last month, down about 2% from October. In Snohomish County, the median price was $566,000, also down about 2% from October. In Pierce County, prices went in the opposite direction, rising to $445,000, a 3.5% increase from October.

All throughout the region, sellers are still faring better than last year, with King County prices up 10% from November 2019, Snohomish up 14% and Pierce up 17%.

The median sale price in Seattle was $820,000 in November, up 12% from a year ago. On the Eastside, the median price cracked $1 million to slightly below $1.1 million, an 18% jump from last year. In North King County, including Bothell, the median price rose 19% to $737,000.

Demand is high across affordable South King County, where it would take less than two weeks to sell the inventory of homes currently on the market at the current level of demand. Median prices were $524,000 near SeaTac and $486,000 in Federal Way in November.

A winter slowdown is usually expected. In recent years, new listings in the region have dropped from June through December and picked back up again in the spring, peaking in May. But the pandemic scrambled the market this year. New listings climbed in June and July, though they were below 2018 and 2019 levels.

The lack of inventory could be having ripple effects. Some homeowners looking to sell may hesitate, knowing their search for a new home could be tough.

“It’s kind of historic how much money they can get right now. The trepidation for them is, ‘Where do I go? Where am I going to buy?’” said Kimberly Johnston, a John L. Scott broker who focuses on the Eastside.

Even as potential sellers hunker down, competition remains tough among those still looking to buy as work-from-home policies drag on and low interest rates continue to entice buyers.

The pandemic is driving some people from urban condos toward houses in suburbs and rural areas as they seek more space to make their homes serve as offices, schools and gyms.

In King County, the amount of time it would take to sell every home on the market at current demand dipped below three weeks in November, down from a month or longer in May and June.

Inventory would go even faster in Snohomish and Pierce counties, where every home currently on the market could be sold in less than two weeks.

Demand continues from some familiar sources, like tech workers and young, first-time buyers, agents said.

Godwin recently worked with a young couple looking for a fixer-upper. They found a home near Golden Gardens that “needed a ton of work,” but the house drew 10 offers in the first couple of days, Godwin said. With appointments required because of the pandemic, some homes are so popular that buyers can’t even get in to see the place, she said.

Read the original story here.