September 2013 Seattle Condo Market Report
The end of summer typically marks the start of the seasonal slow down of Seattle’s housing market, however the condo market held its own in September. The citywide median sales price reflected a 7.5% increase over last year to $268,750, but slid 9.7% from the prior month. With one exception in May, Seattle median condo sale prices have outpaced 2012 levels.
The available inventory dipped last month to 532 units, a one-month and year-over-year decrease of 2.2% and 6.2%, respectively. Seattle’s condo inventory will likely continue to reduce through the remainder of the year. Note, this only reflects move-in ready properties on the market and does not contemplate pre-sale inventory at Insignia, which is not expected to be completed until 2015.
The number of properties with accepted contracts (pending transactions) rose in September by 30.4% over last year to 270 units. That also reflected a one-month improvement of 10.2%. If the market follows historical trends, we should see another solid month in October before slowing down during the holidays. Additionally, starting in October, Insignia’s pre-sale contracts will boost pending figures as they are being reported to the NWMLS, though we will try to adjust for that.
There were fewer closed sales in September compared to August, down 19.2%, but closings still outpaced the same period last year by 8.6%. Given the volume of pendings in September, the number of October closings should increase.
The strength of the market combined with the reduced inventory resulted in a dip to the September inventory supply rate to a 2-month rate. Numerically, still a strong seller’s market. Though, that is dependent on location and price-points.
Anecdotally, while buyers in the condo dense neighborhoods surrounding downtown experience multiple offers and short market times, there is the sense that the market is less active overall (e.g. fewer buyers, fewer bidding wars). That may be due to fluctuating interest rates, rising prices that have priced some buyers out of the market, concerns over the economy and seasonality.
Source: NWMLS. Some figures were independently compiled by SeattleCondosAndLofts.com and were not published by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
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