Seattle’s once red-hot housing market is cooling down
Inventory is up, prices are down but buyers are backing out of the Seattle housing market. The Emerald City just scored the top spot on Redfin’s list of fast-cooling real estate markets in the United States. Tacoma also made the list, ranked at number 10.
Local realtor, Nelya Calev says the red-hot days of this past spring are long gone.
“The homes don’t sell in the first 10 minutes and you’re not going to get 40 offers in the first 10 minutes,” said Calev.
Redfin Chief Analyst Daryl Fairweather says right now luxury listings are sitting longer, but not all sectors have lost steam.
“There are very few reasonably priced starter homes on the market,” said Fairweather. “So, those are still going to sell quickly and be desirable.”
According to Fairweather, driving this decline are rising mortgage rates and inflation as well as the looming recession.
Luke Zender with Evergreen Home Loans agrees. He’s seeing many first-time buyers back off.
“They could afford the house or the move they wanted at 3 ½% interest rate or 4% interest rate, not what we’re seeing now at 6 or 7 percent.”
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