The Seattle Times ran a story a few days ago reporting that Belltown and Downtown new condos are filling up so I figured I'd dig a little deeper and share some data for SCR readers.
I included a quick year-over-year inventory analysis below. What's surprising is how inventory is now even lower than 2007 levels and less than 1/6 (!) of the peak in 2009.
While overall inventory is low, when you segment the market by price point, you see that it would take over 7 months to consume all the >$700K units on the market (6 months is considered a neutral / balanced level) so it's really demand for the sub -$700K units that are driving the scarcity.
Even though supply is getting tighter every year, prices haven't really moved up that much. In terms of units selling as a percentage of their asking prices, you see some upward movement but not a whole lot. However, we are seeing multiple offers in the lower price group from time to time which is a bullish sign.
(Data from NWMLS and is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.)
By Wendy Leung with Seattle Condo Review. A guide to Seattle condos exclusively for buyers and sellers.
This is certainly good news for those of us who would like to sell our belltown condos, but the prices are still way lower than they were 4 years ago. Theoretically, this would cause the new, good units to be bid on more aggressively and therefore cause agents to start raising prices. Are you starting to see this happen?
Yes. There has been reports that some good, new units are facing multiple offers, although at a modest few percents increase over the asking price. Buyers looking at the <$400k price group may also encounter multiple offers for well priced condos. I think this will have a slow ripple effect on the high price groups if inventory continues to stay at the same level.
This is certainly great news!! I’m seeing similar inventory problems in Maryland, and many other states especially Arizona. Everyone wants listings!!!