A sponsored post from our friends Kris and Daniela
For the last few years when writing our annual review of the neighborhood real estate market we have been talking about rising prices, bidding wars and the shortage of inventory. Well, 2015 was no different, if anything there are even less homes for sale and the competition among buyers has intensified even further. Below, find the 2015 numbers and charts based on hyper-local data capturing only Wallingford and Tangletown as outlined in the map below. The numbers are split out into single family homes including townhomes, and due to popular demand, we are also providing the condominium stats this time around.
Statistics in the table below are based on home sales in the area outlined on the map above and are derived from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service data.
Year over Year Comparison 2014 to 2015
Single Family Homes
8 fewer homes (or 3.3% less) than in 2014 were sold in 2015 showing a illustrating the continuing decrease in inventory. The median sales price rose 6.9% over the previous year with the average sales price landing 6.9% over the list price in 2015 which is up 3.7% from 2014. We have seen escalations at more than 20% over the list price for certain properties with as many as 30-40 offers for one listing! Seattle values were up 5.4% in 2015 so we are 1.5% ahead of the game compared to the city as a whole. Average days on market were down 42% from 19 to 11 days, another indicator of our fiercely competitive market.
| Year-end 2014 to 2015 Home Sales Comparison | 2014 | 2015 | Difference | % |
| Number of Closed Sales | 246 | 238 | -8 | -3.3% |
| Average Days on Market | 19 | 11 | -8 | -42% |
| Median List Price | $629,950 | $649,950 | $20,000 | +3.2% |
| Median Sales Price | $650,000 | $695,000 | $45,000 | +6.9% |
| List to Sales Price Ratio | 103.2% | 106.9% | +3.7% |
Condos
In the condo market, the number of units sold decreased less than 1% in 2015 from 69 to 68 units. Average days on market decreased 45% from 33 to 18 days. The price appreciation for condos from 2014 to 2015 was 11% and on average condos sold for 2.2% more than asking in 2015. This shows that the condo market has now more than caught up with single family homes and is experiencing the same inventory shortage, and multiple offer phenomenon.
| Year-end 2014 to 2015 Condo Sales Comparison | 2014 | 2015 | Difference | % |
| Number of Closed Sales | 69 | 68 | -1 | <1% |
| Average Days on Market | 33 | 18 | -15 | -45% |
| Median List Price | $319,950 | $346,000 | $26,050 | +8.1% |
| Median Sales Price | $319,500 | $353,500 | $34,000 | +11% |
| List to Sales Price Ratio | 100% | 102.2% | +2.2% |
What the Trends are Telling Us
The following charts capture Wallingford (area as defined by NWMLS data) real estate trends for 2014 and 2015. This bar graph tells us how many homes were available for sale (light green), how many went under contract (red line) and how many sales closed each month (dark green). We can see with the light green bars there were clearly less homes for sale this past year, yet buying activity was strong throughout the year (see red and dark green lines. Even more intense bidding wars and price increases are how these statistics played out in the marketplace.
In the chart below, the yellow bars represent the average number of days a home is on the market. There is a clear trend that days on market were lower in 2015 than 2014. This number would be even lower, except that real estate brokers hold a home on the market for about a week before entertaining offers from potential buyers. The line at the top of the chart represents the relationship between average sales and list price. In 2015 you can see that sales prices for all months were well over 100% of list price.
Finally, this chart illustrates months of inventory. It is derived based on a calculation dividing the number of active homes for sale by the number of homes that closed in a given month and attempts to project how many months it will take for the entire available inventory to sell. Anything under 2 months of inventory represents a sellers’ market. In 2015 every single month except February was well under 1 month of inventory which translates into a “crazy sellers’ market”.
And there we thought the market could not possibly get more competitive! However, the continuous stream of “Silicon Refugees” attracted by 50% lower home prices, overall lower cost of living, a healthy and growing tech industry as well as foreign investment and empty nesters seeking out the cultural offerings of our Emerald City continue to drive up housing demand like never before and new arrivals continue to flock to the shores of our lake(s).
As reported by the Puget Sound Business Journal, according to Aaron Terrazas, the senior economist at Seattle online real estate company Zillow (Nasdaq: Z, ZG), Seattle home values will continue to increase this year – as will rents – as people look for the region’s growing number of jobs and opportunities.
Kris Murphy and Daniela Dombrowski are My Wallingford sponsors and real estate brokers who live and specialize in the Wallingford and Green Lake neighborhoods. They practice out of the Keller Williams Greater Seattle office located on the corner of Stone Way and N 45th St.
Kris Murphy & Daniela Dombrowski
kris@key2seattleRE.com / Daniela@key2seattleRE.com
www.Key2SeattleRealEstate.com
Keller Williams Greater Seattle
1307 N 45th St, Suite 300
Seattle, WA 98103
