Category: Uncategorized

Update on Seattle area real estate and the proposed tax law

Even with early seasonal snow and the expectation of our usual seasonal slowdown October key housing indicators continue trend upwards.

• Seattle, year-over-year prices jumped 17.6 percent.
• On the Eastside, the median price for a single-family home rose 10 percent from a year ago.
• Buyers outnumbered new listings, with 10,586 of them having their offers accepted compared to only 8,466 New Listings, further shrinking available inventory.
• Buyers may find themselves in a quandary as the year winds down as they contemplate limited supply, possible upticks in interest rates and tax reform. (See below).

Homeowners are increasingly turning to real estate agents for help in selling their home, as the share of for-sale-by-owner sales remains at the lowest share on record, according to National Association of REALTORS®’ 2017 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.

Sellers’ use of a real estate agent remained at an all-time high this year at 89 percent, according to the survey. Meanwhile, for the third consecutive year, for-sale-by-owner sales continued to be at the lowest share in the history of NAR’s survey at 8 percent.