The Seattle Real Estate Market Update

Seattle home prices rise again: The Seattle market’s home prices leapt 1.9 percent in July over the previous month and 12.5 percent over the past 12 months, according to the closely watched S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home-price index. Seattle, Tampa, Fla., and Washington, D.C., were the only three metro areas that saw monthly price gains accelerate from June to July. The average price for existing single-family homes in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties, as measured by the Case-Shiller index, was still about 18 percent off the 2007 peak.
Source: The Seattle Times, September 24, 2013
http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2021886999_caseshillerxml.html

New report shows no let-up in Seattle apartment building boom: If you think there are a lot of apartments under construction in the region, just wait. This year, developers in the tri-county region will open about 7,500 new apartment units, according to a report that Seattle company Dupre + Scott Apartment Advisors issued Monday. That’s the highest level since 1991, but not a record. The most eye-popping data are not the numbers; rather it’s where the apartments will be built. Spoiler alert: it’s Seattle.
Source: Puget Sound Business Journal, September 24, 2013
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2013/09/23/new-report-shows-no-let-up-in-seattle.html?ana=RSS&s=article_search&page=all

King County home prices dip; shutdown threatens closings: The housing market’s rebound slowed in September, with King County home sales sliding 14 percent and the median price dipping 2.3 percent from the prior month. Now a federal government shutdown threatens to snarl thousands of homebuyers and sellers who are trying to close deals, say lenders and real-estate brokers.
Source: The Seattle Times, October 15, 2013
http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2021964803_homesalesseptxml.html

Taking ownership: Millennials consider buying to escape rising rents. It’s a vexing question for many younger adults — aka millennials, born between the early 1980s and early 2000s. Mostly 20-somethings, they’re watching rents surge and wondering whether today’s still-attractive interest rates might begin to climb out of their reach, too. At the same time, this crowd came of age watching the housing market in 2007. In some cases, their friends and family lost homes.
Source: The Seattle Times, October 18, 2013
http://seattletimes.com/html/homesrealestate/2022051165_hrerentersowners20xml.html

Home bidding wars increase in Seattle, says Redfin: The percentage of Seattle homes for sale that received multiple bids increased in September to 57 percent, which is the highest increase for the month out of 22 large U.S. markets. Seattle online real estate company Redfin said the number of Seattle homes with multiple offers rose from 49.2 percent in August to 57 percent last month. Redfin added that Seattle had 1.4 percent of offers that averaged higher than asking prices. Only San Francisco, with offers 7.3 percent higher, experienced a higher percentage.
Source: Puget Sound Business Journal, October 23, 2013 http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2013/10/home-bidding-wars-increase-in-seattle.html