Puget Sound Realtors See Signs Of Fall Slowdown

KIRKLAND, WA — A seasonal slowdown is beginning to emerge in Puget Sound's red hot real estate market, with brokers already seeing customary dips in prices and activity heading into the fall. Northwest Multiple Listing Service's August report, which tracks the trends in 26 counties, found monthly declines in listings, inventory, pending and closed sales, and median prices, though asking prices remain well north of where they were a year ago.

"August showed a more traditional seasonal pattern with decreased activity as families took end-of-summer vacations and made back-to-school preparations," said Frank Wilson, a broker at John L. Scott Real Estate. "We saw a dip in open house traffic overall, although some new listings were overwhelmed with traffic, depending on the price point. We are seeing homes stay on the market slightly longer and more instances of sellers overpricing their properties."

The report found new listings for single-family homes and condos were down 11.5 percent from July, with inventory shrinking 6.6 percent month-to-month.

With 10,571 sales closed in August, brokers saw the overall median price begin to moderate, dipping to $579,000, down about $10,000 from July. NWMLS said asking prices fell in about half the counties it analyzed.

"In King County, median list prices dropped from $740,000 in July to $729,000 in August," said Matthew Gardner, chief economist at Windermere Real Estate. "That would explain why the median sales price also fell modestly month-over month. I believe this is because we are hitting a price ceiling and that the rabid pace of home price appreciation will continue to cool as we move through the rest of the year."

Condo sales remain much stronger than last year — up 10 percent overall and nearly 20 percent higher in King County — which experts said is both a sign of more buyers returning to urban centers and also finding houses too expensive. Others are moving further from the city, as many employers keep remote work and hybrid models in place.

"Work from home opportunities, as well as the thought/hope that some employers will allow flexible work schedules post-COVID ar driving factors," said John Deely, an executive vice president at Coldwell Banker Bain. "Other factors are lower taxes and overall costs in suburban areas. People are buying the maximum house they can and factoring in the variable cost of a commute."

A similar trend lent to a boost in luxury home sales, with approximately 15 percent of the year's sales for homes priced at $1 million or higher. Brokers said such sales have been particularly strong in Snohomish and Pierce counties.

"This tells me that there's a migration of buyers who are choosing to move away from King County and into adjacent areas where their money goes further," Gardner said.

The market in Kitsap County has also been heating up, with home values up nearly 15 percent from last year, rents on the rise and developers struggling to keep up with demand.

"Although there are affordable home options being planned for the future, those are several years away," Wilson said. "Affordable housing has taken a real hit over the past six or seven years with the average price far exceeding what the average income in Kitsap can afford."

While the seasonal lull appears to be underway for most of the region, real estate experts expect things will heat up again around the new year.