More evidence the Olympia real estate market is shifting to a seller’s market in 2013

All the statistics and trends are pointing towards a shift in the Olympia real estate market towards a seller’s market.  Here is more proof: absorption rate.

What is absorption rate?
This is the rate at which homes sell in a particular area.  For example, if you took all the homes currently listed in the East Olympia area and didn’t add any new listings, it would take 5.7 months to sell all those homes.  (That doesn’t mean that’s how long it will take to sell YOUR home – just how long the entire inventory will sell.)

Absorption rate is best analyzed by looking at the trends of absorption rate over several months or years.
A declining figure, as we are seeing now, shows the combination of a shrinking inventory and more homes are being sold than new listings are coming onto the market.  (A rising figure would show more homes on the market and more homes coming on the market than there are willing buyers to absorb the inventory.)

Here is the absorption rate for January 2011. With more homes on the market than the market can absorb, the trend is a buyer’s market.

Here is the absorption rate for January 2012. We are seeing improvement and the shift from a buyer’s market to a balanced market.

Here is the current absorption rate for January 2013. We can clearly see the shift in the market towards a seller’s market.

So overall, we are seeing improvement in the market. More buyers are willing and able to buy and recognize the value in today’s market, and their confidence has absorbed much of the inventory. The next six months will be very interesting to see, but it is safe to say, we are on the way to improvement!

If you’d like to take advantage of today’s market, be sure to call me today so I can help with your real estate move in 2013!