The end of summer is upon us, and the real estate market has been just as hot as the summer weather.
Here is the summer 2017 real estate market update for the Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater areas of Washington.
Click here to watch the 1-minute update:
Supply is LOW, Demand is HIGH, which is driving up SALES PRICES
Supply is VERY LOW with just 1.7 months of supply. As you can see by this chart, the last time our market was anywhere near this low of supply within the last 17 years was in 2004.
This market has been in a Seller’s Market for a consecutive 35 months.
The buyer activity is going strong. For August 2017, the market saw the most sales in the last 17 years with 594 sales.
The average sales price in Thurston County for August was $317,763. That is up from $291,034 in August of last year.
Is a real estate housing bubble coming?
This is certainly debatable, but the current market doesn’t look like the market ten years ago. Ten years ago, reckless lending was a major factor to the bursting of the housing bubble. Buyers today are more financially solid than the buyers ten years ago. Today’s buyers have more cash to put down, have solid credit scores, and are still enjoying low interest rates extending their buying power.
Most sellers today are profiting from the sale of their home, whereas ten years ago, many sellers were equity-poor. These sellers are now buyers and have the financial means to make their next move.
What do buyers do in a low-inventory market?
The good news for buyers is that there are A LOT of new listings coming on to the market. Just because STANDING inventory is low, doesn’t mean there are not any homes available. Check out our record-setting chart with the number of new listings entering the market:
Year-to-date, Thurston County added 4,571 new listings to the market. Between 2006-2008, there were many new construction listings that bumped up those numbers. This was also when the market started its decline, and the market became saturated with listings.
Today, buyers are snapping up these listings, keeping the standing inventory of homes very low.
Have questions? Not sure if you should buy or sell?
Contact me today and let’s have a conversation! My job is to help buyers and sellers like yourself make their next move. Call me today!