Okay, let’s get back to the data. It’s about time. Okay, it’s way past time. Anyway, whatever. Here’s some data. Since it’s been a while, let’s start with a few high-level stats from around the Puget Sound.
First up: Median prices of single-family homes as of July. In a word: Up.
It’s a bit difficult to really appreciate just how much home prices are rising right now when looking at the raw dollar values, so here’s the year-over-year change for each of our eight counties:
Home prices are increasing double digits in every Puget Sound county except Island and King, where they are still up 7-8% from a year ago. If homebuyers were hoping or expecting that the pandemic would lead to some good home deals, they’re no doubt very disappointed so far.
So why are prices rising so much? Well, this may have something to do with it:
Remember, “months of supply” is the ratio between closed sales and the number of homes on the market at the end of the month. We’re not quite at all-time lows, but every single county did see its lowest July on record for the measure. In other words, there are still plenty of homebuyers out there willing to buy, even in the midst of a global pandemic, and even when home prices are rising so quickly.
Crazy-low mortgage interest rates are probably at least partly to blame, but even that only goes so far to explaining the insanity of the current market. We’ll continue exploring this topic in the weeks and months to come, for sure.
