Case-Shiller: Seattle home prices rising fastest in the nation

Posted on by The Tim

Let’s have a look at the latest data from the Case-Shiller Home Price Index. According to February data that was released this morning, Seattle-area home prices were:

Up 1.7 percent January to February
Up 12.7 percent year-over-year.
Up 23.9 percent from the July 2007 peak

Over the same period last year prices were up 1.8 percent month-over-month and year-over-year prices were up 12.1 percent.

Seattle leads the nation in both year-over-year and month-over-month home price growth. The only other metro areas with double-digit price growth from a year earlier are Las Vegas at 11.6 percent and San Francisco at 10.1 percent.

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Reader Comment: “Now all I seem to be able to afford are the meth houses!”

Posted on by The Tim

A reader going by the handle “JustSomeDude” left a comment this morning that is worth highlighting:

Came upon this website a couple months ago and find everyone’s perspectives interesting. I see a lot of wondering on what potential regular, non-speculating, non-investor sellers and buyers are thinking and doing. People who just want to live in a nice house.

I can’t speak for others, but I can share my thoughts / experiences recently as well as some anecdotal stories…

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Around the Sound: Sales down in King, Kitsap, Island, and Skagit

Posted on by The Tim

It has been a few months since we looked at the housing stats for the broader Puget Sound area. Now that the first quarter of 2018 is over, let’s update our “Around the Sound” statistics for King, Snohomish, Pierce, Kitsap, Thurston, Island, Skagit, and Whatcom counties.

Prices are climbing and listings are down across the board. King County actually had the smallest listings decrease among the Puget Sound counties, and one of the largest drops in sales. Sales also dropped significantly in Kitsap, Island, and Skagit counties…

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NWMLS: Prices surge as sales slip and inventory inches up

Posted on by The Tim

March market stats have been published by the NWMLS…

Despite the big bump up in prices to a new all-time high, there is some good-ish news for home buyers in the March data. Compared to a year ago, new listings are up, total listings were basically flat, and sales were down. The overall market is still definitely heavily skewed toward sellers, but at least last month’s trends are finally moving a little bit in buyers’ favor.

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Consumer Confidence at levels not seen since the dot-com bust

Posted on by The Tim

It’s been quite a while since we last checked in on Consumer Confidence and mortgage interest rates, so let’s take a look at an update to those charts.

The overall Consumer Confidence Index currently sits at 127.7, down two percent in a month and up two percent from a year ago. The current levels are higher than any point since late 2000, just as the dot-com bubble was bursting…

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