After several years of white-hot prices and frantically-paced home sales, things are cooling down in Seattle’s real estate market. With fewer transactions, flattening prices and rising inventory, our market is experiencing what’s being called “The Great Reversion.”
While alarmist headlines suggest the market is stalling out as a whole, so far the numbers indicate that as always, everything is local. In many areas the runaway price increases we saw earlier this year have slowed significantly or even stopped, but some neighborhoods are still experiencing rising home prices.
How long that will continue is hard to predict, but the W Report compiled a list of the communities that have maintained their growth from earlier in the year. Our criteria were simple: those areas whose median sold prices in September were up both month-over-month (outpacing August prices) and year-over-year (outpacing September 2021 prices).
Here’s the list:
Single Family Homes (areas listed alphabetically)
Beacon Hill: This neighborhood’s September median sold price of $714,000 was up 5.4% over August and 6% over September of last year.
Central Seattle (Capitol Hill, Central Area, Madison Park, Montlake, etc.): This area saw September’s median home price of $1,135,000 rise 7.3% over August prices and 22% over September 2021.
Dash Point/Federal Way: With a September median sold price of $615,000, these communities had a 7.4% month-over-month price increase and an 11% year-over-year increase.
Enumclaw/Southeast King County: This area saw its September median home price of $699,950 rise 13.8% over August’s median and 20% over last September’s.
Northwest Snohomish County (Arlington, Lake Stevens, Marysville, etc.): September’s median sold price for homes in this area was $605,000, up 5.2% over the $575,000 median price seen in both August this year and September last year.
Queen Anne/Magnolia: The median sold price for a home in these two neighborhoods was $1,370,000 in September, up 16.6% from August and 35% from September of last year.
Redmond/Carnation: With a median sold price of $1,550,000, these communities saw significant residential price gains in September, up 11.3% over August and a stunning 34% over September 2021.
Southwest Snohomish County (Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, etc.): This area’s median sold price of $850,000 in September was up 3% over August and 9% over last September.
Condominiums(areas listed alphabetically):
Bellevue Downtown/West Bellevue: The price of condos selling in this neighborhood saw a significant jump in September. The $1,310,000 median price was 29.3% above August’s median and 40% higher than last September’s.
Black Diamond, Covington, Maple Valley: These Southeast King County cities saw the median condo price rise by 1% from August to September and by 15% year-over-year.
Dash Point/Federal Way: With a September median condo price of $288,000, these communities saw a 2.9% month-over-month price increase and a 10% year-over-year increase.
Eastside/East of Lake Sammamish: Condos in this area sold in September for a median price of $650,000, up 11.2% from August and 1.8% from September of last year.
Juanita/Woodinville: Condos in this area sold last month for a median price of $475,500, rising 2.2% month-over-month and 9% year-over-year.
Lake Forest Park/Kenmore: Condos here sold in September for a median price of $395,000, up 1.3% from the August median and 10% above last September’s price.
Redmond/Carnation: Sold condo prices here rose to a median of $682,500 in September. This was a 48% increase over a quiet August and an 8% increase over September 2021.
Southwest King County (Burien, Des Moines, Normandy Park, etc.): In September, condos here sold for a median price of $314,750, up 4.9% from August and 11% from last September.
While the great market reversion is upon us and is very real, it will affect each community and household differently. Market rebalancing can be a tumultuous time, but as we can see from the list of communities above, it is not uniform in its pace or spread. The good news is that it is likely to result in more sustainable long-term market conditions for buyers, sellers and renters alike.
