Seattle’s Feeding Frenzy Fizzle

Every year we have a Spring Season bounce in home prices, for people buying houses to settle in before the school years starts next year. People buy close to the schools they want their kids to go to. This year in Seattle you do need to live close to the schools you desire.

That led to what some in the Real Estate industry called a feeding frenzy. Multiple offers were the rule for about six weeks this year. Inventory was very low in Seattle, and across King County for that matter. The Northwest Multiple Listing service showed about 4000 homes for sale compared to about 7000 homes for sale last year.

What struck me is that in December, and the early part of January, people were complaining about the quality of the properties listed for sale. In March, and April all those houses were sold. In some cases people were in bidding wars for stale inventory.

Now that we are at the end of April you can see more houses coming on the market with fewer buyers rushing in to snap them up. As we go through the summer it looks like to me we will hear how there is nothing decent for sale, and in August we will see price reductions, once again.