Seattle Sees Increase in Home Prices

Home prices across the nation has been steadily gaining – a modest growth year over year than what we’ve seen just a few years ago.  This, of course, is great news for potential homebuyers who are also seeing low interest rates. 

The national average growth saw 3% from last year.  Seattle, on the other hand, saw a negative rate down 0.06%.  But August and September are showing promising signs for the Seattle home market, suggesting that Seattle will see a growth from last year in home pricing.  The same rings true for the rest of the nation.  Market growth will see an uptick from last year – and a higher growth month over month.

The market is still recovering from the overextended growth it saw over the last few years – especially Seattle who saw record highs in year over year growth.  As the market finally settles, we are no longer seeing the frenzy of home buying.  This is also caused by more and more homeowners opting to not sell or opting to rent their homes. 

The cities who are seeing the biggest gains this year are Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Charlotte, North Carolina.  Their year over year growth is upwards of nearly 6%.  Thanks to low interest rates, home builder confidence and historically low unemployment rates, we are expected to see more growth in these cities.  As more millennials are entering the home buying market, analysts believe we will continue to see a gain in all major cities. 

We will not, however, see the major increase in pricing we saw just a few years ago.  More and more markets are stabilizing, including Seattle.  There will be a more moderate gain – back to “normal” growth patterns.  It has been said the end of September is the best time to buy.  As we head into the last week of September, we will see if that statement still rings true.