Market Update — August 2024
We firmly believe timely and relevant data is key to making good decisions. To this end, we are committed to providing our community and clients with actionable data and insights about the local real estate market.
Local real estate market
With the data from July 2024 in, here’s an overview of the key aspects of the local real estate market. The real estate data below is collected from Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS).
Median price: The chart below shows the latest median sales prices of homes over the past three years in the Greater Seattle area over the past three years:
Homes sold: 6,615 homes were sold in July 2024. The median price of $650,000 which represents a 5.7% growth YOY. This total sale volume translates to a dollar value of about $5.5B.
New construction: 725 new construction homes were sold in July 2024. The median sale price of new construction homes was $740,000.
Months of inventory: Given the current quantity of supply, it’ll take 2.29 months for every listed home to sell. To put this number in context, note that the months of inventory for a balanced market is considered to be 4 to 6 months. The counties with the lowest months of inventory in July 2024 were Snohomish (1.5), Thurston (1.81), Kitsap (1.88), and King (1.95). The data indicates the persistent shortage of supply relative to demand.
New listings: 9,281 new listings were added to the NWMLS database in July 2024 representing an increase of 13.1% compared to July 2023.
Mortgage rates: The Freddie Mac rate has edged and stayed down from it’s high in October/November 2023.
Average 30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rates over the past 12 months (Source: Freddie Mac)
Broader economy
Fed Holds Rates Steady, Hints at September Cut: After eleven rate hikes since March 2022, the Fed once again left their benchmark Federal Funds Rate unchanged at a range of 5.25% to 5.5%. This decision was unanimous and marks the eighth straight meeting they held rates steady. The Fed Funds Rate is the interest rate for overnight borrowing for banks and it is not the same as mortgage rates. The Fed has been aggressively hiking the Fed Funds Rate throughout this cycle to try to slow the economy and curb the runaway inflation that became rampant over the last few years.
Private Payrolls Hit Lowest Level Since January: Job creation among private employers slowed for the fourth straight month, per ADP’s Employment Report, which showed employers added 122,000 new jobs in July versus the 150,000 that had been forecasted. Large gains in trade and transportation, construction, and leisure and hospitality were offset by losses seen in the information and professional and business services sectors. Small businesses also continue to struggle, as those with fewer than 50 employees lost 7,000 jobs. This is compared to 132,000 new jobs added among medium and large companies combined.
