Members of Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported 77,276 closed
sales during 2014 to outgain the prior year’s volume by 1,759 transactions for
a 2.3 percent increase. Measured by dollars, last year’s sales of single family
homes and condominiums were valued at nearly $28 billion. Compared to 2013,
that dollar volume represents a 9.4 percent gain. The sales activity reflects
the work of more than 22,000 brokers across 21 counties in the member-owned
Northwest MLS.
Last year’s completed sales
included 66,716 single family homes (about 86 percent of the total) and 10,560
condominiums. The total units and dollar volume are the best since 2007 when
members registered 82,197 sales valued at $32.3 billion.
The area-wide median price for
last year’s sales of single family homes and condominiums was $285,000,
improving on the previous year’s figure of $270,000 (up nearly 5.6 percent).
Prices for single family homes (excluding condominiums) rose about 5 percent
from 2013, increasing from $281,000 to $295,000. Condo prices jumped 11.4
percent, rising from the 2013 figure of $202,000 to last year’s median selling
price of $225,000.
Home buyers who shopped during
2014 often had lots of company – and competition. Brokers notched more than
102,000 pending sales (mutually accepted offers) during 2014, while adding
107,722 new listings to inventory. Brokers said depleted inventory led to
bidding wars for homes in the most desirable areas, and led to disappointment
for indecisive or unprepared bidders.
During 2014, the average
area-wide supply, as measured by months of inventory, fell below 3.5 months.
King County had the lowest level, averaging only 1.9 months of supply. Industry
insiders tend to use a 4-to-6 month range as an indicator of a balanced market,
favoring neither buyers nor sellers.
Further evidence of a housing
recovery is reflected in high-end sales. Northwest MLS members reported 2,069
sales of single family homes priced at $1 million or more, up nearly 28 percent
from the 2013 total of 1,621 “luxury” sales. Condos priced at $1 million and up
accounted for another 152 sales. A total of 878 condos commanded sales prices
of $500,000 or more, up 20 percent from the figure for 2013.
The highest-priced single
family home that sold during 2014 by a member of Northwest MLS was a property
in the Town of Hunts Point that commanded $9.1 million. Topping the chart of
high-priced condominiums was one in a downtown Seattle high-rise that sold for
$6.1 million.
Among other highlights in its
annual compilation of statistics, Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported:
-
About 46 percent of last year’s single family home sales had three bedrooms.
- The median price for a 3-bedroom home that sold in 2014 was $250,000, about 5
percent higher than the previous year’s figure of $262,500. A comparison by
county shows the median price for this size home ranged from $143,500 in
Pacific County to $410,000 in San Juan County.
- More than three-fourths (75.2 percent) of condos that sold had two or fewer
bedrooms.
- Of the condo sales, about six of every 10 (61.9 percent) were located in King
County, primarily in Seattle or on the Eastside.
