December 2023 Seattle Housing Market Update

Here are my bullet points from the newest press release from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (data is from the full month of November):

A slight decrease in interest rates has raised cautious optimism – interest rates had fallen to around 7.2% as of December 1, 2023, in comparison to 7.8% in October 2023.
The decline in seasonal inventory continues to drive home prices upward, spurring an increase of 4.6% in prices from November 2022.
Closed sales are down about 16% compared to November 2022. This is due to less homes for sale in general.
Number of sales and housing inventory usually drop in the fall and winter months, but the seasonal trend is lower than usual because of the high interest rates.
“With the 30-year fixed mortgage rate currently just over 7.2%, the purchasing power of prospective buyers remains stunted relative to a few short years ago.”
“Current owners with low-rate mortgages continue to be reluctant to sell.”
Expect new listings to start increasing slowly in the new year. Buyers will beat sellers to the market and be out shopping before the inventory can keep up, increasing competition and prices.

To read the full press release, click here.