Call me childish but beating the GPS time is an extreme sport for me. The same could be said for many home buyers and sellers in this market. Your real estate broker says it’s going to take about 18 days to sell, and you want it sold in three days. The broker you are using to help you find your dream home says you are going to need to spend $50,000 more if you want to find what you are looking for.
In a time of microwave popcorn and drive-through coffee we have been conditioned to have what we want in less than five minutes, and if it doesn’t happen we start to have a hissy fit and blame everyone around us except for ourselves.
The real estate market is cyclical. During certain periods of the year it takes over a month to sell a home, and during other times less than a month. Home prices fluctuate throughout the year as supply and demand play a key role in home prices and days on market.
During the winter market of December through February in Marysville for residential property priced $300,000-$500,000 we had 196 closed sales. The median sales price was $388,500, and it took on average 41 days to sell a home. As we moved into the spring market we witnessed home inventory levels up nearly 57 percent over last year. Buyers now have two-to-three weeks instead of two-to-three days to make a decision. Thank goodness for the additional inventory because buyers showed up big-time this spring.
As we close out the spring market February through the middle of June in Marysville for residential property priced $300,000-$500,000 we had 335 closed sales. Massive increase in comparison to the winter market. The median sales price finished at $410,000, up $21,500 in just a few month plus the days
on market dropped from 41 days to sell a home to 22 days. That is definitely getting there in front of the GPS time.
This momentum is largely due to positive job growth, lower interest rates and a strong local economy.
Additionally, there are two demographics competing in this price range, older households trading down and first-time home buyers seeking affordability in our local market for housing.
As I look forward we can anticipate a reasonable rate of home appreciation in our local market as we see home prices in south Snohomish County continue to suffer. In southeast Snohomish County the median home sales price last month dropped 9.86% – from $759,950 May 2018 to $685,000 May 2019.
All over south Snohomish County the median home sales prices declined on average year-over-year a jaw dropping 6.5%.
The median home prices in the greater Marysville area are doing very good appreciating 7.95% and condos jumping in prices a whopping 18.94%. The supply of homes in our area rests at 1.4 months while the National Association of Realtors note that a balanced market has about four months of supply. We are still
in a seller’s market based on those numbers.
All attention will be on each new listing as they hit the market, which is why you will need to be smart on your pricing as a seller and very watchful as a buyer and not sit around and wait.
Todd Fahlman sells real estate in Marysville. His column runs monthly.
