August Report Real Estate – Seattle, Bellevue, Mercer Island

Low Inventory & Low Interest Rates Means Higher Prices

Low interest rates and low inventory are causing a HOT real estate market.  The Bellevue, Mercer Island, Seattle real estate markets are part of the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS).  In the 23 counties that make up the NWMLS, pending sales are up 23% as compared to last August.  Furthermore, in the four county Puget Sound market (King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish) the 9,179 pending sales is the 2nd most since January 2002 (as far as the NWMLS records go back).  The previous record was March 2017 with only 9 more pending sales (9,188).

The lack of inventory is not necessarily from the lack of sellers.  For instance, real estate brokers added 11,943 new listings up from 10,488 last August; nevertheless, at the end of August, listings were down almost 43% from last year (9,591 vs 16,697).  August sales (9,847) was the highest number of sales since June 2017.  Area wide home inventory is less than a month when a 4 to 6 month inventory is commonly considered a balanced market.  Thus, prices are up 14% across the NWMLS as compared to last August.

Seattle Real Estate

Seattle real estate, as well as Bellevue and Mercer Island are all in King County.  King County has tight real estate inventory with 1.16 months of inventory, but Snohomish (0.69), Pierce (0.70), and Kitsap (0.81) all are tighter.  On the other hand, King County has almost as many closings as all three counties combined (3,456 King County closings vs 3,541 closings combined for the three counties).  In addition, average sales price in the King County was $833,821 in August versus $582,433 in Snohomish, $469,338 in Pierce, and $546,165 in Kitsap.

Seattle Homes

Seattle home sales, like the rest of the NWMLS, again saw an increase in the number of closings and an increase in median sales price.  As seen below, all listed Seattle neighborhood areas saw an increase in number of sales while only Mt Baker to Rainier Beach saw a decrease in median sales price.  Moreover, all Seattle neighborhood areas continue to have an increase in median sales price as compared to last year.

	# of Sales		Median Sales Price ($)		Median Sales Price ($)
Neighborhoods	Aug ’20	vs Aug ’19	Aug ’20	vs Aug ’19	YTD 2020	YTD 2019
West Seattle	200	155	682,250	650,000	675,000	650,000
Mt Baker To Rainier Beach	77	44	665,000	670,000	669,000	640,000
Montlake to Leschi	109	70	979,900	945,500	941,000	930,000
Queen Anne to Magnolia	94	77	1,150,000	1,095,000	1,111,000	1,050,000
Ballard to Haller Lake	251	234	855,500	764,000	796,000	779,250
Laurelhurst to Northgate	112	109	899,500	760,000	851,000	801,000

Seattle luxury real estate sales continue to be strong.  Queen Anne/Magnolia has the highest median sale price, but Seattle had 8 luxury home sales for over $3 million in August with 6 of the sales being between Montlake and Leschi.  Of the remaining two, one was a modern Queen Anne home and the other was a Ballard waterfront home.  The most expensive home was sold by Betsy Terry of Ewing and Clark.  The undisclosed location in Denny Blaine featured an 8,000+ sq ft home on nearly 3/4 of an acre sold for just over $7 million.

Seattle Real Estate: Seattle Condo Market

Unlike the Seattle home market, the price per square foot for Seattle condos is a good indicator of the market.  In August 2020, the average price per square foot for the 226 Seattle condo that sold on the NWMLS was $601/sq ft.  The average size of the condos sold was 975 square feet so the average sales price was just under $595,000.  The 235 Seattle condos sold in August 2019 were an average of 897 sq. ft.  The average price was nearly $603.48 per foot; thus the average sales price was just over $553,000.  Therefore, while Seattle home market has seen an increases over the year, the Seattle condo market has been relatively flat.  Despite the overall average condo sales price increasing, the size of Seattle condos have also increased, leaving average price square feet nearly unchanged.

Bellevue Real Estate

For real estate brokers, the Bellevue market is divide into two main areas: West of 405 and East of 405.  West Bellevue includes such cities as Clyde Hill, Medina, and Hunts Point while East Bellevue includes Crossroads and the west side of Lake Sammamish.

Bellevue Home Sales

There were 36 home sales in West Bellevue in August up from 30 during last August.  In addition, median Bellevue home sales was up $2,665,000 from $2,454,997 the previous year although average sales price increased by less than $1,000 ($3.078 million vs $3.077 million).  Conversely, for year-to-date both the number of West Bellevue homes sales and the average Bellevue home price continue to lag from last year.  For example, 185 home have closed through this August vs 239 last year at this time.  In addition, average sales’ price is $3.044 million so far in 2020 versus. just under $3..061 million last year.  However, even with prices down slightly, West Bellevue is surely a luxury real estate market.

Unlike last month, East Bellevue saw a decrease in number of Bellevue home sales (68 vs 86) in August as compared to last year.  The number of sales was almost an inverse of July sales (83 last month vs 69 in July 2019).  Nevertheless, the number of sales lag the prior year by over 20% (400 vs 503).  August prices did increase with median sales price of $1,025,500 versus last August $900,000 and median prices continue to outpace 2019 ($1,011,400 vs $915,000).

Bellevue Condos

In West Bellevue there were 23 Bellevue condo sales in August compared to 21 last year.  Average sales price was just over $928,000 when last year the average sales price was nearly $730,000.  Year-to-date Bellevue condo closings are only 141 transactions (167 same time last year), but average price has increased to $913,000 versus just under $856,000 last year.

In East Bellevue there were 29 Bellevue condo sales compared to 46 last year.  In addition, the average sales price in August was just under $532,000 when last year the average sales price was just over $592,000.  Meanwhile, year-to-date Bellevue condo closings are only 200 transactions (298 same time last year), and average price decreased to just over $546,000 in 2020 while the average sales price of $555,000 in 2019.

Mercer Island Real Estate

Mercer Island Homes

For the second month in a row Mercer Island home sales outpaced the previous year.  August saw 34 Mercer Island home sales versus 28 last August.  Like July, August average sales price was up, but both average and median sales price for the year still trail 2019.  For example, average sales price in August was $2.253 million vs $1.941 million last August, but average sales price is still behind 2019.  However, the gap is decreasing: $1.953 million vs $1.978 million.

Mercer Island condo market is limited.  For example, in August there was only two Mercer Island condo sales for an average of $461,250.  Similarly, the previous August there was one condo sale for $680,000.  For 2020, there have been 31 Mercer Island condo sales for an average of $608,552.  In contrast, during the same time period in 2019, there were 20 sales for an average of $635,621.

Need More Info on Bellevue, Mercer Island, and Seattle Real Estate

In conclusion, while a real estate blog can give you general knowledge of the Seattle condo market, Bellevue real estate, and the Mercer Island home market, it is always best to speak to a real estate expert when buying and selling a home.  Therefore, if you need more information on the real estate market in any of these areas or others, whether residential or condo market, then please reach out to a residential real estate broker.