Western Washington saw one of the largest year-over-year decreases in active inventory last month. There were 3,333 properties for sale in January — a 23.2% decrease from January 2023, when there were 4,342 homes on the market. Only Las Vagas had a steeper nation drop in inventory levels.
As a result of the low housing inventory levels around Western Washington, we are returning to bidding war situations. Seattle area home sales increased by 7% in January, marking the first year-over-year increase since March 2022. Meanwhile, home sale prices increased by 3.4% year over year.
Additionally, the new commission rules are allowing Sellers to save 10’s of thousands in Buyer Agent commissions.
Taking advantage of low inventory before more homes come on the market is important in maximizing value for your home. Interest rates still hover around 7% so as more homes come on the market in spring, the rule of supply v/s demand will kick in and we may see some downward pressure.
The new buyer’s agent rules have also caused a major influx of activity in open houses and can help sellers save additional fees on Buyer’s Agent commissions. You no longer have to offer a pre-set commission for the buyer’s agent. Those commissions are negotiable. And for buyers coming to an open house without an agent, they can make their offer significantly more competitive by not using a buyer’s agent (Typically saving the seller around $25,000 on a $1 million home.)
On this home in Sammamish listed at $1,925,000 we received 6 offers. All offers ended up being over $2 million. 3 (three) of those offers had a buyer’s agent. They all asked for 2.5%, which was over $50,000 in commissions. 3 additional (three) did NOT use a buyer’s agent and they were all also over $2 million. That make those 3 (three) offers far more favorable to the seller than the ones with a buyer’s agent’s commission.
Posted by Cary W Porter on
Leave A Comment