9/29/2019: This last week total Newly Actives (NA’s) coming onto the market dropped a bit, total amount of Pending Inspections (PI’s) surged, total amount of existing Pendings also jumped up a bit and the total amount of existing 6-day P/PI’s (properties that went into contract within 6 days of listing date) surged as well. Interestingly, weekly P’s and weekly 6-day P/PI’s dropped to almost 0! Weekly P/PI% to NA ratios was 108%, highest in a couple of months, total P/PI% to NA ratio is at 63%, both highest in a couple of months. MLS Market Watch shows NA’s steady at 135 per week, Pendings also steady, and Contingents continue to be almost non-existent.

This week’s focus is on what locations are having the highest incidents of 6-day-or-less listings going to pending or pending inspection (P, PI), to get an idea of the areas with the most intense competition.

9/9/2019: Last week was post-Labor Day, with a predictable surge in Newly Actives (NA’s), which settled down over the weekend, but expecting another surge this coming week. A slight surge in 6-day P/PI’s, bumping back up to 23% of all P/PI’s. Total P/PI to NA ratio is also beginning to rise, currently at 58%. MLS Market Watch shows NA surge, Pendings down 1/5th last week, Contingents still well below 5 days.

Seattle’s in-city single-family valuations have been fluctuating wildly in the last 6 months. If you’re an agent working on market analyses, it’s a bit like the 5 blind men touching the elephant: Depending on what portion of town you’re focusing on, you’ve got prices going up, prices going down, market times increasing, market times decreasing, no competing offers, still competing offers. In today’s video, we’ll take a look at a market analysis of the overall Seattle market, then delve deeper into market trends north of the Canal and Montlake Cut,  then specifically analyze the pricing and timing in the Ballard area, and then finally laser in specifically on 3 bedroom, pre-2000 homes, to see what the market is really doing. I think you’ll be surprised by the current Ballard market; I sure was!

8/19/2019: New Actives (NA’s) rose to a high of 900, Pending Inspection (PI’s) followed suit to a high of 80, 6-day Pending/PI’s staying strong @150~ and are @ 32%, Total P/PI’s are slightly up @ 68~% of NA’s. MLS Market Watch shows NA’s slightly down, of 90 to 139, P’s slightly lower. $ reductions are under 90. Note: Contingent P’s steady at 6 or lower for months.

brucephares.withwre.com

I regularly perform 2-3 price evaluations (CMAs) in a week on properties, for clients, attorneys, estates, etc. They’re rarely easy to do, if you want to be accurate, and in the end, there needs to be an understanding that the fluidity of the market that is inherent, due to fluctuations of listing inventory, amount of buyers, and how those buyer value (or down-value) such intangible aspects as views, remodeling, arterials, schools, etc., that fluidity essentially mandates that any estimation of value will have an inherent level of inaccuracy, compared to whatever the final sales price may be. That’s especially true for online valuation tools, designed primarily to “hook” consumers to begin relationships with brokerages.

With apologies to the great band “Chicago”, today’s topic explores how variable the valuation process is, and explains why you need to go deeper than a click or two on a pretty website, to figure out what your property may or may not command from the existing marketplace.

Not every part of Seattle real estate is a seller’s market, and Belltown Condos have taken a hit since May of 2018! Take a look at the statistics in this episode of This Week In Seattle Real Estate!

It’s pretty stunning to be able to see the exact moments in the last 20 years, when Seattle’s real estate market began its upward trajectory, then bolting upwards to its peak only to freefall, until bottoming out, and to rapidly begin rebounding back upwards within less than a month’s time. Take a look at these striking graphics and see if it matches the months and years you thought it took place!