Redmond Real Estate Pulse

The spring housing market has come early to Redmond. While it continues to be a sellers market, homebuyers are starting to come out in big numbers. In January, pending sales of single-family homes rose 23 percent, from 39 to 48, but pendings were down 9 percent from January 2015. This is a reflection of the decline in inventory over the holidays. New listings rose 107 percent last month, from 27 to 56 but that is still 20 percent lower than last year at this time.

February 16, 2016 4:40 pm

Submitted by John L. Scott Real Estate

The spring housing market has come early to Redmond. While it continues to be a sellers market, homebuyers are starting to come out in big numbers. In January, pending sales of single-family homes rose 23 percent, from 39 to 48, but pendings were down 9 percent from January 2015. This is a reflection of the decline in inventory over the holidays. New listings rose 107 percent last month, from 27 to 56 but that is still 20 percent lower than last year at this time.

Buyers are grabbing what inventory there is as quickly as it comes on the market. Redmond is one of the hottest real estate markets in King County. Great schools, tech industry jobs, and overall quality of life, along with historically low interest rates, makes the market very competitive.

“The number of listings available for sale is down from a year ago,” said Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate. “We’re selling virtually all of the new listings that come on the market; many with multiple offers.

“Open house traffic is ramping up, and the number of homes selling in the first 30 days is double what a normal, healthy market would look like.”

“The lack of inventory in the Redmond market makes it is a challenge for buyers to find their dream home,” says Mona Spencer, managing broker of John L. Scott Redmond. “For example, we recently had 57 offers on one of our listings.”

Spencer added that price alone is not the deciding factor in whether or not the sellers choose an offer.

“Sellers, with the help of their agent, also pay attention to the lender and type of loan, the amount of earnest money, down payment, pre-inspections and closing timeline,” she said.

What advice does Spencer offer buyers? “Buyers must be educated on how to write a clean, strong offer.”

She added that in King County there is approximately 1.41 months supply of inventory. In Redmond, there is approximately .7 months supply.

“For a stable and healthy real estate market, we need four to six months of inventory,” Spencer said.