We crunch the numbers so you don’t have to, and so you know what is really going on in the market. Usually, the autumn market enjoys a slower pace, and after houses flying off the market at break-neck speed all summer long, we were kind of looking forward to a seasonal break. However, that’s not quite what happened in October.
This year, we’re still seeing higher-than-usual activity in some areas. We’re starting to recover from the extreme market of last year, but we’re not out of the woods yet. As a result, we’re going into the winter market with low inventory and high demand.
Inventory – Active vs Pending Listings
Active are still low compared to what we usually see this time of year. Normally, we would have over a hundred active listings in Upper Kittitas, but the inventory is getting picked up very quickly. All those down arrows in Pending Listings are just the result of a decline in new listings coming on the market. We can’t sell what isn’t for sale.
*Roslyn doesn’t really have +400% growth, because the formula to get the year-over-year growth would divide 4 by 0, which is mathematically impossible. Roslyn’s 4 active listings is actually on the low-side for your average October. October in 2021 just had an extremely low number of active listings.
Sales & Median Sales Prices
Median sales prices have increased in Upper Kittitas overall, but the real story in those sold listings is how long they spent on the market. Of the 57 homes that sold, 21 of them were on the market for over 30 days. That indicates that buyers are taking a look at the older inventory, and finding some great opportunities that others skipped over. It usually takes hard work and boots on the ground to find these.
Sale-to-List Price Ratio
Don’t pay attention to the down-arrow, because a 100% Sale-to-List Price Ratio is right where we want to be! As the market balances, we’ll see the sale-to-list price ratio return to hover around 100%. In fact, 25 of homes that closed in October sold below listed price. We are likely to see more homes that may have been optimistically priced in a faster market sell for less than asking in a slightly slower market.
This is not a cause for panic! Why? Because real estate is one investment that consistently grows in value over the years. So even if a home doesn’t sell for tens-of-thousands over list price with 40 offers, odds are good that home still appreciated in value over time. In fact, we’ve seen some property values double or even triple between they were bought and sold.
Curious about how the current market would value your property? Even if you don’t want to sell, it’s nice to know what sort of equity your property has gained just by existing. Give us a call, and we can talk about real estate, horses, or just how awesome Kittitas County is.
