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This year began with a bang in the Seattle real estate market. Every home my team and I had on the market went under contract within weeks. The homes we had on sale last year that took their listings off the market for the holidays came back on. All of them sold or are pending. We’re actively working with even more sellers preparing to get their homes ready to hit the market.
It was fast and furious and a bit surprising. After last year’s lack of inventory and buyers for that inventory, it was a quick reversal.
We had a fantastic home listed in Denny Blaine last year. It was on the market for six months. We had great traffic, at least three to four buyer appointments every week. It never got an offer, and it went off the market for the holidays.
On Jan. 15, just five days after re-listing, we received a full-price offer matching the previous list price.
It was just one of many. By mid-April this year, Area 390 — which includes all neighborhoods covered in this distribution — recorded 553 closed sales, compared to 351 during the same period in 2024. That’s a significant increase.
What’s behind the surging market
There are several differences between this year’s activity and last year’s. There’s more inventory, and more buyers out actively working to find their next home. That’s simple to see from the data. The underlying reason for both is that people are thinking — and feeling — differently about home selling and buying.
When my team and I talk to prospective buyers and sellers, discussions are about their needs and wants. That hasn’t been the case in the last year or two. Most recently, people have been fixated on mortgage rates. The jump from super-low rates around 3 percent up to 7 percent cooled the market, especially on the selling side. Sellers couldn’t get past the idea of giving up historically low mortgage rates to move into a home they wanted or needed while paying more each month in interest. Buyers were choosing to wait until the promised rate cuts. Which never happened.
That all changed this year. The waiting game is over, and sellers and buyers are making decisions the way we all did before the rates rose. The need for more bedrooms, good schools, and more space inside and out for growing families matters more than the interest rates for buyers. Or the need for fewer bedrooms, and less space inside and out for downsizing sellers now matters more.
It’s a return to normalcy – driven in part by the fact that today’s interest rates are no longer a shock. Buyers have adjusted, recognizing they can purchase now and refinance later if/when rates decline.
Chris SudoreA more normal cadence
We’re expecting a return to a more predictable market rhythm, like we had before COVID disrupted it and so many other things. That means a strong market through June, when schools let out and vacations happen. Typically, we see an uptick in activity from September through November, when people return to their normal routines and hunker down for the holiday season.
We’re anticipating that, but recent volatility in the stock market – driven in part by the ongoing tariff seesaw – has already caused a few hiccups. When the market dipped, some buyers planning to use investment funds for all-cash purchases became more cautious.
Even with that buyer caution, we’re still in a strong seller’s market. Though there are more available homes for sale by the numbers, there are still more buyers looking and making offers. That translates into 1.5 months of inventory. Real estate analysts define a neutral market as four to six months of active supply. Even at the higher end of the market, those homes above $5 million, three properties are pending, and 13 available. That’s 2.5 months of supply in a sector that usually sees homes on market for six to 10 months.
Make your plans
If you’ve wanted to sell but were cautious due to interest rates, it’s time to get going. Buyers are out and active. But they’re not looking for just any place to hang their hats — this generation of buyers wants a turnkey experience. That means getting your home in great shape inside and out. So many buyers target homes based on the photos they see in the online listings, so how your home is staged, photographed, and marketed makes an enormous difference in the number of showing appointments made.
Buyers are tired of waiting and moving fast. If you’re a buyer, make sure you have your financing in place and a broker who will fight for you. We’re seeing multiple offers on prime properties again, so having an experienced broker who knows how to structure an offer that will get you into the game and negotiate it to win. Be ready to move fast when you find that unicorn property, because it’s going to be competitive.
While it’s a much more normally paced market, there’s still uncertainty about the future. So many homeowners have questions about their real estate investment, and what that means to them. My team and office are based here in Madison Park, we work here and live here. If you have any questions about what’s right for you, now and in the future, let’s set up a time to talk.
Chris Sudore is a Madison Park resident and Managing Broker Coldwell Banker Bain | Global Luxury. Reach him at KingCountyEstates.com or at Chris@KingCountyEstates.com