December 2021 NWMLS Activity

High demand, low interest rates and the snowy weather took the Puget Sound housing market active listing count to beyond the expected seasonal slowdowns in December! In fact, a search through the Northwest Multiple Listing Service’s (NWMLS) records going back a decade shows the 3,240 active listings at month’s end was the first time available inventory had dipped below 4,000 units.

Agents of the NWMLS added 4,617 new units to inventory in December. Again, pending sales of 5,850 outpaced new inventory (by over 1,200 units)…further adding to the decrease in available units. As sellers work to find a replacement property, buyers continue to bid up the existing inventory and pull out all the stops when trying to win the bid. Area-wide, there was less than a 2-week supply (0.40) at month end. Snohomish County had the lowest at 0.20 months; followed by King at 0.27 months and Pierce at 0.32 months.

Brokers in the 26 counties served by the NWMLS reported 8,017 closed sales in December, a drop of around 1,000 transactions from the year ago total of 9,008 (down about 11 percent). Though all-in-all, brokers tallied 107,354 closed sales during all of 2021…an increase of 12.1 percent from the previous year where the total was 95,760 closings.

The median price for last month’s closed sales area-wide was $572,900, up from the same time a year ago ($488,000) by about 17.4 percent. Prices of single family homes alone (excluding condos) was up nearly 17.5 percent from $502,247 to $590,000; while prices for condos rose 17.6 percent from $370,000 to $435,000.

As we go into 2022, more inventory would certainly be helpful to combat the already drastically low inventory yet we still expect to experience strong demand, slightly higher interest rates and a very active market! Appreciation should be in the high single digits for King County and somewhere over 10 percent for Snohomish and Pierce counties. Make 2022 your best real estate experience ever by reaching out to Hewitt Property Group to help you with your next move!