NORTH SOUND 2020 annual MARKET REP ORT
ColdwellBankerBain.com
Helping people buy and sell homes in the Pacific Northwest since 1972, Coldwell Banker Bain is an undisputed market leader, posting nearly $6 billion in sales in 2019. With 32 offices and more than 1,300 brokers in Washington and Oregon, plus a global reach that extends to 92,000 brokers in 43 countries, we’re not only one of the largest Coldwell Banker affiliates in the world, we’re also the most accomplished real estate company in the Northwest. Our commitment to knowledge, expertise, and market insights consistently undergirds our reputation for excellence and service. An emphasis on global access in the luxury realm, combined with the power, reach and recognition of the Coldwell Banker brand, allows us to outsell and outperform our rivals, as we elevate the standard for marketing premier properties in the Puget Sound area and the Pacific Northwest. As important to us as business success— we also provide services in property management, commercial real estate, real estate investment and relocation management— is the understanding that real estate is more than just a transaction; it’s a key part of building safe, happy and prosperous lives for our clients, our brokers and their families.
2020 ANNUAL MARKET REPORT
MIKE GRADY
COLDWELL BANKER BAIN President & CEO Reflecting on the 2020 numbers and the interesting turn of the market in the fourth quarter, Mike Grady, Coldwell Banker Bain president and CEO, said, “It is amazing to look back over the roller coaster that 2020 became and see how well the real estate market was able to withstand a worldwide pandemic and a resulting faltering economy. We started off the year strong in the first quarter with inventory declining slowly to just more than a month’s on hand. Coldwell Banker Bain brokers were reporting that it ‘feels like 2017,’ with multiple offers returning to transactions, and review dates (where sellers identify a date to review all offers) being added to the mix because of the number of offers sellers were receiving. And we started to see double digit median price appreciation increases in Snohomish, Pierce and Kitsap counties, with King nudging back up to five percent over the same period in 2019. At the time, I publicly commented that ‘Unless something unexpected happens to affect the local job market, there’s no reason to think now that this trend will decline.’ And then the completely unexpected COVID-19 hit. As we adhered to lock-down mandates in our region, of course the market was impacted, although it could have been much worse. We saw a nearly 30 percent decline in Total Active Listings in April 2020, a significant decline, given that spring is typically one of the busiest times of the year. The upside continued to be the unequal supply/ demand dynamic, with more buyers than inventory, and so we continued to see impressive price appreciation increases in the largest four counties—a story that has not changed today.
As we responded to regulations related to continuing to serve our clients in a safe way, and leveraged our technology in ways we never anticipated, our market started to bounce back in June. We started to hear our brokers reporting substantial movement to—and diminishing inventory in outlying areas such as Bellingham, Bainbridge Island, Eastern Washington, Bend, OR and other recreational-type locations, given the ability to work from home or accept or decide on an early retirement. The fourth quarter reflected a continuation of this rebound well into autumn. Pending sales were up double digits in the four major counties as well as median prices. A slight decrease in inventory, to about three weeks on hand, puts sellers in a great position—we saw buyers snapping homes up almost as fast as they were listed. With interest rates at record lows and employment in major tech industries very strong, this was a good indication that we might skip the typical slower winter market altogether— and that indeed turned out to be true. We are optimistic about 2021 and expect it to be a very good year. All the economic forecasts for our industry are positive, and most are predicting 2021 to be a banner year. There’s a feeling of optimism because there are multiple vaccines in process of deployment, we have learned to thrive in challenging circumstances, there’s serious discussions about getting the kids back in school, the election is over, and interest rates are still at all-time lows.”
2020 annual NORTH SOUND MARKET REPORT
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2020 ANNUAL MARKET REPORT
SCOTT DICKINSON
Principal Managing Broker of LYNNWOOD & EDMONDS
Said Scott Dickinson, Principal Managing Broker of Coldwell Banker Bain of Lynnwood and Edmonds, “There is no debate that 2020 was full of challenges and obstacles for all industries and individuals, real estate included. A strong early spring buying season was cut off at the knees and all but decimated due to the pandemic and resulting public policy that limited the ability of buyers and sellers to transact. The noble and noteworthy efforts of real estate professionals to re-open our industry lead to a tremendous rebound in sales by summer and continued through the end of the year. Remarkedly, Snohomish County sold over 600 more homes in 2020 than in 2019, representing a 5.3 percent increase. The true strength of the real estate market, and unyielding demand from buyers, is evidenced by the 11.6 percent increase in median sales price. Individual cities within
4 2020 annual NORTH SOUND MARKET REPORT
Snohomish County saw even stronger growth, with Edmonds leading the way with median sales prices 15.5 percent higher than 2019. Everett wasn’t far behind with 14.2 percent sale price growth. The desire to escape the city and retreat to the natural wonders of Puget Sound and other lakefront homes last year was real. The number of waterfront homes listed for sale remained consistent with 2019, however the median sales price jumped 20.2 percent. Implementation of social distancing standards could easily lead someone to assume that condominiums would have been a victim of the policy. This assumption, however, was not sustained by the fact that roughly the same number of condos traded hands in 2020 as they did in 2019, and there was good uptick in sale price as well, at 6.9 percent.”
north sound area
SINGLE FAMILY (SF), CONDO, WATERFRONT & LUXURY
ANACORTES / BELLINGHAM / EDMONDS / EVERETT / LYNNWOOD / MARYSVILLE
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE (NEAREST $000) North Sound Area
AVERAGE DOM 23
$515K
Anacortes
42
$555K
Bellingham
30
$487K
Edmonds
20
$715K
Everett
$500K
Lynnwood
15 22
$580K
Marysville
$454K
Condos
21
$358K
27
Waterfront
$825K
(SF Only)
58
Luxury
$1.25M
($2+M | SF+C) $300K
$600K
$900K
$1.2M
55
$1.5M
NUMBER OF SALES CLOSED 2000
1971
1500
TOTAL SALES CLOSED
1761 1416
1000
6,825
1460 439
500
1015
734
204
336
0
Anacortes
Bellingham
Edmonds
Everett
Lynnwood
INVENTORY IN UNITS / 12.31.2020
Marysville
Condos
Waterfront
TOTAL NORTH SOUND INVENTORY / 163
Luxury -68.0%
34
46
20
36
10
17
63
11
44
-42.4%
-68.9%
-54.5%
-50.0%
-89.8%
-80.7%
-57.7%
-66.7%
-31.2%
Anacortes
Bellingham
Edmonds
Everett
Marysville
Condos
Lynnwood
Waterfront
Luxury
2020 annual NORTH SOUND MARKET REPORT
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north sound area TOTAL NORTH SOUND AREA
2020
2019
CHANGE
TOTAL HOMES SOLD
6825
6592
+0.9%
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE
$515K
$460K
+12.0%
23
32
-28.1%
100%
98%
+2.0%
2020
2019
CHANGE
TOTAL HOMES SOLD
1971
1983
-0.6%
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE
$358K
$335K
+6.9%
27
33
-18.2%
100%
99%
+1.0%
AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET SOLD/LIST PRICE%
$515K
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE UP +12.0% from 2019
CONDOS
AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET SOLD/LIST PRICE%
6 2020 annual NORTH SOUND MARKET REPORT
$358K
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE UP +6.9% from 2019
WATERFRONT
2020
2019
CHANGE
TOTAL HOMES SOLD
204
193
+5.7%
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE
$825K
$625K
+26.9%
58
69
-15.9%
97%
95%
+2.1%
2020
2019
CHANGE
TOTAL HOMES SOLD
336
209
+60.8%
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE
$1.25M
$1.25M
+0.0%
55
69
-20.3%
97%
96%
+1.0%
AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET SOLD/LIST PRICE%
$825K
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE UP +26.9% from 2019
LUXURY
AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET SOLD/LIST PRICE%
$1.25M MEDIAN SOLD PRICE UP +0.0% from 2019
2020 annual NORTH SOUND MARKET REPORT
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north sound area ANACORTES
2020
2019
CHANGE
TOTAL HOMES SOLD
439
447
-1.8%
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE
$555K
$489K
+13.5%
42
70
-40.0%
97%
96%
+1.0%
2020
2019
CHANGE
TOTAL HOMES SOLD
1416
1385
+2.2%
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE
$487K
$440K
+10.7%
30
34
-11.8%
99%
98%
+1.0%
AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET SOLD/LIST PRICE%
$555K
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE UP +13.5% from 2019
BELLINGHAM
AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET SOLD/LIST PRICE%
8 2020 annual NORTH SOUND MARKET REPORT
$487K
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE UP +10.7% from 2019
EDMONDS
2020
2019
CHANGE
TOTAL HOMES SOLD
734
678
+8.3%
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE
$715K
$619K
+15.5%
20
35
-42.9%
100%
98%
+2.0%
2020
2019
CHANGE
TOTAL HOMES SOLD
1761
1730
+1.8%
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE
$500K
$438K
+14.2%
15
26
-42.3%
101%
99%
+2.0%
AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET SOLD/LIST PRICE%
$715K
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE UP +15.5% from 2019
EVERETT
AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET SOLD/LIST PRICE%
$500K MEDIAN SOLD PRICE UP +14.2% from 2019
2020 annual NORTH SOUND MARKET REPORT
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2020 ANNUAL MARKET REPORT
DEAN ULRICH
Principal Managing Broker of BELLINGHAM
Dean Ulrich, Principal Managing Broker of Coldwell Banker Bain of Bellingham, weighed in regarding a few of the surprises for 2020. “Two big stories unfolded for Bellingham & Whatcom County in 2020. First, of course, was when an unprecedented pandemic struck. Second was that we saw one of our best and most active years in real estate ever during the same period. The real estate industry was able to successfully pivot and figure out how to keep working for buyers and sellers under very specific restrictions. Throw in both historically low interest rates, historically low inventory, and the simple fact that people still need to buy and sell homes and we continued to break all sorts of records.
10 2020 annual NORTH SOUND MARKET REPORT
In Bellingham the median sale price continued to climb, up 10.7 percent to $487,000 for homes in 2020 compared to 2019. Whatcom County had a similar gain, up 10.5 percent to $442,000. Homes on average sold at 99 percent of list price and any well priced home could expect multiple offers, and likely would sell for above the list price. As the year ended what was very apparent is that we have a real shortage of inventory, which traditionally fuels additional appreciation. At the end of 2019 there were 148 homes for sale in Bellingham, and the end of 2020 there were only 46, a 68 percent decrease. In Whatcom County it went from 487 to 215. Again, unprecedented.�
north sound area LYNNWOOD
2020
2019
CHANGE
TOTAL HOMES SOLD
1015
994
+2.1%
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE
$580K
$530K
+9.4%
22
31
-29.0%
101%
99%
+2.0%
2020
2019
CHANGE
TOTAL HOMES SOLD
1460
1358
+7.5%
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE
$454K
$410K
+10.7%
21
25
-16.0%
101%
100%
+1.0%
AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET SOLD/LIST PRICE%
$580K
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE UP +9.4% from 2019
MARYSVILLE
AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET SOLD/LIST PRICE%
$454K
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE UP +10.7% from 2019
2020 annual NORTH SOUND MARKET REPORT 11
CHRIS DANTZSCHER PRINCIPAL managing broker
Coldwell Banker Bain | EVERETT 2708 Colby Ave | Everett, WA 98201 Office: (425) 290-7510 Coldwell Banker Bain | DUVALL 15410 Main St. NE, Ste. E | Duvall, WA 98019 Office: (425) 788-1547
chrisdantzscher.coldwellbankerbain.com Cell: (425) 890-7460
*Information and statistics derived by CB Bain from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS), Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS) and the Multiple Listing Service of Central Oregon (MLSCO) each quarter. Statistics not compiled or published by the NWMLS, RMLS or MLSCO.