SEATTLE 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 SEATTLE MARKET REPORT
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202O ANNUAL MARKET REPORT
LAURIE WAY
Principal Managing Broker of LAKE union, MADISON PARK & maGNOLIA
Laurie Way, Principal Managing Broker of the Coldwell Banker Bain of Lake Union, Madison Park and Magnolia offices, said, “Despite the pandemic, both prices and sales are strong. The median sold price, in the city limits for singlefamily homes was up 6 percent to $800,000. The number of closed sales for the same category was up 12.7 percent from 2019. Due to a similar lack of inventory as last year, the average number of days on market is now down to 24 days vs 34 days last year. Condos have mixed results between downtown and other Seattle locations. The report shows that overall condos are up 5.1 percent in sales price. The number of condos sold is up 11.2
4 2020 annual SEATTLE MARKET REPORT
percent over 2019. However, the downtown condo market has quite a bit of inventory still left over from 2020 where that wasn’t the case in 2019. We are seeing the momentum changing in downtown condos at the beginning of this year however, with much more activity showing again. The number of days on market for all condos in Seattle was down 25.5 percent to 38 days. The Seattle luxury market, represented by properties priced over $2 million and both condos and single-family homes, took a slight dip in median price – down 2.2 percent from $2.45 million in 2019 to $2.4 million 2020. Cash buyers in this category were plentiful and included both local and international buyers.”
SEATTLE area
SINGLE FAMILY (SF), CONDO, WATERFRONT & LUXURY
QUEEN ANNE & MAGNOLIA / CENTRAL SEATTLE / NORTHEAST SEATTLE / BALLARD & GREEN LAKE / WEST SEATTLE / SOUTHEAST SEATTLE / SODO & BEACON HILL
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE (NEAREST $000)
AVERAGE DOM 24
$1.09M
Queen Anne & Magnolia
$960K
Central Seattle
29 21
$850K
Northeast Seattle
19
$807K
Ballard & Greenlake West Seattle
$675K
25
Southeast Seattle
$685K
27
SODO & Beacon Hill
$650K
31
Downtown Condos
$642K
35
$800K
All Seattle Residential All Seattle Condos
24 38
$494K
Waterfront (SF Only)
$1.487M
60
Luxury ($2+M | SF+C)
$2.40M $500K
$1M
$1.5M
$2M
$2.5M
48
NUMBER OF SALES CLOSED 3000
8,695
2500 2000
TOTAL AREA SALES CLOSED
2458
1500
2675
1790
1000 500
1333
1074
840
477
694
125
367
723
0
Queen Anne & Magnolia
Central Seattle
Northeast Seattle
Ballard & Greenlake
West Seattle
Southeast Seattle
INVENTORY IN UNITS / 12.31.2020
SODO & Beacon Hill
Downtown Condos
All Seattle Condos
Area Waterfront
TOTAL SEATTLE INVENTORY / 611
Area Luxury
+14.0%
78
123
73
110
95
72
60
234
628
23
104
+77.3%
+50.0%
+15.9%
+5.8%
-20.8%
+33.3%
-13.0%
+96.6%
+73.0%
-17.9%
+42.5%
Northeast Seattle
Ballard & Greenlake
Southeast Seattle
SODO & Beacon Hill
Downtown Condos
Queen Anne & Magnolia
Central Seattle
West Seattle
All Seattle Condos
Area Waterfront
Area Luxury
2020 annual SEATTLE MARKET REPORT
5
seattle area TOTAL SEATTLE AREA
2020
2019
CHANGE
TOTAL HOMES SOLD
8695
7712
+12.7%
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE
$800K
$755K
+6.0%
24
34
-29.5%
100%
98%
+2.0%
2020
2019
CHANGE
TOTAL HOMES SOLD
2675
2406
+11.2%
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE
$494K
$470K
+5.1%
38
51
-25.5%
98%
96%
+2.1%
AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET SOLD/LIST PRICE%
$800K MEDIAN SOLD PRICE UP +6.0% from 2019
CONDOS
AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET SOLD/LIST PRICE%
6 2020 annual SEATTLE MARKET REPORT
$494K
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE UP +5.1% from 2019
WATERFRONT
2020
2019
CHANGE
TOTAL HOMES SOLD
125
108
+15.7%
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE
$1.487M
$1.305M
+13.9%
60
77
-22.1%
95%
91%
+4.4%
2020
2019
CHANGE
TOTAL HOMES SOLD
367
268
+39.6%
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE
$2.40M
$2.455M
-2.2%
48
76
-36.8%
96%
94%
+2.1%
AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET SOLD/LIST PRICE%
$1.48M
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE UP +13.9% from 2019
LUXURY
AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET SOLD/LIST PRICE%
$2.4M
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE DOWN -2.2% from 2019
2020 annual SEATTLE MARKET REPORT
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seattle area QUEEN ANNE & MAGNOLIA
2020
2019
CHANGE
TOTAL HOMES SOLD
840
716
+17.3%
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE
$1.09M
$1.013M
+7.6%
24
39
-38.5%
99%
96%
+3.1%
2020
2019
CHANGE
TOTAL HOMES SOLD
1074
905
+18.7%
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE
$960K
$950K
+1.1%
29
39
-25.6%
99%
97%
+2.1%
AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET SOLD/LIST PRICE%
$1.09M MEDIAN SOLD PRICE UP +7.6% from 2019
CENTRAL SEATTLE
AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET SOLD/LIST PRICE%
8 2020 annual SEATTLE MARKET REPORT
$960K MEDIAN SOLD PRICE UP +1.1% from 2019
NORTHEAST SEATTLE
2020
2019
CHANGE
TOTAL HOMES SOLD
1333
1155
+15.4%
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE
$850K
$793K
+7.2%
21
31
-32.3%
100%
98%
+2.0%
2020
2019
CHANGE
TOTAL HOMES SOLD
2458
2210
+11.2%
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE
$807K
$765K
+7.2%
19
30
-36.7%
101%
99%
+2.0%
AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET SOLD/LIST PRICE%
$850K
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE UP +7.2% from 2019
BALLARD & GREENLAKE
AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET SOLD/LIST PRICE%
$807K MEDIAN SOLD PRICE UP +5.5% from 2019
2020 annual SEATTLE MARKET REPORT
9
seattle area WEST SEATTLE
2020
2019
CHANGE
TOTAL HOMES SOLD
1790
1666
+7.4%
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE
$675K
$650K
+3.8%
25
33
-24.2%
99%
98%
+1.0%
2020
2019
CHANGE
TOTAL HOMES SOLD
723
622
+16.2%
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE
$685K
$631K
+8.6%
27
41
-34.1%
100%
97%
+3.1%
AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET SOLD/LIST PRICE%
$675K
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE UP +3.8% from 2019
SOUTHEAST SEATTLE
AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET SOLD/LIST PRICE%
10 2020 annual SEATTLE MARKET REPORT
$685K
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE UP +8.6% from 2019
SODO & BEACON HILL
2020
2019
CHANGE
TOTAL HOMES SOLD
477
438
+8.9%
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE
$650K
$606K
+7.3%
31
41
-24.4%
100%
98%
+2.0%
2020
2019
CHANGE
TOTAL HOMES SOLD
556
599
-7.2%
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE
$642K
$640K
+0.3%
35
69
-49.3%
97%
93%
+4.3%
AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET SOLD/LIST PRICE%
$650K MEDIAN SOLD PRICE UP +7.3% from 2019
DOWNTOWN CONDOS
AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET SOLD/LIST PRICE%
$642K
MEDIAN SOLD PRICE UP +0.3% from 2019
2020 annual SEATTLE MARKET REPORT 11
*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.