We are now in the throes of winter in the PNW -- freezing low temps and mid to upper 40s for highs. Actually, sort of the norm. What's not the norm is we are close to setting a record for dry days in a row (current record is from the 40s at 12 days). Feast or famine when it comes to rain this year. But, it's sunny and sort of clear, so that's a plus...
The latest NWMLS (Northwest Multiple Listing Service) report shows that listings continue to increase compared to last year -- 23% for December. At the same time, listings decreased by 25% compared to last month. But, it's not unusual for sellers to take their properties off the market during the holiday season, so next month's numbers may be a bit more illuminating. Median sales prices continue a downward direction -- 2% compared to last year and 3% compared to last month.
The NWMLS also released their year in review for 2025. The number of closed sales saw basically no change from 2024 -- a .21% increase. Likewise, the median sales price increased only .7%. Months of Inventory (the number of months it would take to sell all properties listed in the NWMLS based on current sales) remains firmly in the "seller's market" range at 2.83 (up from 2.11 in 2024). But, sellers are receiving -- on average -- just under 100% of their initial asking price. In a seller's market, we usually see more competition for each property with sellers typically receiving more than their asking price (i.e. bidding wars). So, I call it a "technical seller's market", but it's acting more like a balanced market. A balanced market is considered to be 4 to 6 months by most industry experts. Any number less than 4 months is considered a seller's market.
As for mortgage rates, 2025 ended at 6.60% (per Freddie Mac), which is a small decrease from the 2024 rate of 6.72%. December saw the lowest number of the year -- 6.19%, which is basically dead even with the lowest month in 2024 (6.18% in September). See all of this and more on my website.
As always, buyers are still buying and sellers are still selling. I'm available to talk about your plans and/or anything I've mentioned above.
Until next month...
