by Calculated Risk on 2/08/2019 10:16:00 AM

The Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported Homebuyers resuming search amid improving inventory, attractive terms

KIRKLAND, Washington (February 7, 2019) - Home buyers around Washington state are making their way back to the market, hoping to take advantage of improving inventory, attractive interest rates, and more approachable sellers, according to officials with Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

Northwest MLS statistics for January show year-over-year improvement in the volume of new listings and total inventory, along with moderating selling prices. Although fewer pending sales (mutually accepted offers) were reported than a year ago (down about 3.3 percent), January was the smallest year-over-year decline since May 2018 when the drop was about 2.7 percent.

Commenting on the MLS statistics summarizing last month's activity, broker Gary O'Leyar said January's post-holiday real estate activity doesn't normally pick up until later in the month, but this year the uptick began early. "January started as a bit of a surprise. Open house activity was very robust, and we saw multiple offers in numerous instances again," reported O'Leyar, the owner of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Signature Properties in Seattle.

MLS members added 7,090 new listings of single family homes and condos during January, up from the year-ago figure of 6,805 and nearly doubling December's total of 3,631. At month end there were 11,687 active listings in the database, up more than 45 percent from the year-ago total of 8,037. Listing inventory more than doubled in both King and Snohomish counties.
emphasis added

The press release is for the Northwest. In King County, sales were down 3.7% year-over-year, and active inventory was up 144% year-over-year.

In Seattle, sales were unchanged year-over-year, and inventory was up 168% year-over-year from very low levels.  This is another market with inventory increasing sharply year-over-year, but months-of-supply in Seattle is still on the low side at 2.4 months.