by Calculated Risk on 6/12/2020 06:48:00 PM

The Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported Housing activity in Western Washington shows resiliency as buyers, sellers and brokers adjust to COVID-19 restrictions

Not surprisingly, year-over-year comparisons showed sharp declines. The number of new listings fell nearly 33%, total active listings plummeted nearly 36%, pending sales declined 13.5%, and closed sales dropped about 35%. Prices remained in positive territory, rising about 2.3% from a year ago.
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“The local real estate market is hot, but it looks different than it traditionally does,” remarked J. Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate. “The constraint on available inventory makes it feel like we’re running out of homes to sell.”

Brokers added 9,871 new listings to the MLS database during May, which compares to 14,689 for the same period a year ago. At month-end the selection included 10,357 active listings; that volume was 5,766 fewer than the year ago total of 16,133.
emphasis added

There were 5,957 sales in May 2020, down from 9,153 sales in May 2019.

The press release is for the Northwest. In King County, sales were down 41.2% year-over-year, and active inventory was down 40.0% year-over-year.

In Seattle, sales were down 41.2% year-over-year, and inventory was down 36.8% year-over-year..  This puts the months-of-supply in Seattle at just 2.1 months.

The closed sales are for contracts mostly signed in March and April (when showing were limited).   There will likely be some rebound in the July report.