by Calculated Risk on 5/05/2021 08:15:00 PM

Note: Inventory is down sharply in the Northwest almost everywhere except Seattle. And inventory is low in Seattle too, but was even lower a year ago.

Remember - sales slumped in April 2020, so the year-over-year sales comparisons are crazy.

The Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported Brokers detect good news for home buyers, citing gains in listings and moderating prices

Finally, some good news for home buyers! Sizeable increases in new listings compared to a year ago and reports of moderating prices "might mean we are seeing some relief for buyers," suggested John Deely, a board member at Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

In commenting on the latest statistics from Northwest MLS summarizing April activity, Deely said the market remains hot while emphasizing active listing numbers do not always reflect actual overall activity. "With a market like ours, and the velocity of new listings moving to pending status, active listing data tend to get more attention," stated Deely, the vice president of operations at Coldwell Banker Bain.

April's month-end inventory of 5,616 listings was a year-over-year (YOY) drop of 45%; a year ago, there were 10,282 active listings in the MLS database.
emphasis added

The press release is for the Northwest MLS area. There were 8,791 closed sales in April 2021, up 49.9% from 5,866 sales in April 2020.  Active inventory for the Northwest is down 45.4%.

In King County, sales were up 64.1% year-over-year, and active inventory was down 32.0% year-over-year.

In Seattle, sales were up 85.3% year-over-year, and inventory was UP 3.0% year-over-year. (inventory in Seattle was extremely low last year).  This puts the months-of-supply in Seattle at just 0.96 months.