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It was a short week after the long holiday weekend yet plenty of content I’ve observed to share as we sweep this week from my desk. Thanks for being here, thanks for being a reader and thanks for being in community. I’ll start with a story…in community.
As we (hopefully) each carve out time next week to participate in our annual community service day – I want to share the most interesting complaint call I received a few Saturday evenings ago. I know, funny way to go about telling a story on community – yet here goes the short version…
…I received a call from a gentleman from a NE Seattle neighborhood. He is not a client of ours and he is not transacting real estate. He was upset over the placement of signage for a listing. Not just a little upset – he had gone to the depths of discovery & fact finding to prove our sign could not be where it was. He was well, hot. As I took the complaint call, I did what I do – I listened. And here is where I just about fell off of my chair – as we wrapped up the call – he says to me, “and oh, I want to thank you for all that Windermere does for our neighborhood.” Moral of this story of the complaint call – in community, our collective generosities are seen. Community Service Day is just one of them – I’ll be out there with you! If you don’t yet know how your office is participating and when & where to be – just ask! Many hands make light work…
On the real estate front from my desk, I share market commentary from manager Jordan Malloch – thank you Jordan for being a guest blogger today!
Quick Sweep of four market numbers that are helpful to know:
Metro Seattle (140/380/385/390/700/701/705/710/715/720) Single Family
Active Listings (snapshot):
- Today 863
- Last week on this day 853
- Last Month on this day 752
- Last Year on this day 957
New Listings:
- Month of May 922
- Last week on this day 819
- Month of April 849
- May 2022 1157
Pending Sales:
- Month of May 782
- Last week on this day 662
- Month of April 667
- May 2022 922
Total Number of Closed Sales:
- Month of May 689
- Last week on this day 558
- Month of April 600
- May 2022 921
What Does It Mean?
Well, for the first time this year, our active inventory dropped below last year. As of end of day yesterday (June 1, 2023), we had 863 active listings, last year at the end of June 1, there were 957. That is a decrease of 9.8%. Since there is only one day of date for June, for the other three numbers, I decided to take a look at the month of May and compare it to April of this year and May 2022. Last May represented the high water mark in terms of median sold price with a mark of $1,010,000, this year we were at an even $900,000. Despite being down 10.9% from a year ago, that is a modest 1.7% increase from April. Both pending sales and total closed sales were well below last year, but along with the inventory flip we just saw, I expect June of this year to exceed last year. Obviously, interest rates will have something to do with that, but even with the volatility we are seeing, it is unlikely we will see the large, consecutive increases we saw last year.
This week we also ushered in June, yup – that happened. My daughter graduated from 8th grade & has fully immersed herself in summer break. My son is far from summer break (Seattle Public Schools). I listened to a great live FB feed with Seth Godin who gave a nod to AI being as impactful (and messy in early stages) as Edison’s invention of a thing called the lightbulb – ps, we’ll keep that conversation up as we right size that for our industry (hint: we just need to be smart about it). Seth spoke to the humanity within the long-game in business (and leading with that – agreed). Our country adverted default (big headline). We welcomed in Pride month. And yesterday, we lost a beautiful soul from our Eastlake office – long time staffer (jack of all trades kind of guy) – Lars Peterson – who endured a very quick & devastating battle with cancer. For ushering in June, that was a lot in one week. Let the pace of our upcoming summer find a cadence of lightness both in community and in industry.
As Piper (pictured below) proudly walks towards high school – we all walk towards summer. I very much believe it will be a good one – as there is opportunity in all markets when we each choose to be curious, consistent & in community.
Here to help (and let’s have some summer fun doing it) – the ultimate goal. – Laura
Ps, head on over to @windermereco.seattle (Instagram) to get inspired to live #vanlife at the Second Annual Community Van Jam! 🚗 Tour camper vans, meet fellow van enthusiasts and raise money for a good cause.
All are welcome to this “open house on wheels” – fun way to connect with your people who inspire to be adventuring on wheels this summer! Free community event done for you…
