This year, the Seattle housing market is booming. Sales last year broke records despite record-low inventory levels. There was never a month's worth of stock available. Generally speaking, market watchers in this sector define a balanced market as having a four to six month supply of inventories. The Seattle area has much less than that, which is why housing prices there continue to rise over the means of many buyers.

The fact that the rapid price hikes we have seen so far this year abated in May is good news for purchasers. The latest report showed that there had been a large rise in active listings over the prior year, sales had slowed, and prices were still increasing. King County's median home price (res+condos) increased 13.55 percent from the same month last year to $880,000. Compared to previous year, home prices are rising, but fewer sales are closing.

Single-family home prices in Seattle jumped 11.59% from May 2021 ($919,000) to May 2022 ($1,025,500), according to new data released by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. Buyers can anticipate higher home and condominium prices, although the increases may be moderating. From the standpoint of supply and demand, Seattle's housing market is currently one of the most inequitably balanced in the United States. Sales in the Central Puget Sound region increased to levels not seen since 2006, with Pierce and Kitsap counties seeing the most sales ever. Seattle's housing market is driven by employees of local tech businesses like Amazon and Microsoft. Twenty of the 26 counties in the report are showing more than a month of supply, which is still significantly less than industry's "balanced market" indicator.