Homebuyers struggle to find the right deal even as prices continue to drop
A new housing report by the Northwest Multiple Listing Services shows the prices of homes in several Washington counties had been on a downward trend this year. That includes homes in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties; but those on the hunt for a home said they’ve struggled to find the right deal.
The report showed the 2023 median cost of a home in King County dropped by 9.39% from March of 2022. Snohomish saw a 10.37% decrease and average prices for Pierce county homes dropped by 6.18%. Matthew Gardner, Windermere Real Estate’s chief economist, said the overall drop is because mortgage rates have increased.
“Back in March of this year the median sale price was $760,000 here in King County. That’s down from $838,753 in March of 2022,” Gardner explained.
But the month-to-month cost of a house has increased.
“Month over month home prices here in King County are up about 4.6%, they’re up about 2.3% in Snohomish County, down about 0.8% in Pierce County,” said Gardner. He added, “No one wants to sell their home and, as I said earlier, lose that never seen before, likely never seen again mortgage rate. So the market is going to be tight.”
Mark and Terry Porter have been in the market for a new home for the last six months and said they’ve struggled to find a deal.
“[There’s] kind of the limited number of homes on the market right now but a lot of them are also sitting for 35-40 days, and you finally see them lower the prices a little bit,” they said. “We’re looking at about one a week.” The Porters added, “People are still bidding on houses so if you got a high price and they bid them up maybe 10% or 20%.”
Gardner said while over the last year the average price of a home has dropped in some counties, he expects that to taper off as mortgage rates slowly come down as well.
“So the bottom line here is I don’t expect to see a situation that we’ll continue to see prices dropping,” Gardner explained.
Gardner also said people who bought their homes while mortgage rates were at an extreme are reluctant to sell their homes as well.
