Hot housing market continues to be tough for buyers

SEATTLE — Tyler Davis Jones of The Rise Seattle Group, a Compass real estate brokerage, listed a three-bedroom home in Magnolia for $950,000.

“We received 8 offers. I can’t disclose where we ended up going to, but we went well over $1.1 million,” he said.

That kind of competitive market is tough on first-time buyers like Andrew and Alexa Brooks, who are starting their search.

“Just to hear the stories of 30-some offers on a home makes it incredibly intimidating,” Andrew Brooks said.

“We were ready to make a possible offer yesterday,” Alexa Brooks said.

But that place is already gone.

New numbers from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service show the median price of a single-family home in King County reached $750,000 in February, up 11% from the year before.

Pierce County’s median price is now $315,000, up 19% in a year.

In Snohomish County, the median is $624,000, a 21% jump.

“There’s not a lot of supply, and there’s a lot of demand,” Jones said.

Demand is driven by low interest rates that are beginning to rise.

“The other thing that’s driving it is cabin fever buying. Everyone got a dog during quarantine, and they need a backyard, or they’re working from home,” Jones said.

Someday, the Brooks want to move to the Olympic Peninsula.

But for now, they’re trying to navigate Seattle’s hot market.

“I’m choosing not to be overly frustrated about properties that just don’t work out,” Alexa Brooks said.

The condo market is a little different.

In Seattle, prices are down about 1% over last year.

Cox Media Group