Homeowner Report For Lynnwood, WA: How Much Is YOUR Home Worth?
Sales, Prices, and Predictions… Everything you need to know for the month of May 2022.
Home Sales: Spring is here – I hope you are getting a chance to go outside and enjoy the sunny weather when you can. Here in Lynnwood, WA, median home prices have bumped up by $15,000 to $700,000. Click the link if you’d like to learn how much your home is worth right now.
Transactions: In the city of Lynnwood, the number of closings stayed flat at 1632 last month – That reflects homes that likely went under contract in March. Spring is here now, so we’ll see what happens to our transaction volume next month. Usually, Spring is a busy season to buy and sell!
Inventory: The number of homes for sale increased slightly, but is still low… On average only 61 homes were for sale at any given time. We had 130% of that amount last year, and 3 times that much in 2020.
We have less than one month’s inventory right now which still puts us in a strong seller’s market. As long as inventory stays low, prices will stay strong and continue to rise. Some people will just pay more because they want something NOW, especially amid concerns they’ll be priced out if prices and interest rates go even higher.
With our A-PLUS home sales system, we help you maximize your profits when you sell.
#2 – Now let’s talk about interest rates – they have SHOT UP in the last few months… The 30-year rate was at 3.2% in January, and now we’re looking at 5.1%. This will have a big impact on affordability
Buyers who were already in the market may find themselves hesitating, as their buying power slips away… but conversely, they may be racing to get something under the contract due to a Fear of Missing out if they don’t act fast and rates continue to climb.
Unfortunately, some buyers at the lower end of the price range will be priced out and unable to buy a home. Most others will just have to down-grade their expectations of what they can afford. (They may find their “champagne” budget has turned into a “beer” budget).
NEXT STEPS – YOUR FREE HOME EVALUATION:
I know making a move is a big decision and I can help you get it done. My name is Emily with HomeSmart Real Estate Associates and as a real estate professional, I study home prices every day.
As the sharply rising interest rates are throwing a wrench into the gears there’s a lot of uncertainty in the market, and some homes are not selling in the first week, like they had been. It’s extremely challenging to know how much your home is worth, and make a plan to buy your next home.
Because of this, I want to make a special offer – only for those who watch this video. I want to give you the opportunity for a custom one-on-one home evaluation. We’ll get together over the phone, on a video conference call, or in-person and go through exactly what your home would be worth if you were to sell it now.
Click the link below and you’ll be taken to a page where you’ll tell me about your home and then have the opportunity to schedule a time to connect with me for a custom 1-on-1 home evaluation. Simply click the link below to discover your home’s true potential.
PREDICTIONS:
Now it’s time for…
#3 Emily’s predictions for the Lynnwood housing market this summer.
Now that our historically-low interest rates are not as low as they once were, many people are asking me what will happen to the market.
The graph shows the only time home values dropped significantly was during the housing boom and bust of 2006-2008. If you look at how prices spiked prior to 2006, it looks a bit like the current spike in prices over the past two years. That may lead some people to be concerned we’re about to see a similar fall in home values as we did when the bubble burst.
The truth is, many homes have become LESS affordable for buyers. In some areas, I am seeing homes sit on the market for more than a week before going under contract. Not that that’s the end of the world, but it’s becoming increasingly common as buyers and sellers struggle to make sense out of the quickly shifting market.
The good news is that the underlying fundamentals are strong this time, in a way they weren’t before. The Deputy Chief Economist at First American, reports: “Homeowners in Q4 2021 had an average of $307,000 in equity – a historic high.”
With that much equity, we should not see the spate of foreclosures brought on by low-equity houses funded by adjustable-rate mortgages.
You can still sell your home for a high price, and people won’t be forced to sell by changes in their monthly payments brought on by adjustable-rate loans. I don’t think we’ll see a crash as we did before because borrowers currently have good, solid loans in place.
We still have way more buyers than sellers.
The biggest impact of the rising interest rates will on buyers, who will have to downgrade their expectations on what they can afford. Low-end buyers and investors may be edged out of the market.
Home values should continue to increase, helped along by inflation and our imbalance, buyer-heavy marketplace. If you have questions or want to discuss the economic models behind this update, feel free to reach out or write a comment below.
Otherwise, I’ll see you on the next one. Thanks for watching. I’m Emily Cressey, and here at HomeSmart Real Estate – We do more.
