KIRKLAND, Washington (November 5, 2020) – “Finding and buying a home today is more difficult than at any time in the past 40 years of my career,” was how broker Dick Beeson summed up the latest statistics from Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

The Northwest MLS report recapping October activity showed a 40% drop in active listings compared to the same month a year ago, an increase of 16% in pending sales (mutually accepted offers), and a year-over-year (YOY) jump of nearly 30% in closed sales. The median price of single family homes and condominiums that sold last month was $500,000, up 19% from the same period a year ago, according to the MLS summary, which encompasses 23 counties, mostly in Western and Central Washington.

Beeson, the managing broker at REMAX Northwest in Tacoma-Gig Harbor, said he has never seen so many buyers needing to write multiple offers before securing a

home. “Interest rates are incredibly low. Inventory is incredibly low. And anxiety is incredibly high among buyers,” he remarked.

“Sellers are struggling, too,” Beeson said. “They worry they’re leaving money on the table by accepting an offer within days of their property coming on the market,” he remarked, adding, “ But brokers know that in this market, if a seller doesn’t receive an offer within a short time after the property is listed, the home is most likely overpriced.”

NWMLS members added 10,428 new listings to the supply during the month, improving on the year-ago total of 8,394 for a gain of 24%. In keeping with the pattern of previous months, October’s 11,039 pending sales surpassed the number of new listings.

“Yet again, the four-county area of King, Snohomish, Pierce, and Kitsap counties broke the record for the month of October for the number of homes going under contract,” stated J. Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate. The MLS reported 7,934 pending sales for the four-county region. A comparison of October pending sales dating to 2002 shows the previous high of 7,740 occurred in 2017.