Sequim home sales for 2019, at least for the first 8 months (January through August) have been interesting, if not a bit confusing. So I decided to do an in depth collection of data in all the price ranges and compare the total sales for the past eight years.
There’s a tremendous amount of information in this chart, and I’ll just summarize some highlights. The white numbers at the top of each colored column represent the actual number of Sequim home sales in that price range. You can match up the year of each column with the legend, and the numbers at the bottom represent price ranges, so “1-2” represents $100,000 to $200,000.
Sequim Home Sales
Here is what becomes obvious from a visual aid like this that isn’t so obvious when just looking at the MLS data. Don’t forget the data is from the first eight months of each year, because right now we just ended August of 2019, and I wanted to compare apples with apples in the prior years.
The largest number of homes are clearly sold in the price range of $200,000 to $300,000 when you combine the years from 2012 through 2019. Second is $300,000 to $400,000. About as many Sequim home sales are made between $100,000 and $200,000 as are in the range of $400,000 to $500,000.
The sales numbers dramatically fall off when you get above $500,000, and especially above $700,000. Here are the stats for all sales from Jan 1, 2012 through Aug 31, 2019, including the average Sequim home sales price.
The average “sold price” during this 8 year period is $336,686, and the median is exactly $300,000. The average days on market are 91 days. Of course, this is a period of time that went down and up and down again, so take these stats with a grain of salt.
There is another very intriguing pattern that becomes clear in this chart. Notice that the sales of homes in the upper price ranges, particularly $300,000 to $400,000, and $400,000 to $500,000, and $500,000 to $600,000, and $600,000 to $700,00 all show substantially increased sales over the years to the present in 2019. I believe there are a couple of reasons for this.
First, the prices have been increasing in Sequim slowly, and to buy that nice home means paying more. Second, the inventory of homes in Sequim has been shrinking as almost everyone knows, and that means if a retired couple wants a nice home, they are unlikely to find it in the mid to lower price ranges any more. This is a much more competitive market for buyers.
Much more could be said about the information that this chart reveals, but I’ll add just one more observation. Sequim home sales in the top price range of $800,000 plus remains a very small percentage of the total sales, and also have continued to be sporadic. There are far fewer buyers in the top price range, and in a small market like Sequim’s, the uber wealthy will move to Sequim if and when they so desire. That doesn’t leave a lot of room for statistical consistency (or forecasting). It does make it harder for sellers in the highest price range, because you cannot know for sure when the right buyer will arrive. It could be in a week, or in a year. The best and most effective thing a listing agent can do to help sellers in this top price range is to do the best job with photos, virtual tours, drone videos, and a large Internet presence.
Buying and selling in a small market like this makes Sequim home sales harder to forecast without consistent data for statistical analysis, but this visual aid is fun and helpful. I hope you’ve found it helpful.
Last Updated on September 22, 2019 by Chuck Marunde
