The Sequim real estate market has seen it’s toughest year yet with high demand for the best homes in the best areas at a time when the inventory is at historical lows. Here’s what has been happening in the Sequim real estate market with the latest data over the past ten years. This first graph is interactive. Drag your mouse across the line and you see the data for time period. This first graph shows the average sales price of single family homes with at least 3 bedrooms with a minimum price of $275,000. This is the filter that 98% of retirees moving to Sequim would be within. If you’re looking for a nice 3 bedroom, 2 bath home on an acre with some kind of peaceful view of the mountains or a water view, and you want what most retirees want–a modern open floor plan with a nice kitchen and a large master bedroom and nice master bath, you are not going to find that in the Sequim area for under $275,000 if it is a site built home. So these charts of the Sequim real estate market will most likely describe what the vast majority of retirees want.
[Data deleted in the NWMLS Data Base now unavailable here.]
The most recent data on the far right of this charge above shows the average sales price of a home in the Sequim and Port Angeles area is $433,297. What’s interesting and what the charge shows us nicely is the trend. In April of 2013 the average sales price was $352,156. In April of 2016 it was $378,773. In October of 2019, almost a year ago, it was $415,958, and then we had a high in June of 2020 of $436,999. As of July of 2020, it is down slightly to $433,297.
From the low to the high (April of 2013 to June of 2020), we saw a 24% increase in price in 7 years, or an average of 3.4% increase per year. That’s not bad, is it? It’s a nice increase over the 7 year period, but Sequim is a fairly stable real estate market, and even the improving Sequim real estate market has been stable.
This chart above shows the reality that homes are essentially selling for full listing price, or very close. Perhaps a quick interpretation by someone with boots on the ground here will be helpful. The nice homes are selling for the listed price, and many are selling for more than listed price. So how does the percentage of selling price to listed price get averaged down to 98%? That’s easy. There are some old and dilapidated disasters no one wants, and they get deeply discounted dragging the average down.
And this last chart clearly shows the inventory dropping and dropping until now we only have 2.9 months of inventory left. That compares with back in September of 2011 when we had 25.3 months of supply in our housing inventory. For clarification, the current inventory of 2.9 months does not include the homes at the top of the Bell Curve. There are very few of those to be found anywhere in the inventory at this time. Of course, those are the single level, 3 bedroom, 2 bath homes with 1,700 to 2,400 square feet with an open floor plan and a modern beautiful kitchen, a large master bedroom and master bath, and a peaceful area with maybe an acre, plus or minus, and a nice mountain view or a valley view of some kind.
It’s tough for buyers to find their ideal home right now in this Sequim real estate market. Call me way ahead of time if you are planning to come and look at homes. I’m an exclusive Sequim Buyer’s Agent, and I think after you do your research on me, you’ll be pleased to hire me. Because of the shortage in the Sequim real estate inventory, I’ve been helping my buyers find homes in surrounding areas, including Whidbey Island. If you need help expanding your search outside of Sequim, I would love to work with you as your buyer’s agent.
Last Updated on August 23, 2020 by Chuck Marunde
