Are we in a healthy, balanced real estate market in Seattle? The real estate market is balanced between buyers and sellers in King-Snohomish Counties around the city of Seattle.

Last year at this time, the market was very much a buyer’s market as evidenced by the color green, which covered most of the June 2008 map.  This year, the predominant color in June, 2009 is yellow, which indicates a balanced market between buyers and sellers.

This is a good thing!  It’s been years since we’ve seen such a balanced market. From 1994-2005, it was mostly a sellers’ market in the Seattle area.  Of course, there were pockets around Seattle and times when this was not the case, but overall, it was a real estate market skewed to sellers.

Now, we see anything and everything.  Some homes sells quickly and with multiple offers.  Others undergo a number of price reductions before selling.  Most homes are not selling for full price, but they are starting to sell, and there’s a healthy amount of turnover.  That being said, buyers have a huge amount of homes to choose from, keeping prices down, and competition strong.  The home that’s the best value will win the buyer and it’s happening quite regularly in this market.

**The map shows the different areas labeled with their NWMLS (Northwest Multiple Listing Service) area number.  Along the side of the map is the number of months it would take to sell all of the homes for sale in a particular area.  For example, Kirkland, south of NE 116th is called area 560.  In this area, it would take 5.7 months for all the homes to sell, if no other home came on the market.  Kirkland, area 560, is in yellow, indicating it’s a balanced market between buyers and sellers.  There’s a reasonable amount of sales happening in Kirkland based on the number of homes for sale.