Snohomish County Real Estate Market Update | June 2021

Hey y’all. Zach McDonald, your real estate agent with Real Property Associates, and this is my Snohomish County Real Estate market update for June, 2021. If you’re new to the channel every single month, I highlight the Snohomish County Real Estate market and the King County real Estate market and the Seattle Real Estate Market, kind of my flagship pioneering YouTube video. So if you like to learn about the market and stay up to date on the market, please consider subscribing to my channel. All right, let’s talk about the Snohomish County real estate market. And just a reminder, we’re going to be looking at the stats from May, 2021. So we’re looking backwards to understand what happened and get an idea for kind of where we’re headed here. And that’s where I’m gonna add a little bit of context. The first thing we’re gonna do is we’re gonna go through the county as a whole.

We’re going to talk about some of the highlights from Snohomish County in the month of May, and then I’m going to put a special spotlight on Northeast Snohomish County this month. Let’s get started with the stats for Snohomish County. And as we look at the stats here, we are gonna focus this month on the residential stats. So I’m not gonna focus on condos this month. We’re just gonna talk about the residential stats. If we look at the numbers from May new listings in Snohomish County, were up 21.1%, which we desperately, desperately needed. again, for perspective for this whole video, last year’s numbers for new listings and pending sales and close sales, were all fairly depressed because of the Covid 19 pandemic. So keep that in mind as we’re going through this video. The prices did dip a little bit as well, so all of the stats are a little bit exaggerated given that they, we had the little bit of a drop last year.

but as we head towards the end of the year, as you continue watching these videos, you’ll see that that gap’s probably not gonna be quite so dramatic. You’re not gonna see plus 40%, maybe it’s gonna be 20, 25% still, but I think that is going to start to change. But for now, just keep in mind that these numbers are a little bit distorted. Now, pending sales are up a lot as well, 25.9%. So pretty much all the new houses coming on the market are selling. Just as quickly, we also saw a large jump in close sales, so 43.5% jump, which is what I was mentioning, we’re gonna see quite a bit more close sales this year in May. And then days on market dropped pretty dramatically as well. So last year we had about 19 days on market on average, and last month we had an average of seven days on market. Now, this is what’s blowing me away right now, the median sales price and average sales price in Snohomish County. Now, I just finished filming my King County market update, which will be linked up below if you’re interested in the south

Side of the Seattle area. And we were seeing very substantial price increases. But I’m looking at Snohomish County and I’m, I’m surprised, but not at the same time, maybe pleasantly surprised. We saw an increase of 35.7% in the median sales price, and the average sales price increased 34.5%. So pretty much 35% increase in Snohomish County over the last year. And a lot of that I think, is attributed to people moving farther north and getting out of King County for various reasons. Some political, some related to the fact that they don’t need to be as close to work. And a lot of the highest paying jobs and office jobs are going to be in King County, Bellevue and Seattle specifically. But we’re seeing a migration out of King County to Snohomish County. But at the same time, don’t get me wrong, there’s a whole bunch of people moving to King County and the housing market super hot there too.

So it’s not like King County is missing people, but there are people that are in the area that have been moving out and as well as people that are moving to the area, maybe considering Snohomish County. Now, part of that is also because prices are a lot more affordable in Snohomish County than in King County. the job, I think the gap is going to continue to get compressed, but currently it’s a lot more affordable to buy a house in Snohomish County. And as I look at numbers for cities, I mean, I’m seeing a lot of numbers in the fives and the sixes and up to the eights for some of the nicer areas into the nines, maybe at at, at the high end for some of the nicer areas in Snohomish County, whereas in King County, we’re talking 1, 2, 1 3, 1 0.5 million for a lot of the more desirable areas, so substantially more affordable, which is also why we’re seeing so much activity, I think, in Snohomish County.

So keep that in mind moving forward, that I think Snohomish County is gonna continue to see pretty dramatic increases here as people consider what they can buy into the Hoish County, and also how much more affordable the houses are but it doesn’t make the market any less hot. So if we compare King in Snohomish County prices as far as percentage of list price, very, very similar. We’re seeing 9.4% over asking price in Snohomish County, which is pretty much the same we’re seeing in King County. So equally competitive prices, but a little more accessible starting price points, but inventory numbers in all of Snohomish County there, there were 410 houses for sale at the end of the month which were probably mainly houses that had listed right before the month changed, if you catch my drift here. So we’d have an about 0.4 months of supply available.

So again, a half of those 0.4 months of houses probably came on the market right before the month changed and just hadn’t sold yet. So if you’re thinking about it, it’s like every week, if houses don’t come on the market, less houses come on the market, this number just keeps getting smaller and smaller and it’s already super, super small. So that’s what’s driving a lot of the frenzy is that there really aren’t enough houses for everybody. And so everybody’s competing. And anytime you have competition, you have the prices going up. And the word one is a scary word when you’re buying a house. I won the house, I won the bid. When you think of bidding, what do you think of? You think of an auction, right? A silent bid. That’s essentially what you’re doing when you’re making an offer on a house right now.

It’s like I, I was talking to another agent officer, like 30 offers on a house that they made an offer on yesterday. One person’s gonna get it, it’s gonna go to the person that paid the most and had the best terms. And sometimes it’s the person that paid the second or third most and had the best terms, but most people that are paying the most are also having good terms. So crazy market, super competitive. If you are a buyer, it is really tough out there right now, and I really do sympathize with you and empathize with you. I’ve been there before. It was really, really hot back when I bought my house in Edmunds that we’re living in now, and the market is really, really hot again. And it’s, it takes perseverance. There are going to be people that quit and step out and take a break if you need that, do it.

But I think what’s gonna happen here this summer and into the fall is there might be a little bit of reprieve if you stick it out. I think there are going to be some more opportunities. Typically this time of year we see a lot more coming on the market, and I talk more about that in my Seattle market update. And again, it’s more of just kind of a general overview of the area. so you could might want to go check that one out too. If you want to hear more of my thoughts specifically. I do a little less commentary in these videos, but I wanna transition now to highlighting Snohomish County in general and some of the fun facts, we’ll call it that. and as I look at median sales price, I always have to talk about Edmunds because it’s where I was born and where I returned to.

I’m a Snohomish County boy at heart. I’ve lived, I lived in Snohomish County most of my childhood, and then I lived in King County for a lot of my early adult life. And now I’m back in Snohomish County raising my family. So I love Edmunds. Home prices are up 26.6% in Edmonds last month. if we look at the real stars though of last month, number one, Monroe, Monroe, Washington, I was a little surprised to see this is up 54.1% year over year median sales price. Now part of me wants to try to discredit this number and think, well, maybe there really weren’t that many houses that sold in Monroe last year during Covid. So we’ll keep watching this number and see if this 54.1% stays. And remember, prices were a little depressed last year, so maybe they were more depressed in Monroe, but that’s a huge number.

And if I look and I look at Lake Stevens, lake Stevens was up 43.9% year over year. So again, a huge number. And Bothel little bit in King County, a little bit in Snohomish County, I kind of lump it into Snohomish County for these updates, 38.2% up. And then Linwood, Linwood was I think number three here in growth, 40.2% up year over year. So some pretty astonishing and staggering numbers in Snohomish County. And again, Monroe takes the victory for largest amount over the previous year. Now, Darrington Darrington was struggling a little bit. I don’t know what’s going on, Darrington. I can’t say I’m hyper familiar with Darrington s market, but down 15.4%. Darrington is like super, super far north and east in Snohomish County. If we look at the average percent of list price, Bothel takes the win. And again, Bothels a little bit in a little bit Outis in Hoish County, depending on your zip code, 13% above asking price.

So super competitive in Bothel, pretty similar to how competitive it is in like some Amish and Redmond, which are some of the hottest places in King County. So just to put that in perspective, there were a few other cities in Snohomish County that were a pretty close second and third to Bothel as far as most competitive, and that would be Mount Lake Terrace and Linwood. Both of them were above 12% over the asking price, so pretty substantial numbers there as well. And there were lots in the eights and the nines and the sevens. my hometown Edmonds, 9.7% above asking price in Edmonds. If we look at the supply numbers and we’re looking at amount of homes available compared to buyers in Mount Lake Terrace in Marysville, we had the lowest amount of supplies to Hummish County 0.2 months, less than one week of homes.

Again, those home homes probably came on the market last week and hadn’t sold before. The month changed. So pretty much every house that comes on, the market’s gone really fast and there aren’t any houses available. Like if you were to go on the MLS or Zillow or Redfin or whatever site you like to use, you probably aren’t gonna see very many listings on a Wednesday, Tuesday or Wednesday after offer reviews have happened, you’ll probably see like some houses over the weekend and they’re gone. So if you’re looking at that search map, you’re like, where are all the houses in Mary’s bill? Now, the last stat that I’m looking at here, when I compare these different markets, I’m looking at average days on the market. So I’m looking at how long it took to sell a house on average. And so Bothel Snohomish in Monroe, all tied for the lead five days on the market.

So super, super fast, pretty much in line with the fastest places in King County. Now, countywide, again, average days on market market was seven. So these ones were beating the average and most of the rest of the markets here that we’ve been talking about 7, 8, 9 days on market. So again, super competitive in Snohomish County. I don’t expect that to change, at least not any time soon. I, I don’t see, I wish I could say I see hope in a massive market shift for buyers because I, it’s, it’s tiring for me as an agent too, because I work with a lot of buyers and I also work with a lot of sellers. So it’s like, on one hand it’s really nice with listings to see multiple offers, and it’s fun to be like, oh man, we got 12 offers. Like, which one do you want to choose?

Versus working on the buyer side, man, how many more offers we gotta make? So it’s, it’s a little bit of a tug of war. So I find I like working in a market maybe where it’s a little more balanced because it’s equitable, it’s a little less crazy and, you know, it’s, it’s easier for me too to navigate that time. So selfishly, I want it to be a more balanced market for buyers and sellers too, but I, I can’t honestly look and say I see a period or a point where, yeah, it’s definitely gonna switch. So buyers, stick it out, keep it up. This market is very similar to what we experienced in 2000 15, 16, 17, when it was super competitive. Then there was a break in 2018 and 19, it slowed down. Home prices declined a little bit. They didn’t dramatically drop, but we did see a two plus month, two plus quarter pullback in prices.

So that’s something like, that’s going to happen again, I don’t know when, but I wouldn’t necessarily wait for it either and try to time the market because that’s impossible. So I guess my message to you is stick it out. if you’re a seller, this is a great time to sell your house, really great time to sell your house because you are able to capitalize on the hottest market we’ve ever had and the highest prices we’ve ever had. now if you don’t have anywhere to go or you’re not planning to leave the area and you don’t need to sell, I wouldn’t necessarily sell. But if you’re thinking about moving out of the area or that’s what you’re kind of in the process of doing, you’re kind of hitting the jackpot as far as timing goes. So good for you. Now, at the beginning of this video, I promise to highlight Northeast Snohomish County.

So I’m going to do that here before we finish up this video. If you’re on the Northeast. And please blow up the comment section and say thank you and I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences. I I don’t get out to places like Monroe and Gold Bar that often. My sister and brother-in-law did buy out in Granite Falls, which is kind of fun. but I don’t really get out as often to the super northeast part of Snohomish County. So it’s fun for me to dialogue about this a little bit too. But as I look here, I’m still seeing, I’m seeing large price increases 33% in Arlington, almost like 33.8% in Arlington, almost 34% I’m seeing 25% increase in Granite Falls, 20.8% increase. Insan, and I mentioned this earlier, 54.1% increase in Monroe and then Goldbar, 19.1%. So I mean crazy.

And these are all places that I regularly drive through going out to Eastern Washington. So we love going over to Leavenworth and Shalan. So you drive through all these towns all the time in there. They’re small towns. There’s not a huge, huge stores. Monroes probably the biggest one out of all of ’em, but these are small little towns. A lot of people drive through ’em, don’t stop that often, but the housing markets are blowing up. And if we look at average prices though percentage above list price, we’re not seeing super, super steep competition necessarily price-wise. So a little bit easier in general to get a house than it might be if you were closer into Seattle or Bellevue. and you were kind of in that North King County, south Snohomish County. but still, I mean, Arlington’s 6.8% over asking price. If you look at Monroe Homes, you’re selling almost or 10.6% above asking price.

And Goldbar Goldbar is hanging in there, 7.2% above asking price. So competitive, definitely different though a little bit different and, and prices are lower. So Monroes, Monroe’s got the highest prices at 6 6 6 99, 8 38 for median sales price. But a lot of these other places, you’re gonna be getting a house for 500 to 550,000. So Northeast Snohomish County is gonna be a little more affordable, and the closer you get to Seattle and those suburbs, the more expensive it’s going to get. Now if we look at amount of supply, we still have super low numbers. We’re somewhere in between 0.4 months in Goldbar and point two months supply in. Oh, that’s Marysville <laugh>. if we look at Darrington, we’re at 1.4 months, so somewhere between 0.4 and 1.4 months if we’re looking up at the northeastern part of Snohomish County. And then days on market, things are still selling quickly between five to eight days, nine days in Arlington and then, and then Darrington.

We’re at 22 days average on market. So a little bit slower market the very far northeastern part there of Snohomish County, but Northeast, Snohomish County, super hot market still, it’s just a trickle effect all the way out. And I think one of the draws is to get a little farther out of town is you have a little bit more space. Typically you have more land, typically you have a little bit more affordability. As we were just talking about prices. I mean, there’s a big difference between buying a house for 4 61 500 in Gold Bar or buying a house for $867,000 in Edmonds. So huge affordability difference. A little bit more land and space, but it is quite a trek to drive from Monroe all the way into Seattle in the morning, or Bellevue in the morning, especially when traffic’s starting to pick up again.

So a little perspective and highlight on the north end here. And I don’t talk about the North end as much, so I wanted to give a little bit of love there. Thanks so much for watching Mice. Snohomish County Real Estate Market update. If you made it all the way to the end here, I know you got a little bit of value. So a couple favors to ask you. Number one, if you wanna see market updates like this on a regular basis, please subscribe to my channel. It really helps me out and it helps a lot more people see these videos and benefit from them as well. My second request is that if you yourself have any interest in buying or selling in the more southern part of Snohomish County, I’d really appreciate an opportunity to connect.