August 2023: Pending sales on homes during August in our two markets were both up year over year from 2022. We had 29 listings find a buyer on Camano Island and 34 in Stanwood, versus 25 and 31 respectively last year. Other key metrics for August activity showed year-over-year declines, including average sales price, new and active listings, and closed sales.

Traditionally, our real estate cycle has experienced a late summer slowdown as consumers pause to enjoy the last of our summer weather and prepare for the beginning of the school year. Experts are also pointing to higher mortgage rates as the reason for the declining sales. With rates around 7.25%, they are the highest we have seen for 30-year home loans since 2001. Many potential sellers are reluctant to give up their 3% rates to move to a new home with a 7% mortgage. And many buyers are waiting for rates to decline, hoping to increase their buying power.

Lifestyle decisions and changes continue to drive some listing and sales activity. With limited inventory, we are still firmly in a sellers’ market. Due to the historically lower number of homes predicted to come onto the market during the winter months, this may be the best selection and availability of homes for buyers until early spring 2024.

New Listings: We saw a slight decline in new listings added to our combined markets from last month, down to 71 from last month’s 75. But, that is down significantly from June’s high of 98. In August, there were 35 listings added in Stanwood and 36 in our Camano Island market.

Pending Sales: The number of homes going under contract in August decreased by 25% from July of this year, from 84 to 63 in our two zip codes. It was down only slightly in Stanwood to 34, from 39 in July. The Camano market saw a large decline in pendings from 45 last month to only 29 in August.

Properties Sold: Due to a high number of July 2023 pendings, our sold properties in August are up 30% from last month with a combined 88 homes closed in the month. This was the highest that we have seen this year.

Sale Price: Average sales prices of properties sold in Stanwood and Camano Island continue to increase incrementally month over month in 2023. The average sales price is $672,345 in Stanwood and $749,173 on Camano Island.