The number of newly inked pending sales of single-family homes in Western Washington has been running higher than the number of new listings for most of this spring and summer, raising the prospect of a tighter squeeze on would-be buyers.
This past week, however, new listings jumped past the number of new sales in the 23 Washington counties. That might be a harbinger of change, or just a one-week blip.
Notwithstanding the relative shortage of inventory, as the real estate agents think of it, the sales trend has been strong. Pending sales have exceeded last year’s comparable figures since mid-May despite the economic cataclysms and logistical difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing business lockdown.
For the past two weeks, new sales have run 27% ahead of last year’s levels.
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