Ultra-Competitive Housing Market Shows No Signs of Slowing

Like many places across the nation, the Puget Sound region continues to feel the pain of an overheated housing market, reports Nick Bowman. Despite a jump of 40 percent in new listings in February, prices remain high and inventory continues to trail demand.

Around the region, "median residential home prices still continued to climb year-over-year in February, increasing by over 14%, 19%, and 15%, respectively, in King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties. That trend has been even more pronounced in other areas, evidenced by a 21% increase in Kitsap County, where market activity 'is up across the board,' notes Frank Wilson, a regional manager at John L. Scott Real Estate." 

"Meanwhile, expensive bidding wars have continued to cause headaches for buyers, with one Berkshire Hathaway broker recalling a recent prospective instance where a purchaser offered $250,000 over the asking price of a $2 million Wallingford home, 'only to be outbid by several hundred thousand dollars,'" Bowman writes.

Industry experts see "no relief in sight" for 2022.