8 Quick Takeaways About Pierce County’s Spring 2023 Real Estate Market

8 Quick Takeaways About Pierce County’s Spring 2023 Real Estate Market

What is currently happening in Pierce County’s real estate market? What do buyers and sellers need to know right now?

We know that all of the real estate-related headlines and market reports out there can become confusing and overwhelming. In this blog, we break down the numbers and share quick takeaways about Pierce County’s real estate market that you need to know.

Have a question we didn’t answer? Reach out to us here, we’re always happy to chat!

Here are 8 things you need to know about Pierce County’s real estate market this Spring 2023:

1. Pierce County’s real estate market is currently stable.

“Stable” is how we would describe the Pierce County real estate market right now. There has not been much change in the median sales price over the last few months.

At the same time, home listings tell an interesting story. We saw big housing inventory increases in the 3 months coming into April, and then both inventory and number of pending sales dropped off. This is pretty normal due to seasonal spring breaks and such. But May should tell a different story, so stay tuned—we’ll know more once May’s final numbers are available.

2. Home buyers are active and things are a bit more competitive than just a few months ago.

Inventory was down a bit in April, but home buyers are still active. As a result, there are some multiple offers happening again, particularly with homes listed at the median price and below. That doesn’t mean that buyers need to “throw the baby out with the bathwater” just yet by removing ALL contingencies, but things are a bit more competitive than a few months ago.

Additionally, there are areas within Pierce County that are more attractive for buyers than others. Same goes for those that want to sell their home. Reach out to your WPP representative and they can tell you what your chance of selling is for the specific area you are interested in, and even for your specific home.

3. No matter what interest rates may be doing, now may still be the right time for you to buy or sell.

What we find is that buying or selling a home is a result of some life change. If the time is right for you to buy or sell, right now still presents great opportunities for both buyers and sellers, for all the reasons mentioned previously. And, for more thoughts on this, read Kevin Mullin’s blog “Is Real Estate All About the Numbers?”

4. There are benefits to both buying and selling in our current market.

It is no secret that inventory is low right now, which is great news for sellers. However, due to higher interest rates, sellers are not going to be able to price at whatever they want, but they WILL get a good price due to impressive median price increases over recent years.

Buyers of course are facing a competitive environment, but not an unreasonable one. Contingent offers and closing costs paid by sellers are all things that make this an attractive market for buyers.

5. Homes properly prepared are selling faster and for more money.

The best advice we can give to sellers is to do all those repairs, and do everything you can to make your home move-in ready.

With our Windermere Ready program, we can help you do that at a very reasonable rate and you can use any contractor you’d like! Turnkey homes are definitely selling for more money and faster than those that need attention.

6. Housing inventory and sales are down, although we expect increases before spring is over.

Our inventory in Pierce County is down 38.8% over last year, which we do expect to increase once we have official May numbers in. The result of this lack of inventory is that our sales are down 37.5% as well. Higher interest rates and seasonality are to blame in our humble opinion.

7. Pierce County’s median home sale price is holding steady with increases on the horizon.

We can expect our median price to remain fairly consistent, but we would expect to see a good month over month jump in both listings and sales from now until August. August usually drops a bit as everyone takes that last vacation. As rates begin to soften, we can expect our inventory and sales to stay healthy.

8. We are optimistic about our current market, and we anticipate a much stronger market in 2024.

Whenever we have economic stress, the housing industry is the first to react, and this past year has been no exception. On the other hand, it is also the first to come back, so we are optimistic that things will stay fairly consistent throughout the year.

We expect 2024 to be a much stronger market due to the further reduction of interest rates. It is important to point out that we do not ever expect to see anything under 5% in quite some time, but we do hope to see rates dip under 6% in early to mid-2024.

Have a question about Pierce County’s real estate market? Curious to know if now is a good time for you to buy or sell?

Our experienced REALTORS® are ready to help! Reach out to us here and we will connect you with one of our local experts.