Homeowners want to sell their houses. Buyers are wary.

The Northwest Multiple Listing Service recently released its monthly report on housing activity in 26 of the state’s 39 counties, and the statistics are extremely lopsided.

The number of homes for sale increased 39.4% year over year, but the number of transactions rose only 1.9%. That’s a huge disparity. In King County alone, inventory was 52% higher than a year ago. It’s even worse in Kittitas, Snohomish and Grant counties. 

Interest rates, of course remain stubborn, and are still upwards of 7%. The median price of a home in King County is about $755,000.

Seattle magazine caught up with Mike Ferreri, a broker with Windermere Real Estate, to explain the numbers.

What does this mean for the housing market?

At one point, you had people really looking to buy. They were navigating high interest rates and went after housing in a limited inventory setting. Now you could almost reverse it.

Have people been waiting to sell?

I’m coming across people whose kids are now out of the home. Some are becoming young grandparents and may want to relocate to another state. They’ve waited long enough.

Winter is traditionally a slow time though, right?

The seasonality of the market is February through mid-June, and then it slows down a little bit for July, and then picks up again from August into November. And you’re moving toward a balanced market now because you don’t have as many people jumping in because of the uncertainty in the world. They’re just being a little more cautious.

Does it surprise you that people want to sell if they have a very low interest rate? When they buy, won’t they have to pay the higher rate?

I think the important thing to note is that home prices have increased, especially on the Eastside. They’re up 14% the past year. And for some of those folks, depending on where they’re going, the key word here is “downsize.” Let’s take Snoqualmie Ridge as an example. If you bought a new house in some neighborhoods there in 1998, you were between $245,000 and $325,000 just to get in. Now those houses are going for well over a million dollars. They’re still looking at a place of being ahead.

So, the appreciation offsets paying a higher interest rate?

Right. They might not have any interest at all because they can roll the whole thing over. They don’t need loans. It’s very particular to their situation. It used to be divorce, relocation or death. Now I think it has more to do with equity. 

What do you tell clients who want to buy?

The same house, especially in this region, is going to be more expensive next year. If you can afford it, it doesn’t pay to wait because you don’t know what the interest rates are going to be next year. I mean, back in the late ‘90s it was crazy numbers like 13% or 14%.

Are you seeing people compromise on preferred neighborhoods?

Absolutely. I had a buyer from Wisconsin who had sticker shock. They had younger kids and wanted to be close to Seattle for work. They ended up in Carnation. They got more space and a bigger house, because that’s their priority now. They said they’d figure out the drive later.

Final thoughts?

I think there’s an overall fatigue in this country with extremism on both ends of the spectrum, and for housing and groceries. This can be overwhelming, but we do have a housing issue and problem here.