The spring housing market has come early to Kirkland. While it continues to be a sellers market, home buyers are starting to come out in big numbers. During January, pending sales of single-family homes rose 36.6 percent, from 41 to 56, and sales were up 9.8 percent from January 2015. New listings rose 100 percent last month, from 34 to 68 and, but is 24.2 percent higher than a year ago.  These numbers are deceptive, however, because buyers are grabbing what inventory there is as quickly as it comes on the market. Inventory is desperately low.

“The number of  total listings available for sale is down 23.8 percent from a year ago,” said Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate. “We’re selling virtually all of the new listings that come on the market, many with multiple offers.”

“Open house traffic is ramping up, and the number of homes selling in the first 30 days is double what a normal, healthy market would look like. ”

“The relatively mild weather has buyers out early in growing forces and, with the Seahawks unfortunate loss, activity is high in Sunday open houses, says Kathy Estey, Managing Broker of John L. Scott. “More homes are coming on the market and we continue to see multiple offers throughout the Eastside.”

Offers on homes close in are escalating by significant amounts, especially those within the more coveted school boundaries, and new construction homes are selling fast in spite of delivery dates of 2017.

Kathy advises that “if you’re a seller thinking about listing your home in the spring you may want to escalate that plan and beat other sellers to the market so you can take advantage of the large pool of buyers and low interest rates. Spring is hitting the real estate market early.”

Kellee Bradley is a spokesperson with John L. Scott.