In May, Mercer Island experienced a significant increase in new listings. There were 60 new listings in May compared to just 28 listings in April. Despite the influx, buyers continue to snap up most of these homes within a week of hitting the market, and inventory remains low on the island.
A closer look at Mercer Island’s Absorption Rate
So, let’s look more closely at local market “absorption,” especially as our “absorption rate” of all single-family homes based on closed sales climbed to a high of 62.5% last month.
The absorption rate is calculated by taking the number of properties sold divided by the number of properties for sale (in percentage). In a buyer’s market, the absorption rate would be 16.67% or lower. In a balanced market, the absorption rate range is from 16.67% to 33.33%, and in a seller’s market, the absorption rate is 33.33% and above.
As an inverse of the absorption rate, “months of inventory” is another way to look at the velocity at which homes are selling on Mercer Island. Basically, months of inventory means the number of months expected for all current inventory to sell, given the current pace of recently sold homes. So if a market has 60 homes for sale, and about 10 homes sell per month, the absorption rate is 6 months.
As of today (6/11/17), Mercer Island has 61 homes for sale. In May 2017, 38 homes sold, indicating that we have approximately 1.6 months of inventory.
Here’s a quick guide to how a market favors buyers or sellers based on this statistic:
- Buyer’s market: 6+ months of inventory based on closed sales
- Seller’s market: < 3 months of inventory based on closed sales
- Neutral market: 3 – 6 months of inventory based on closed sales
As demonstrated in the graph below, Mercer Island’s “months of inventory” has fluctuated around 2 months throughout the past year, increasing to nearly 4 months in January before steadily dropping to a low of 1.6 in May.
To put this all very simply, even with the increase of new listings every month, homes are still selling like hotcakes on Mercer Island. That being said, there are about 25 listings that have been on the market for upwards of three months, though almost all are luxury price-point homes, ranging from $2 million to $12 million.
May 2017 Real Estate Market Update
Overview of residential / condominium market:
- 61 active listings (as of 6/11/17)
- 60 new listings in May (28 in April)
- 38 sold homes in May (April 2016: 37 sold homes)
Single-Family Residential Homes*
- 29 new listings
- 35 sold homes (May 2016: 25)
- Average sales price: $1,736,961
- Median sales price: $1,673,000
- Lowest sales price: $950,000
- Highest sales price: $2,999,998
- Homes sold under $1 million: 2
- Homes sold between $1 – 2 million: 23
- Homes sold over $2 million: 10
*Non-waterfront
Waterfront
- 6 new listings (4 Eastside, 1 Westside; 1 North Mercer)
- 2 sold homes (1 Eastside, 1 Westside)
- Lowest sales price: $3,300,000
- Highest sales price: $3,566,900
Downtown Condos
- 5 new listings
- 1 sold listing
- Sales price: $548,497
Current Mercer Island Listings
By Home Type / Location
- Mercer Island Condos
- Single-Family Residential Homes (All)
- New Construction Homes
- Waterfront Homes
- Search by Neighborhood
By Price
- $1 million or less
- $1 million to $1.5 million
- $1.5 million to $2 million
- $2 million to $2.5 million
- $2.5 million to $3 million
- $3 million to $4 million
- $4 million to $5 million
- $5 million or more
Take a look at local real estate trends over the past 12 months on our Mercer Island Real Estate Statistics page.
Mercer Island “Nosy Neighbor Report” – May 2017
Here’s our new monthly “nosy neighbor” report with all data for all residential sales on Mercer Island (not including unlisted sales). If you’re curious about a recent sale in your neighborhood, you can learn the details with a quick glance at this report:
Click the above image to open as a full-size PDF.
Sirianni Real Estate Group News & Notes
We were busy in May with two new listings – this sweet home in Seattle’s Leschi neighborhood (now pending with multiple offers) and this classic mid-century home in Seattle’s Montlake neighborhood. We’re looking forward to bringing on another new listing in Sammamish this week. We were also happy to have recently helped our clients purchase a wonderful Northwest Contemporary home on Mercer Island, picture above.
Let us know if you would like a free, no-obligation market analysis for your home. Simply fill out the form below:
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Questions? Feel free to reach out anytime!
Charlie Sirianni, JD
Managing Broker
Windermere Mercer Island
Call: 206-992-6151
Email: [email protected]
Erin Sirianni
My MI Founder & Editor / Residential Broker
Windermere Mercer Island
Call: 206-992-5272
Email: [email protected]
