“This is a pretty predictable outcome, every year after we get past the peak spring selling frenzy,” Tucker said.Tucker said while you will pay a little less from a few months ago, home prices are up overall. He said in King County, the median sale price for a family home is up $50,000 from last September, jumping from $900,000 to $950,000.However, Federal Reserve rate cuts caught the attention of buyers.
He believes the back-to-office trend is increasing demand in King County by “bringing some folks a little bit back toward the central core of the region.” However, Tucker said that trend is “working against a bit of a trend of softening in the tech labor market.” “So that is a bit of a headwind for our region, but that is being balanced by, if they’re maybe not hiring at quite the same frantic pace, but they’re telling folks, it’s not even just three or four days a week, you need to be back in the office five days a week,” he said.“I think when they buy that first home, they’re sort of thinking, ‘This is not going to be my starter home that I’m expecting to sell in three or four years to move up,'” he said.