Puget Sound Home Prices Are On The Decline

SEATTLE — House prices around Seattle declined more in September than most other major U.S. metros, falling 2.9 percent, according to new data from the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index. The newest report, which tracks real estate trends in 20 U.S. cities, found Seattle and San Francisco (-2.9%) with the sharpest month-to-month declines, followed by Las Vegas (-2.4%), Phoenix (-2.2%) and San Diego (-2.1%).

All 20 cities saw declines before and after seasonal adjustments, researchers said.

While home prices remained more than 6 percent higher than the year before in Washington's three most populous counties, that figure is among the nation's slowest for growth, trailing only San Francisco. By contrast, prices in Southeast cities continued to soar in 2022.

"The three best-performing cities in August repeated their performance in September," said Craig J. Lazzara, Managing Director at S&P DJI. "On a year-over-year basis, Miami (+24.6%) edged Tampa (+23.8%) for the top spot, with Charlotte (+17.8%) beating Atlanta (+17.1%) for third place. The Southeast (+20.8%) and South (+19.9%) were the strongest regions by far, with gains more than double those of the Northeast, Midwest, and West; the two worst performing cities were San Francisco (+2.3%) and Seattle (+6.2%)."

As The Seattle Times notes, this year's numbers paint a much different picture around Seattle than in September 2021, when prices were 23 percent higher than the year before. But even with recent declines, Puget Sound house prices remain high: The median King County home sold for more than $900,000 in October.

Researchers said even with the cooling trend likely to continue, affordability will remain a challenge.

"As the Federal Reserve continues to move interest rates higher, mortgage financing continues to be more expensive and housing becomes less affordable," Lazzara said. "Given the continuing prospects for a challenging macroeconomic environment, home prices may well continue to weaken."

>> Read the full report here.