Why Smart Buyers Are Looking Forward, Not Backward: Early Insights from Seattle's 2025 Market

The beginning of the Spring Market in Seattle is a bit of a moving target. Each year starts with a flurry of post-holiday listings. Sometimes, those homes receive a casual welcome—closing higher than December sales but staying relatively close to their list price. In other years, a surge of pent-up demand erupts, and homes immediately begin escalating in a way typically reserved for March and April.
 
2025 appears to be the latter, with many of the newest listings getting snatched up right away, often in multiple-offer situations. Since those homes will close in February, we’ll see the uptick reflected in next month’s reports.
 
What’s driving this demand? Primarily, the continued lack of excellent inventory coupled with some hindsight pricing. This term refers to prices based on comparable sales from another market. In this case, November and December—historically the weakest markets of the year. Because brokers and sellers are looking backward rather than considering current activity, many homes start at list prices that don’t reflect first-of-the-year demand patterns.
 
A recent example: A buyer was considering a home listed at $1,150,000 and asked outright, “Why isn’t this house $1.3 million?” It was the right question. The home was in a great location and excellent condition, but its price was anchored to outdated data. On our recommendation, the buyer wrote an offer based on the current market, not the past. They won in multiple offers by going over $1.4 million—a smart application of credible advice.
 
If you’re in the mood to celebrate a win or need a little comfort in these unusual times, our Local Business of the Month is Darkalino’s. Parked right on Occidental Avenue in Pioneer Square, this “love letter to house-made pasta” is a great pre-event or lunchtime escape.
 
Wishing you warmth on these cold days. As always, please let us know if there’s anything we can do to support your homeownership or home transition.
 
Melissa, Christopher, Cait and Michael