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The Eastside market remains active but highly selective. Buyers are out there, yet pricing and presentation matter more than ever. Sellers who lead with clarity—pricing realistically and preparing thoughtfully—are the ones attracting serious buyers and avoiding long days on market.
February stats are always a little strange. It feels like we’re well into the new year, but most of the sold data reflects homes that went under contract in December—which is often a very different market than Q1. Pending sales, however, do reflect current buyer behavior, and that’s where things get interesting.
Year over year, pending sales are up 36%, which is genuinely encouraging. New listings are up 28%, though some of that increase likely comes from relists rather than truly new inventory—so total inventory is the better metric to watch. We entered the year with 67% more inventory than last year, and we’re now sitting at 53% higher, so we are moving in the right direction.
The most telling number, though, is months of inventory, which speaks to market velocity. At 1.8 months, we’re technically in a sellers’ market—yet 56% of homes required a price reduction before selling. That disconnect tells you everything you need to know about today’s market.
Year over year, prices are down. The reported 16% depreciation feels artificially high to me; my educated guess is something closer to 5%, but we’ll need more data to confirm that. Frankly, this is one of those moments where the market feels confusing—and that’s okay.
What we are seeing clearly is that homes priced right (or slightly low) are still getting multiple offers. That dynamic will likely show up in next month’s stats—this month’s 6% of homes selling over asking is one of the lowest figures I can remember. Buyers are out there, but they’re selective.
One industry expert put it well: you have to pull the curtain back to see the true market. A meaningful portion of today’s inventory is sitting for a reason—it’s simply not sellable at its current price. When you account for that, the “real” inventory is lower than it appears.
So, what does this all mean?
Sellers should continue to approach the market as both a price war and a beauty competition.
For buyers, the key right now is clarity. Know your numbers, know your non-negotiables, and be ready to act when value shows up. Indecision is more costly than patience in this market.
