The chart below looks at the last five years of King County Residential homes. You can see how the inventory fluctuates during the year. The inventory normally increases after the New Year and decreases in the winter months. Currently, this is not the case. Inventory is down significantly from last year and from the preceding five years. Notice the yellow line below, this gap between the new listings and pending home sales has decreased dramatically since the height of the market in July 2007. The amount of new inventory is not keeping up with demand, and in some areas there is appreciation occurring. Pending home sales (under contract) are in the orange line below. We are at the same level of Pending home sales today as the height of the market in 2007 with half the inventory available. Buyers who have been waiting for the bottom of the market are starting to come off of the fence and purchase homes. In some areas and price ranges, there are multiple offers and escalation clauses in contracts. If your home is in a hot area for Buyers, it could be a great time to put your home on the market. If you are curious about your home or your area, please let me know how I can help.