Kim Sharpe Jones, Director of New Home Builder Services with Matrix Real Estate, was recently interviewed by The Seattle Times for an article about the home market.
‘The high cost of new homes reflects the escalating construction costs, particularly the price of land, said Kim Sharpe Jones, director of builder services for Matrix Real Estate, a brokerage focused on new homes.
“The main issue with the new-home market right now is the lack of land inventory,” Jones said. “The lack of available land to develop is driving up costs for everything because there’s a lot of competition when there is land available.
The volatility in the stock market and the possible resumption of tariffs on lumber and other building materials have created uncertainty.
“We’re starting to hear that consumer confidence is waning because of the stock market and other things obviously,” she said.”
The interview was edited for length, but Kim also commented to the reporter that in the areas she tracks for new home listings and sales, which is most of King and Snohomish Counties, listings have been trending down slightly. Sales have been flat or slightly up week to week. Overall, that would indicate we may have a greater deficit of listings this spring. That would maintain a slight edge for sellers.
