Debra Sinick & Brooks Beaupain

This tells it like it is in the Seattle area real estate market.  The entire region, with the exception of Vashon Island in yellow, is a sellers market, which is indicated by the color red.  The top sales rate, not the most sales, once again goes to Redmond and East Bellevue near Microsoft.  In March, 80% of the homes sold there, while 69% sold in April! The odds of selling a home were the lowest in other parts of Redmond and Carnation.  But at 32%, the odds were still good.  This is a testament to the positive economy in the Seattle area and on the eastside.

Microsoft is hiring and moving people around the country.  We know this first hand as we’re working with three different buyers who are either moving into the Bellevue/Redmond area or moving out of state for Microsoft.

Multiple offers, a shortage of homes, a huge percentage of homes selling in a short amount of time. some price increases (although minimal) are happening all over the Seattle eastside real estate market.  The Seattle Times recently published a very positive picture of the local real estate market.

The cities below are reported together to follow our MLS areas (multiple listing service) information.

1. Redmond/East Bellevue

The odds of selling a home were 69%!!!!!

Median sales price decreased from $430,000 to $428,000 (y-o-y)**

97 homes were for sale

A total of 67 homes sold

Days on the market: 70

2. South Bellevue/Issaquah

The odds of selling a home were 48%

Median price increased from $520,000 to $522,000

244 homes were for sale

A total of 118 homes sold

Days on market: 85

3. The plateau:  Sammamish, Issaquah, North Bend, and Fall City

The odds of selling a home were 44%

Median sales price increased from $467,000 to $472,000

There were 467 homes for sale

A total of 203 homes sold

Days on the market: 110

4. Woodinville/Bothell/Kenmore/Duvall/North Kirkland

The odds of selling a home were 42%

Median sales price increased from $383,000 to $385,000

397 homes were for sale

A total of 165 homes sold

Days on Market: 103

5. Kirkland

The odds of selling a home were 36%

Median sales price decreased from $550,000 to $430,000

132 homes were for sale

A total of 47 homes sold

Days on Market:  72

6. West Bellevue

The odds of selling a home were 34%.

Median sales price increased from $973,000 to $1,185,000

118 homes were for sale

A total of 40 homes sold

Days on Market: 107

7. Redmond/Education Hill/ Carnation

The odds of selling a home were 32%

Median sales price increased from $452,000 to $538,000!

219 homes were for sale

A total of 69 homes sold

Days on Market: 159

If you’d like more specific information about your neighborhood or home, feel free to contact either Brooks or me.

*(The odds of selling a home in each area is a result of the number of homes for sale divided by the actual number of home sales, so if 10 out of 100 homes sold, the odds of selling would be 10/100 or 10%)

** (y-o-y)  median pricing is comparing year over year numbers.

Seattle Eastside Real Estate Sales Through April, 2012

The Seattle eastside real estate market is still hot! Real estate sales’ numbers on Seattle’s Eastside are terrific.  April sales numbers were similar to March when 46% of the available homes sold.  In April, because there were about 100 more homes for sale, the odds of selling dropped slightly to 42% sold.  Home sellers in Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond and other eastside cities have the best odds of selling a home since 2007! Much of this is due to the positive economy here in the Seattle area.

New listings are coming on the market and selling quickly. If no other homes were to come on the market, it would only take 1.4 months to sell all of the eastside homes.  Demand is high, helping the good homes that are well priced, show well, have fabulous photos, and great marketing to fall into the 42% of homes that sold last month. Some homes have sold for over full price with multiple offers.

Remember, 58% of the homes did not sell and, more than likely, are missing one of the necessary elements necessary for a quick, well priced sale.  The homes may need to have a better price tag or photos, staging or marketing.  It’s still competitive and buyers are savvy enough to identify those homes that are well priced.  Even though there aren’t a lot of homes for sale, there’s enough new listings coming on the market each month to guarantee a fresh supply of available homes.  With interest rates remaining low, some buyers still take time to make a buying decision.

We sold several homes last month in a matter of days, with multiple offers and for over full price. We worked with all of the sellers for a while before their homes actually came on the market.  One seller contacted us last summer so she would have the time to do everything  needed to get ready to sell without creating additional stress. Most of our sellers contact us a few months before going on the market.  It gives us enough time to get contractors in, if needed, to paint, re-carpet or refresh the landscaping.

How did this past April compare to April of 2011?  Truly, there’s not much of a comparison between this year and last, but here it is:

• 42% of the available homes sold this past April, 23% sold in April, 2011.
  
• Homes sold in 101 days, which is down from 105 days in April, 2011.
• Median pricing was down to $485,000 from $492,000.
• Homes sold within 94% of the original asking price.  Last year homes sold within 91% of the asking price.
• 23% more homes sold this year.

So if you plan to land in the 42% of homes that sell, not the 58% that did not, start the process by contacting your Realtor well ahead of time.

 
Multiple offers for a home in the Seattle area?  Yes! You heard me correctly, there are multiple offers happening all over the eastside suburbs of Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond and Sammamish.

The real estate market is going hot and heavy right now.  If you’ve followed my posts regarding the Seattle-Eastside real estate market, you’ll know that just about 50% of all the homes in the eastside communities of Bellevue, Redmond, and Kirkland sold last month.

It’s not unusual for 2, 3, or 4 offers to happen all at once when a good home comes on the market.  I even heard of one home in Bellevue with a drop dead gorgeous view that had 26 offers on it!  I happened to know who the winning buyer was and was able to ask how they were the chosen ones.  I will share that with you later in this post.

How do you get the house if your offer is one among many offers?  Other than selling your first born, there are some things you can do.

• Write a very, clean, straightforward offer.
• Don’t ask for any extras.
• Don’t use unusual time frames.
• Put down a good, solid amount of earnest money.  There’s no set amount, but show you are serious by putting down 2-3% of the offer price as your earnest money amount.  If you’re worried about this, then ask your Realtor to explain the ways you could lose your earnest money in a transaction and also how you can legally get it back because of the contingencies in an offer.
• Include a copy of a pre-approval letter from your lender.
• Find out the seller’s hot buttons.  Do they want the fridge, washer, dryer or would it be more convenient for them to leave these appliances?
• Find out what works for the seller in terms of closing.  If the seller wants to stay a little longer, use a date that will work for the seller.    Allow the seller to stay in the house for free for a week after the closing to allow for an easy move.  Imagine the power of this for a seller.  (Banks will limit the time a seller can stay in the home after the sale is closed, so nothing beyond 30 days will work)
• Use short timelines for contingencies.
• Once you determine the time frames that work for the seller, use those and incorporate short dates for any contingencies.  Know how quickly your lender can close your loan for any home before you make an offer, so you can use the shortest date possible time frame for financing.
  The same thing should apply to the inspection time frame.  Shorten the time frame from the boiler plate time of 10 days to 5 or less.  You can easily  find an inspector in a short period of time which should make it possible to do an inspection in a matter of days.
• Ask your Realtor to make a personal presentation to the seller.  It helps to humanize you as a buyer.  If your Realtor is able to do so, then wait outside in your car in case a quick response is needed.  You’ll be there to immediately sign any changes.  (this can only be done if the listing agent and seller allow your Realtor to make the presentation.  Many do not.)
• Pre-inspect the home before you make the offer.   This may sound radical, but when the market was booming 5 years ago, buyers in Seattle routinely did this before writing an offer for a home.

 
You would need the seller’s permission to do this, but it might make the difference between winning or losing the home.  Usually an inspection happens within the first week-10 days after the sale and then negotiations for repairs begin.  If  you and the seller don’t agree on what will be repaired, you can back out of the sale. as long as you and your Realtor follow he time frames and guidelines of the contract.   Imagine the power of coming to the table with an offer in which there’s no inspection.  It’s no longer a concern for the seller.  It’s not a concern for you, because you’ve already done your inspection.  It gives you a lot of power as a buyer.  You’ve had the opportunity to determine whether the house is a well-built home…or not. In this scenario,  if the house has a lot of problems, you may not want to make the offer to start. By pre-inspecting a home,  you’ll know before you get involved in all the emotional ups and downs that accompany a multiple offer situation whether you truly want the home.  There is a chance you could do an inspection, make a great offer, and still not get the house.  But it may be better to lose the money on the inspection than lose a home you really want.

By the way, the buyers who got the house out of the 20+ offers paid a much higher price, had a great earnest money, pre-approval letter, great dates, and …pre-inspected the home!

There are other suggestions to  strengthen an offer?  What else can you suggest?

Red is busting out all over the map of Seattle Real Estate Sales!  Red means it’s a sellers market in which homes, on average, are selling in less than 3 months!  The numbers are really strong in all of the eastside cities, but top sales go to the 80% sales rate in Redmond and East Bellevue near Microsoft last month!  Incredible odds!  In every other area on the eastside over 40% of the homes sold.

Closed sales, the sales in which the new buyer now owns the house, are showing lower sales numbers because the homes that closed in March actually got offers in January or February.  Expect the number of sales for each of the coming months to jump   higher because March home sales will be closing in April and May..  Market time will continue to decrease as this faster sales market continues.

Pricing has still been dropping as you can see below, but should become more stable as the prices from these March sales becomes public. Some areas actually showed an increase in pricing, but remember, it is a representation of the sales that sold in March only.

Multiple offers, a shortage of homes, a huge percentage of homes selling in a short amount of time are all  the buzz words for the Seattle eastside real estate market.

The cities below are reported together to follow our MLS areas (multiple listing service) information.

1. Redmond/East Bellevue

The odds of selling a home were 80%

Median sales price decreased from $476,000 to $427,000 (y-o-y)**

95 homes were for sale

A total of 76 homes sold

Days on the market: 135

2. Kirkland

The odds of selling a home were 57%

Median sales price decreased from $570,000 to $469,000

137 homes were for sale

A total of 53 homes sold

Days on Market:  83

3. West Bellevue

The odds of selling a home were 46%.

Median sales price increased from $888,000 to $1,000,000

117 homes were for sale

A total of 54 homes sold

Days on Market: 70

4. The plateau:  Sammamish, Issaquah, North Bend, and Fall City

The odds of selling a home were 44%

Median sales price decreased from $505,000 to $462,000

There were 436 homes for sale

A total of 193 homes sold

Days on the market: 127

4. (tie)  South Bellevue/Issaquah

The odds of selling a home were 44%

Median price increased from $510,000 to $560,000

225 homes were for sale

A total of 98 homes sold

Days on market: 99

5. Redmond/Education Hill/ Carnation

The odds of selling a home were 43%

Median sales price increased from $411,000 to $472,000

193 homes were for sale

A total of 83 homes sold

Days on Market: 100

6. Woodinville/Bothell/Kenmore/Duvall/North Kirkland

The odds of selling a home were 42%

Median sales price decreased from $423,000 to $369,000

365 homes were for sale

A total of 151 homes sold

Days on Market: 100

If you’d like more specific information about your neighborhood or home, feel free to contact either Brooks or me.

*(The odds of selling a home in each area is a result of the number of homes for sale divided by the actual number of home sales, so if 10 out of 100 homes sold, the odds of selling would be 10/100 or 10%)

** (y-o-y)  median pricing is comparing year over year numbers.

The  Seattle eastside condo market is pretty incredible. Thirty-nine percent of the available condos sold in March of this year.  Quite an eye popping number, since the high for last year happened when 20% of the available condos sold in a month.    Sales are up and supply is down, causing the huge increase in the number of condos sold in Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, and other cities east of Seattle.

If you can afford to sell your condo and want to make that move up or out, now is a great time to go for it. If you’d rather wait to sell your condo until prices increase, then expect to wait a good 5 years to see any significant appreciation.  Prices are the most affordable we’ve seen since 2007.

Since 39% of the condos sold last month, it still means 61% of the condos did not sell. It’s important to get the proper staging and pricing advice to be in that 39% of condos that sell.  Sellers have to be ready for the market to join that 39%.  Buyers are still pretty savvy, as they should be, about value and condition.

The chart tells it all!  Look at the huge, and I mean huge, jump in sales over the past few months, a 56% increase in sales since January.  Forty-six percent of the available homes sold in March. There’s a big stampede out there for homes in Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond and other eastside cities. This stampede means there’s often more than one buyer for a home, causing multiple offer situations.

We’re starting to see a pattern with eastside real estate. Lots of homes are selling and homes are selling quickly because there’s such a huge demand.  Almost 900 homes were added to the market in March, but with 771 sales, the number of homes for sale has stayed almost the same.  There was a small drop of 52 homes for sale from February to March.

How did this past March compare to March of 2011?

• 46% of the available homes sold this past March. 23% sold in March, 2011.
  
• Homes sold in 109 days, which is down from 137 days in March, 2011.
• Median pricing was down to $470,000 from $500,000.
• Homes sold within 93% of the original asking price.  Last year homes sold within 91% of the asking price.
• 24% more homes sold this year.

I expect to see this real estate data change as this fast paced market continues.  Expect to see median home prices stay more level, market time to decline, and homes selling closer to the asking prices.

The Seattle eastside market is not following the usual trends we see this time of year. Usually market trends follow more of what the chart shows for last year.  The number of homes for sale usually increases each month until in peaks sometime in the summer.  As the year comes to an end, the number of homes for sale usually drops. We’re not seeing this at all this year.  This year, we see fewer homes for sale each month.  The big news, though, is still in the number of homes that sell each month.  

Not all homes sell in a heartbeat. You can’t just put a sign in the front yard and expect everyone to line up.
The homes that are positioned properly in terms of price and condition relative to the competition are the homes that sell quickly.   Your home has to show well and be priced competitively in order to grab the attention of the buyers.

Calling all pet owners and animal lovers in King County. Pets in King County need your help. Several eastside cities, Bellevue, Kirkland, Newcastle, Redmond, and Mercer Island, are thinking of canceling the contract with King County for animal control services . Each of the above cities would be responsible for animal control issues within its city limits. If there’s an animal in Kirkland needing some assistance,  Kirkland would be responsible.  The problem is none of these cities is equipped to handle our lost, stolen, and stray pets.  The infrastructure is not there.  Plus, it would bring on added costs to our local cities in a time when cutbacks are needed.

There is another organization which is far better quipped than individual cities to take care of animals, the Humane Society. The Humane Society wants this job.   They already know how to do a terrific job in placing animals in homes.  They hold animals indefinitely in an effort to find them good homes.  They don’t kill dogs and cats, people’s pets.

I know this first hand.  This issue is a very personal one for me.  My dog Henry was adopted from the Humane Society.   He had been picked up and kept for six weeks in the hopes that someone would adopt him. When he was found on the street, he was infested with fleas.  The Humane Society shaved his butt in an effort to get rid of the fleas.  He was the true picture of “butt ugly.”  But, he was cured of his fleas, very adoptable and we got him!  If the Humane Society hadn’t taken care of his fleas and kept him alive, we never would have gotten him.

Henry was a fabulous dog. We only had him for 4 1/2 years because he was about 10 when we adopted him. Unfortunately, he had a myriad of health problems, starting with failing sight and hearing. The thing that got him, though, was congestive heart failure. He had 3 1/2 great years and one year in which he gradually lost his sight and got sick because of his heart. We loved having him all of the time he was with us.  We wouldn’t have traded him for anything.  He was sweet and loving, a true joy.

There are lots of other Henrys out there, so please support The Humane Society in their efforts to do a good job for the animals on the eastside. If you can help this cause for all eastside pets, please contact your City Council people.  Let them know you would like the Humane Society to take over the animal control services for the individual cities of the eastside.

Here’s a copy of the letter sent to us from David Loewe, the CEO of the Humane Society:

I am writing to share some exciting news that could improve the care of homeless, lost, stray and abandoned pets in Kirkland, and I would like your support.

As you probably know, many of the cities on the Eastside are contracting with King County, located in Kent, for the sheltering of stray animals. The contracts with King County are due to expire this year.

Seattle Humane Society has been approached by concerned citizens and Eastside city officials about our interest and ability to provide sheltering services, because the county contract is so expensive.

I’m confident that Seattle Humane Society is in a strong position to help and can provide better care for the animals, lower cost to taxpayers, and better service to the public. Please support us, by letting your city officials know that we are the best agency to provide these services.

As a donor-supported charity, we’ve provided shelter services to animals in our community for more than 115 years. Our medical and foster care for pets is among the best in the nation, resulting in an animal shelter save rate that is among the highest in the nation at 96 percent.

The cities interested in our services – Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Mercer Island and Newcastle – are in our own backyard. In truth, many animals from these cities are brought to us already.  If Seattle Humane Society receives the sheltering contract, cities will pay less for services, and there is an increased chance that a pet owner will be united with their lost companion.  If Seattle Humane Society holds the sheltering contract, and you lose your pet on the Eastside, you can find your pet on the Eastside – at our shelter in Bellevue.

As additional background, I’ve attached a copy here of the letter that I presented to the Bellevue City Council in their study session on Monday, March 26th.

How can you help?

As a Seattle Humane Society supporter and an animal lover, we hope you will write to your city officials and let them know that contracting with Seattle Humane Society is a “win-win” for the animals, for their owners, for the cities and for Seattle Humane Society.

Click here for a list of council members in your city. Click here to view a proposed message you can send by mail, email, or a phone call. If you would like further details on the plan, please contact me by phone at 425-649-7556 or by email atDavid@seattlehumane.org.

Thank you for making your voices heard for the animals!

Here’s how you can help/ Send a letter to your City Council in support of The Humane Society.

Contact the Bellevue City Council at council@bellevuewa.gov.

Kirkland: citycouncil@kirklandwa.gov

Redmond: mayor@redmond.gov

Mercer Island

Newcastle

 
I thought we were finally past the negative headlines in Seattle real estate, but apparently not. Both The Seattle Times and the PI had articles about the decline in prices. The articles take a look at the latest Case-Shiller Index for January, 2012, which shows closings for December of 2011.  The offers for the homes sold in December, 2011 were written a couple of months earlier than December, so the latest Case-Shiller report examines data that is 3-5 months old. The focus in these articles is the decline in real estate prices.  There was a small decline in Seattle area real estate prices from January, 2011  to January, 2012.

Is this an accurate picture of today’s local real estate?

Besides the fact that the Case-Shiller report is examining older data, we have to remember to look at pricing over a 3-6 month period to see a real trend and in a very local real estate market.  When you examine trends in a more localized area, you see true numbers.  The numbers that affect you.  Case-Shiller examines 20 metropolitan areas, including the Seattle area.  However, this includes not only Seattle, but the surrounding counties:  Snohomish, Pierce, and King.  The  counties are very different real estate animals. Aubrey Cohen said in the PI:

Pierce and Snohomish counties are weaker than King County, dragging down statistics for the metro area.

Within counties, real estate markets are different.  In King County, the south is very different from the east. In East King County, in such cities such as Bellevue and Redmond or Sammamish, there are differences.  Looking at the Seattle and the surrounding counties does not give the true picture of what is happening in Kirkland, Woodinville or Duvall.  Case-Shiller does not tell the local story , the local real estate story that affects you and your home.

What’s really happening with real estate on Seattle’s eastside?

As March comes to a close, we’re in a “hot” market in Seattle and on the eastside in Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, and Issaquah. etc.  This week in all of King County, there are 6,802 properties for sale.  Last year at this time, 10,772 properties were for sale.  The eastside is a reflection of these numbers.  There is a small supply of available properties.  Every day the NWMLS, Northwest Multiple Listing Service, tallies up the number of new listings and sales.  On most days, pending sales outpace new listings by about one-third. Many homes are receiving multiple offers, which means their prices are, more often than,  not remaining stable.  There’s too much demand for housing and not enough houses for sale.

The reality is prices will not go up by much, but they also will not go down on the eastside in most areas with this lack of supply and high demand for homes.  Let’s not go back to the past. Let’s focus on the present as much as we can.  The Eastside real estate market is hot!

That should be the headline for today’s real estate news.