| Tweet |
April Showers Brought More Real Estate Sales on Seattle’s Eastside
Seattle Eastside real estate sales keep climbing! Home sales have increased by 35% since January of this year.
Buyers don't despair. We're starting to see a significant increase in the number of homes for sale, which is good for buyers. Sellers still have the advantage in the marketplace, though, because the supply is still low when compared to previous years when 3000-4000 homes were for sale each month on Seattle's Eastside.
Will the market ease up for buyers if more homes come up for sale? More than likely if the supply increases, the market will still perform well for sellers, but it may not be as frenetic. It still will be a matter of time before there are any big changes to the marketplace, but it will be interesting to see how the rest of the year plays out. We believe more homes will come up for sale as typically happens each summer as the school year comes to a close. Will this change the marketplace dynamics between buyers and sellers? Probably not much at this point, because we're still on the low side of supply.
Here are the specifics for April, 2013 as compared to April, 2012:
- 80% of the available homes sold this past April, 41% sold in April, 2012.
- Homes sold in 48 days, down from 101 days in April, 2012.
- In 2012 median pricing in April was $485,000. In 2013, April's median pricing was $565,000. Wow, that's a huge jump in median pricing. We're still expecting median pricing to continue to work its way back up to the higher $500+ range, but much will depend on how many homes come on the market.
If you'd like to know more about the value of your home, please don't hesitate to contact us.
The Real Estate Sales Numbers in Redmond, Kirkland, Bellevue Continue to Be Fabulous
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.
Real Estate Sales in Bellevue, Kirkland, and Redmond, Etc Are Hot!
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.
Seattle Economist's Predictions for the 2011 Real Estate Market, Part II
Matthew Gardner, of Gardner Economics, spoke at our annual Windermere Real Estate/East, Inc kick-off meeting today. Mr. Gardner shared his thoughts about the local economy and Seattle real estate. Here are some of the highlights:
- Seattle will recover more quickly than other parts of the west.
- Growth will be slow and from the center, Seattle, out to the suburbs.
- The private sector has increased job growth in the last 4-5 months and will continue to do so.
Private Sector Employment in the Seattle Area
- There will be more price corrections for those hi-rise condos that have not sold both in Seattle and Bellevue.
- Buyers are still looking for good deals and feel uncertainty remains.
- Prices are stable and, hopefully, will stay that way this year.
- Banks are not releasing all of the bank owned homes to sell. The banks would go bankrupt if they flooded the market with these homes, causing prices to drop.
- Mortgage rates will increase: over 5% this year, 6% in 2012, and 7% by 2014.
30 Year Fixed Mortgage Rate Predictions
Here’s a few of Mr. Gardner’s thoughts for 2011 from the first of the year.
What do you think? Is this what you see happening in the area and with real estate?
Seattle Economist Makes Real Estate Predictions
Thinking about the economy in 2011? Who isn’t these days?
Local economist, Matthew Gardner presented his predictions for next year’s economy and the real estate market.
(photo: Andrew@cubagallery)
Here are a few of his predictions for 2011:
Economic growth will remain slow, particularly for the first half of the year.
An “easing” in the economy should been seen as the year progresses, helping to restore some consumer confidence.
The unemployment rate will drop some, but improvement will be slow.
A 5% decline in home prices across U.S.
Inflation will be minimal, benefiting home buyers.
Interest rates should go higher, but still remain on the lower side.
What do you see happening in your area?
Hope your 2011 will be looking up!
This Past Month Seattle Eastside Real Estate Was Balanced Between Buyers and Sellers
Seattle Area Real Estate 11-30-10
The Seattle-eastside market is balanced. Surprised by that? Here’s why I say this: A balanced market is when homes on average are selling in 3-6 months. This means there was a more level playing field between buyers and sellers during that particular month, in this case November 2010. Given the news we hear, it’s surprising to think of the eastside real estate market in this way.
Does this mean it’s no longer a challenge to sell a home? Absolutely not. The competition is still very stiff. There are a lot of homes for buyers to buy. A market in which it takes homes 3-6 months to sell is still a challenging, but not a terrible, real estate market. In a balanced market, some homes sell quickly for a good price, others take a lot longer to sell with a steep discount in the the asking price, and still others don’t sell at all. I’m still going to be telling home sellers to have the best home out there and expect a sale to take a long time to happen. Homes that sell have to be a really good value to be the ones that sell. Believe it or not, this is pretty typical of a more balanced, realistic market. A realistic market is not a fast paced real estate market. A realistic market will have some distressed home sellers. Although this is a cause of major concern and I am not minimizing the situation for those who are distressed sellers, the majority of eastside homes are NOT distressed sales.
———————————
What do the 3 digit numbers on the map mean?
The map is divided into the numbered areas as defined by our Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS). Downtown Bellevue is area 520 and East Bellevue is area 530, as an example.
What do the colors mean?
Red means it’s a sellers’ market, a sellers’ advantage. Homes take less than 3 months to sell.
Yellow means a balanced market between buyers and sellers. Homes on the average take 3-6 months to sell.
Green means it’s a buyers’ market. Homes take longer than 6 months to sell.
If you take each area as shown on the map and look to the area number on the side of the map, it will tell you how long it would take to sell every home currently for sale if no other home came up on the market in that area.
How Was The Seattle Eastside Condo Real Estate Market in November, 2010?
Seattle Eastside Condo Sales Nov 2010
(The absorption rate, the percentage of condos selling, is the number of condos for sale in any given month divided by the actual number of condos sold that month. So if the absorption rate or chance of selling is 10% that means out of 100 condos for sale, 10 received offers and sold.)
November, 2010 1191 condos for sale 150 condos sold 12.5% odds of selling
October, 2010 1375 condos for sale 136 (was 147) condos sold 9% (was 11%) odds of selling.*
September, 2010 1448 condos for sale 130 (was 155) condos sold 9% (was 11%) odds of selling.*
November, 2009 1289 condos for sale 121 condos sold 9% odds of selling.
*Adjusted from previous month’s original numbers to reflect the actual number of condos sold and closed. Some of the sales originally reported last month failed and did not close. Some of the reasons sales fail are the buyer and seller don’t agree on the building inspection, the condo does not appraise for the sales price or the buyer’s financing does not come through.
Wow, November showed the biggest drop in the number of Seattle-eastside condos for sale so far this year! There are 184 less condos for sale. We’re almost at the lowest point of inventory, that is the available condos, for the year. The peak of condos for sale was back in July, when over 1500 condos were for sale on the eastside.
Everyone is so focused on how much homes and condos are losing in value. Yes, there’s no one selling in today’s market that hasn’t lost money in the value of his/her home or condo in the last few years. But remember, if you’re selling because you’d like to buy another condo or home, that one will also cost a lot less than it would have been a few years ago.
If you plan to selling your condo in the next year or so, feel free to contact me if you have questions about what you need to do to get ready to sell. Most every seller has to do a few things before putting a home on the market for the world to see. If your home is in the best possible condition before going on the market, there’s a better chance your home will be one of those 9-12% of homes that gets the offer.
Happy Holidays and have a great 2011!
How Did November, 2010 Real Estate Sales Do In Your Seattle-Eastside Neighborhood?
[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Bellevue,+WA&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=23.403932,58.271484&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Bellevue,+King,+Washington&ll=47.610377,-122.200679&spn=0.310148,0.910492&z=10&output=embed&w=425&h=350]
In 5 of the 7 Seattle-eastside real estate areas, sales percentages were up by a lot from last year! Sales increases ranged from 13.5% in Redmond/Carnation to 47% in Redmond/East Bellevue.
We also saw a huge drop in the number of homes for sale on Seattle’s eastside over the past few months. A higher percentage of home sales and less homes for sale is good news. The market is still challenging. The homes with the best value proposition of price and condition grab the attention of the buyers. These are homes that are selling.
How did November, 2009 compare to November, 2010 in your neighborhood?
(Click on the cities below to see real estate trends for the past 5 years. You’ll find the median pricing for each city and whether the number of homes for sale and the number of sales went up or down. 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%)
The plateau: Sammamish, Issaquah, North Bend, and Fall City
The odds of selling a home were 16%.
Median sales price decreased from $552,500 to $474,000.
The number of homes for sale increased by 12% and sales were down by 15% from last year.
The odds of selling a home were 22%.
Median sales price decreased to $416,500 from $479,000.
The number of homes for sale was down by 12% and sales were up by 47%.
The odds of selling a home were 22%.
Median price decreased from $685,000 to $599,419.
The number of homes for sale dropped by 10% and sales were up by 26%.
Woodinville/Bothell/Kenmore/Duvall/North Kirkland
The odds of selling a home were 15%.
Median price was down from $411,750 to $405,000.
The number of homes for sale declined by 3% and sales were up by 41%.
The odds of selling a home were 17%.
Median price decreased to $549,950 from $739,000.
The number of homes for sale declined by 16% and sales were up by 13.5%.
The odds of selling a home were 15%.
Median pricing was down from $996,500 to $829,500.
The number of homes for sale decreased by 9% and sales decreased by 3%.
Redmond/Education Hill/ Carnation
The odds of selling a home were 16 %
Median pricing decreased from $559,900 to $525,000.
The number of homes for sale decreased by 3% and sales increased by 16%.
If you’d like more specific information about your neighborhood or home, feel free to contact me.
Have a terrific holiday season and Happy New Year!
Are We Seeing The Number of Homes On The Market in King County Dropping?
Number of King County Homes for Sale 11-29-10
It’s easy to see that King County real estate is following the national trend right now. There are fewer homes on the market than just a few weeks ago and, definitely, from a few months ago. The peak of the competition was back in the last week of July when there were 14,639 homes on the market.
This week, we’re about ready to cross the line below 12,000 homes for sale with the number standing at 12,119. The number of King County homes for sale should drop back below 12,000 by next week or the week after. Plan on it.
It would be great to get back below the the 10,000 mark as we did back at the beginning of this year.
Many people think this time of year isn’t a good time to sell a home. With the lower number of homes for sale, meaning less competition for buyers, what do you think?
How Was The Seattle-Eastside Condo Market in October, 2010?
Seattle Eastside Condo Sales Through October 2010
(The absorption rate, the percentage of condos selling, is the number of condos for sale in any given month divided by the actual number of condos sold that month. So if the absorption rate or chance of selling is 10% that means out of 100 condos for sale, 10 received offers and sold.)
October, 2010 1375 condos for sale 147 condos sold 11% odds of selling.
September, 2010 1448 condos for sale 130 (was 155) condos sold 9% (was 11%) odds of selling.*
October, 2009 1363 condos for sale 200 condos sold 15% odds of selling.
*Adjusted from previous month’s original numbers to reflect the actual number of condos sold and closed. Some of the sales originally reported last month failed and did not close. Some of the reasons sales fail are the buyer and seller don’t agree on the building inspection, the condo does not appraise for the sales price or the buyer’s financing does not come through.
The number of Seattle-eastside condos for sale dropped considerably as there are about 75 less condos for sale. The numbers are back down to March’s numbers. It’s pretty typical, no matter the kind of real estate market there is out there, for there to be more condos for sale in the summer than at any other time during the year. The decline in the number of condos for sale should continue until the end of the year. So if you plan to sell next year, start early in the year. Don’t wait until summer.
If you’re selling your condo now, can you be one of the 11/100 who gets the offer? Yes, if price and condition beat all of your competition.
What do you see happening with condo sales in your area?
