Archive for the ‘WA real estate’ Category
Bellevue Real Estate, Issaquah Real Estate, Kirkland real estate, Redmond real estate, Sammamish home sales, Seattle real estate, Woodinville real estate
In Bellevue Real Estate, Bellevue, WA, For Buyers, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, Issaquah, WA, King County Real Estate, King County, WA, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, WA, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Windermere Real Estate, Woodinville, WA, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, financing, real estate on August 11, 2010 at 9:50 am
Seattle-Eastside Residential Real Estate Sales, July 2010
The odds of selling a home on the Eastside in July, 2010 ranged from a low of 11.5% to a high of 17%, with an average 14% absorption rate.(The absorption rate is the number of homes for sale in a month divided by the actual number of homes sold that month.)
July, 2010 3468 homes for sale 501 homes sold 14% odds of selling.
June, 2010 3360 homes for sale 475 (was 503) homes sold 14%(was 15%) odds of selling.*
May, 2010 3209 homes for sale 492 homes sold 15% odds of selling.*
July, 2009 3819 homes for sale 516 homes sold 13.5 % odds of selling.
June, 2009 3859 homes for sale 563 homes sold 15% odds of selling.
*Adjusted from previous month’s numbers to reflect the actual number of homes sold and closed. Each month some sales fall apart and don’t close. A lower number of home sales may be reported at a later date to show the actual number of sales that did close.
For the past few months, the absorption rate for all the Seattle-eastside areas has been in the teens, hovering around 13-15%. May, June, and July all had similar absorption rates. Since May of 2009, the number of homes that have sold each month has not varied all that much, with the exception of March and April of this year. March and April had higher sales because of the tax credit.
Where we see more of a difference is in the number of homes for sale on Seattle’s eastside. Last year there were 3819 homes for sale in July, 2009. This year there are 10% less homes on the market. But even with less homes on the market, the odds of selling are about the same.
We have the lowest interest rates since 1971. Plus, our Seattle eastside real estate market is clearly a buyers’ market again, since the absorption rate is so low. It’s very obvious when shown on a map of the area. I’ll post a map of the Seattle eastside showing where buyers and sellers markets are located later this week. The reality is, however, that most of the real estate markets are buyers’ markets right now.
So why are real estate sales so sluggish? My guess is the “fear factor.” People are still worried about the economy. Plus, with interest rates predicted to remain low for the foreseeable future, there’s also no sense of urgency to buy.
Why do you think the Seattle eastside real estate market is slower?
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July, 2009 Seattle-Eastside real estate market compared to July, 2010:
- The average asking price of pending homes (recently sold homes) went from $558,397 to $573,617. (This does not show what the homes actually sold for.)
- This week, there were 14,414 King County homes (houses and condos) for sale.
- Two weeks ago may have been the peak of the number of homes for sale this year when 14,639 homes were on the market.
- Home sales on Seattle’s Eastside: down 13%.
- Number of homes for sale on Seattle’s Eastside: down 10%
Best odds of selling: Carnation and Redmond, from downtown to north and east, with 17% of the homes getting accepted offers. Ironically, last month this area had the worst odds of selling at 9%.
Worst odds of selling: West Bellevue, with 11.5% of the homes getting accepted offers.
Biggest increase in sales from last year: A 5% increase in South Bellevue home sales, which is the biggest increase.
Smallest increase in sales from last year: Kirkland, with a 3% increase. There were only two areas with an increase in the number of home sales on Seattle’s eastside.
Decline in real estate sales from last year: There was a decline in 5 out of the 7 Seattle-eastside areas with the largest decline in home sales in West Bellevue with a 31% decline in the number of homes sold.
The peak of homes for sale in 2008: July, 4370 homes.
The peak of homes for sale in 2009: June, 3859 homes.
The number of eastside homes for sale at the start of 2010: 2584 homes
The number of eastside homes for sale in July, 2010: 3468 homes.
Rate of home sales that failed and did not close: 6%
For a picture of King County sales, check out The Seattle Times. The headline states sales are down, but prices are up. Keep in mind the headline may not represent each area. Prices are up slightly in some areas, down in others, and sales are down in 5 out of 7 eastside areas.
Bellevue WA condos, condo sales, Issaquah WA condos, Kirkland WA condos, Redmond WA condos, Sammamish WA condos, Seattle-eastside condo sales
In For Buyers, For Sellers, King County Real Estate, Kirkland, Real Estate News, Redmond, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Windermere Real Estate, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, market statistics, real estate on July 15, 2010 at 6:42 am
Seattle-Eastside Condo Sales, June 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.)
June, 2010 1487 condos for sale 154 condos sold 10 % odds of selling.
May, 2010 1425 condos for sale 117 (was 125) condos sold 8% (was 13%) odds of selling.*
April, 2010 1437 condos for sale 281 (was 316) condos sold 19.5%(was 22%) odds of selling.*
June, 2009 1491 condos for sale 161 condos sold, 11% 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.
In this month’s post I’ve included the condo real estate statistics for April to show the sharp contrast with May and June of this year. Seattle-eastside condo sales dropped like a stone from the high of 281 in April to 117 in May and 154 in June. We’re seeing a lull in Seattle area condo sales, which is partly seasonal as people are out playing in the sunny weather.
But have condo buyers forgotten there are still good deals after the tax credit? Don’t forget, there’s a huge number of condos available on Seattle’s eastside as we’re at the high point in Seattle-eastside condos for sale so far this year. There are some great choices out there. Plus, the added bonus is interest rates are at a 30 year low.
For a picture of King County sales, check out The Seattle Times.
In Bellevue Real Estate, For Buyers, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, King County Real Estate, Kirkland, Real Estate News, Sammamish, WA, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, WA real estate, Windermere Real Estate, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, financing, real estate, real estate opinion on July 14, 2010 at 7:47 am
There’s no “red” on the Seattle-eastside real estate map, which means there were no seller’s markets in June, 2010. The Seattle-eastside real estate market has turned “yellow” for a market balanced between buyers and sellers, and “green.” “Green” on the map indicates a buyer’s market. It’s not surprising to me that certain areas stay as a balanced real estate market longer than some others.
Which Seattle-eastside areas have remained stronger as a balanced market between buyers and sellers?
East Bellevue and Redmond near Microsoft (530 on the map)
It’s traditionally one of the strongest areas, because homes are so close to jobs at Microsoft. The neighborhoods abut the main Microsoft campus and are an easy commute to downtown Bellevue, the economic hub of the eastside. Plus, housing can be found from the $200′s and $300′s to million+ dollar waterfront. Housing in many neighborhoods is in the affordable range for the area.
South Bellevue and Issaquah (500 on the map)
The area south of I-90 is a big drawing card for Seattle commuters. Again, there’s a variety of home styles and ages, good schools, and a fabulous commute either to eastside economic centers or downtown Seattle.
Sammamish, Issaquah, Preston, Fall City, and North Bend. (540 on the map)
Another area that’s consistently one of the strongest is the plateau areas of Sammamish, Issaquah, Preston, Fall City, and North Bend. The different eastside cities here have a huge variety of homes from estates to acreage to newer construction and town homes. Good schools and some good values keep the area strong.
King & Snohomish County Real Estate Maps, 6-30-10
There are still great homes and condos out there to buy and interest rates are at historic lows. The loss of the tax credit may not make much of a difference when calculating the savings in monthly payments over time.
Seattle real estate, Seattle Eastside real estate, Woodinville real estate, Bellevue Real Estate, Sammamish real estate, Redmond real estate, Issaquah Real Estate
In Bellevue Real Estate, For Buyers, For Sellers, King County Real Estate, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Windermere Real Estate, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, market statistics, real estate on July 13, 2010 at 1:08 am
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How did June, 2009 stack up to June, 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.)
The plateau: Sammamish, Issaquah, North Bend, and Fall City
The odds of selling a home were 16%.
Median sales price increased from $499,950 to $525,000.
The number of homes for sale dropped by 10% and sales were down by 27% from last year.
West Redmond/East Bellevue
The odds of selling a home were 23%.
Median sales price dropped from $499,950 to $482,500.
The number of homes for sale dropped by 4% and sales were UP by 3%.
South Bellevue/Issaquah
The odds of selling a home were 18%.
Median price decreased from $610,000 to $599,994.
The number of homes for sale dropped by 15% and sales were down by 3%.
Woodinville/Bothell/Kenmore/Duvall/North Kirkland
The odds of selling a home were 14%.
Median price remained essentially equal to last year, $419,950 to $419,973 this year.
The number of homes for sale declined by 3% and sales were down by 23%.
Kirkland
The odds of selling a home were 13%.
Median price increased to $624,950 from $596,925.
The number of homes for sale declined by 19% and sales were down by 28%.
West Bellevue
The odds of selling a home were 14%.
Median pricing was UP from $849,000 to $890,000.
The number of homes for sale decreased by 24% and sales decreased by 25.5%.
Redmond/Education Hill/ Carnation
The odds of selling a home were 9%
Median pricing decreased from $529,950 to $474,950.
The number of homes for sale decreased by 4% and sales decreased by 42%.
Although real estate numbers are mostly down on Seattle’s eastside, 3 areas showed an increase in median prices and one area remained similar in pricing to last June. West Bellevue, the Sammamish plateau areas, and Woodinville, North Kirkland, Bothell and Kenmore had a 5% increase in sales prices. Last month, West Bellevue was the only area with an increase in median pricing over last year and that was at 17%.
The three other Seattle-eastside neighborhoods experienced a reduction in sales prices. These areas are South Bellevue, Redmond and Bellevue near Microsoft, and the downtown area of Redmond.
The number of homes for sale is near the highest for this year, but still 11% less than the number of homes for sale on the eastside last year, so that’s a good thing.
I expect the numbers to be down over the next month or two as summer is one of the slower times in Eastside real estate. Traditionally, people take a lot of time to enjoy the sun and the outdoors, since it is so fleeting.
Seattle real estate, Woodinville real estate, Bellevue Real Estate, Kirkland real estate, Redmond real estate, Issaquah Real Estate, Sammamish home sales
In Bellevue Real Estate, For Buyers, For Homeowners, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, King County Real Estate, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Woodinville, WA, market statistics, real estate on July 12, 2010 at 6:04 pm
Seattle-Eastside Home Sales, June 2010
The odds of selling a home on the Eastside in June, 2010 ranged from a low of 9% to a high of 23%, with an average 15% absorption rate. For the past few months, the absorption rate for all the Seattle-eastside areas had been in the double digits. This month, downtown Redmond and Carnation are in the single digits, at 9%. It’s a stark contrast to April, 2010 with its low of 20% to a high of 35%, averaging a 27% absorption rate.
June’s real estate activity is more similar to May, when the numbers started looking more like last year’s real estate rather than the highs of April, 2010. It’s ironic, in a sense, the tax credit did offer buyers a true incentive to buy, but if one looks at the total picture, there still may be many opportunities to “get a deal.” With the lowest interest rates in 30 years and the higher number of homes on the market, it’s becoming more of a buyer’s market again. ( I’ll be posting the map showing the different markets later this week.) Plus, summer is the time to play outside for Seattleites, so there are usually less buyers competing for homes.
(The absorption rate is the number of homes for sale in any given month divided by the actual number of homes sold that month.)
June, 2010 3360 homes for sale 503 homes sold 15 % odds of selling.
May, 2010 3209 homes for sale 492 (was 563) homes sold 15% (was 17.5%) odds of selling.*
June, 2009 3859 homes for sale 563 homes sold 15% odds of selling.
*Adjusted from previous month’s numbers to reflect the actual number of homes sold and closed. Each month some sales fall apart and don’t close. A lower number of home sales may be reported at a later date to show the actual number of sales that did close.
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June, 2009 Seattle-Eastside real estate market compared to June, 2010:
- Surprisingly, the average list price of pending homes (recently sold) went from $547,381 to $553,772.
- As of this past week, there were 14,235 King County homes (houses and condos) for sale.
- Is this the peak of the real estate market for the number of homes for sale this year?
- Home sales on Seattle’s Eastside: down 20%, which follows a much smaller drop of 7% in May.
- Number of homes for sale on Seattle’s Eastside: down 11%
Best odds of selling: Redmond, near Microsoft, and East Bellevue.
Worst odds of selling: Carnation and Redmond, from downtown to north and east, with 9% of the homes getting accepted offers.
Biggest increase in sales from last year: A very small 3% increase in East Bellevue and Redmond, near Microsoft, home sales.
Smallest increase in sales from last year: Same as above. This area had the only increase in Seattle-eastside home sales in June.
Decline in real estate sales from last year: There was a decline in 6 out of the 7 Seattle-eastside areas. Redmond and Carnation had the largest decline in home sales with a 43% decline in the number of homes sold. This area also had the largest decline in home sales last month.
The peak of homes for sale in 2008: July, 4370 homes.
The peak of homes for sale in 2009: June, 3859 homes.
The number of eastside homes for sale at the start of 2010: 2584 homes
The number of eastside homes for sale now: 3360 homes.
Rate of home sales that failed and did not close: 13%
The sun is out now in Seattle (although a little late today), which tends to slow Seattle Eastside real estate sales. The number of home sales could remain on the lower side in the near future for two reasons. One is the slow down after the tax credit rush and the sunny weather and summer vacations. People in Seattle like to play outside in the sun.
The slower home sales is ironic, given the high number of homes for sale, which means lots of choices and the screamingly low interest rates. I believe there are some great deals out there for buyers right now.
For a picture of King County sales, check out The Seattle Times.
buyers markets in Seattle, buying an eastside home, Eastside real estate, interest rates, interest rates-June 2010, King County Real Estate, Seattle Eastside real estate, Seattle real estate, sellers markets in Seattle, selling an eastside home, Windermere Real Eastate
In Bellevue Real Estate, For Buyers, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, King County Real Estate, Real Estate News, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Windermere Real Estate, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, real estate on June 16, 2010 at 1:36 pm
Home Sales Activity for King and Snohomish Counties, May, 2010
During May “green” crept back into a number of Seattle areas. One large area on the eastside, Woodinville, Bothell, Kenmore, Duvall, and north Kirkland was “green,” back as a buyer’s market.
April was the first month in a very long time in which there was no ” green,” no buyers’ markets in almost all the Seattle-eastside areas. In April, the Seattle area real estate market was the strongest in years. This is most likely a direct result of the 2010 tax credit. Both buyers and sellers were rushing to buy and sell before the expiration of the credit.
May represented a lull in the Seattle real estate market. Was this a temporary lull or our new normal? The next several months will be good indicators, although summer tends to be a slower time every year in Seattle real estate. Home buyers and sellers are like everyone else. Seattleites play outside in summer. Of course, that’s providing the sun ever comes out this year!
The good real estate news is there are still great homes and condos out there to buy and interest rates are at historic lows. The loss of the tax credit may not make much of a difference when calculating the savings in monthly payments over time.
Interest Rates 6-2010
It may be the fall before we can determine the true pace of Seattle real estate. I’ll keep you posted.
- King Snohomish Counties Real Estate Market 4-30-10
What do the 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.
Yellow means a balanced market between buyers and sellers.
Green means it’s a buyers’ market.
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.
Bellevue Real Estate, Issaquah Real Estate, Kirkland real estate, Redmond real estate, Sammamish home sales, Seattle real estate, Woodinville real estate
In Bellevue Real Estate, Bellevue, WA, For Buyers, For Homeowners, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, King County Real Estate, Kirkland, Real Estate News, Redmond, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Windermere Real Estate, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, market statistics, real estate on June 10, 2010 at 3:38 pm
Seattle-Eastside Real Estate Sales, May 2010
The odds of selling a home on the Eastside in May, 2010 ranged from a low of 12% to a high of 20%, with an average 16.5% absorption rate. Contrast this with April, 2010 odds with a low of 20% to a high of 35%, averaging a 27% absorption rate.
May’s numbers look more like May of last year than they do of April of this year. This month may mark the back to reality of Seattle-eastside real estate or maybe not. We’ll need to see how the rest of the year plays out as so many people rushed to buy and sell before the end of the tax credit. There are still buyers who want to buy and the sellers who need to sell, although this may be a time of adjustment.
(The absorption rate is the number of homes for sale in any given month divided by the actual number of homes sold that month.)
May, 2010 3209 homes for sale 529 homes sold 16.5% odds of selling.
April, 2010 3084 homes for sale 770 (was 847) homes sold 25%(was 27.5%) odds of selling.*
May, 2009 3841 homes for sale 547 homes sold 14% odds of selling.
*Adjusted from previous month’s numbers to reflect the actual number of homes sold and closed. Each month some sales fall apart and don’t close. A lower number of home sales may be reported at a later date to show the actual number of sales that did close.
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May, 2009 Seattle-Eastside real estate market compared to May, 2010:
- We are back to reality with Seattle-Eastside home sales. The tax stimulus pushed both home buyers and sellers to act more quickly this year, so the high number of home sales in April may have contributed to the drop in number of eastside home sales in May.
- The end of the tax stimulus had a greater impact on lower priced homes compared to higher priced homes.
- The average list price of properties that are pending went from $512,060 to $646,545. This is an unprecedented change month to month.
- As of this past week, there are 13,615 King County homes (houses and condos) for sale.
- The median price was down by .9%, an insignificant drop.
- Home sales on Seattle’s Eastside: down 7% The first down month in 2010.
- Number of homes for sale on Seattle’s Eastside: down 17%
Best odds of selling: Sammamish plateau areas of Sammamish, Issaquah, North Bend, and Fall City with the best odds of selling as 20.5% of the Sammamish homes got offers.
Worst odds of selling: Woodinville, Bothell, Kenmore, Duvall, and North Kirkland with 12% of the homes getting accepted offers.
Biggest increase in sales from last year: A small 6% increase in Sammamish home sales was the highest increase in Seattle-eastside real estate sales. Quite a contrast to the double and triple digit increases we’ve seen the last few months. As an example, there was 102% increase in the number of Kirkland homes sold in April, 2010 when compared to April, 2009.
Smallest increase in sales from last year: Kirkland home sales increased by 3%
Decline in real estate sales from last year: There was a decline in 5 out of the 7 Seattle-eastside areas, unlike the last few months when every eastside neighborhood experienced an increase in home sales. Redmond and Carnation had the largest decline in home sales with an 18% decline in the number of homes sold.
The peak of homes for sale in 2008: July, 4370 homes.
The peak of homes for sale in 2009: June, 3859 homes.
The number of eastside homes for sale at the start of 2010: 2584 homes
The number of eastside homes for sale now: 3209 homes.
Rate of home sales that failed and did not close: 10%
Seattle Eastside real estate tends to slow down a bit when the sun comes out, which hopefully is any day now! The number of home sales could remain on the lower side in the near future for two reasons. One is the slow down after the tax credit rush which we are now seeing and the upcoming (think positively) sunny weather and summer vacations. People in Seattle like to play outside in the sun. There are a number of people who are “gearing up” to make a move, so we may see stronger eastside real estate sales when summer comes to an end.
Ironically, when people ask me when is the best time time to sell a home, I tell them spring and fall are usually the best times. However, homes sell each month and the ones that show the best and are priced competitively will be the ones to get the offer.
Bellevue WA condos, condo sales, Issaquah WA condos, Kirkland WA condos, Redmond WA condos, Sammamish WA condos, Seattle-eastside condo sales
In Bellevue Real Estate, For Buyers, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, King County Real Estate, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, WA real estate, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, market statistics, real estate on April 13, 2010 at 8:58 am
Seattle-Eastside Condo Sales, March 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.)
March, 2010 1356 condos for sale, 281 condos sold, 21% odds of selling.
February, 2009 1333 condos for sale 161 (was 194) condos sold 12 %(was 14%) odds of selling.*
March, 2009 1300 condos for sale 107 condos sold, 7% 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. Seventeen percent of condo sales originally reported in March failed to 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.
Seattle-eastside condo sales were up by 120 or 57%, the best sales record in several years.
For The Seattle Times update on the March, 2010 real estate market, check this link.
Bellevue Real Estate, Issaquah Real Estate, Redmond real estate, Seattle Eastside real estate, Seattle real estate, Woodinville real estate
In Bellevue Real Estate, For Buyers, For Homeowners, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, King County Real Estate, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, real estate on April 9, 2010 at 9:45 am
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How did March, 2009 stack up to March, 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.)
The plateau: Sammamish, Issaquah, North Bend, and Fall City
The odds of selling a home were 31%.
Median sales price dropped from $513,025 to $497,500.
The number of homes for sale dropped by 22% and sales were up by 154% from last year.
West Redmond/East Bellevue
The odds of selling a home were 34%.
Median sales price dropped from $499,000 to $464,995.
The number of homes for sale dropped by 12% and sales were up by 84%.
South Bellevue/Issaquah
The odds of selling a home were 27%.
Median price increased to $539,450 from $519,900.
The number of homes for sale dropped by 24% and sales were up 93%.
Woodinville/Bothell/Kenmore/Duvall/North Kirkland
The odds of selling a home were 26%.
Median price decreased to $396,725 from $450,000.
The number of homes for sale declined by 18% and sales were up by 68%.
Kirkland
The odds of selling a home were 22%.
Median price increased to $515,000 from $490,000.
The number of homes for sale declined by 22% and sales were up by 118%.
West Bellevue
The odds of selling a home were 18%.
Median pricing was down from $1,185,000 to $921,500.
The number of homes for sale decreased by 28% and sales increased by 24%.
Redmond/Education Hill/ Carnation
The odds of selling a home were 29%
Median pricing increased from $481,450 to $529,450.
The number of homes for sale decreased by 21% and sales increased by 18%.
When compared to March, 2009, three areas of Seattle’s eastside showed an increase in median prices including South Bellevue and Issaquah, Redmond and Carnation, and Kirkland. South Bellevue and Issaquah home prices remained steady for the third month in a row, which is the only area on the eastside to experience a consistent upswing in pricing.
The most significant decrease was in pricing was in West Bellevue, where median home values dropped by 22%. Most Seattle-eastside neighborhoods experienced a reduction in sales price.
Home sales, on the other hand, continued to be strong all over the eastside. Sales increases ranged from 18% in Redmond and Carnation to 154% on the plateau, Sammamish and Issaquah.
Twenty-one percent less homes are for sale on the eastside than last year. Although over 200 more homes are for sale than in February, which is typical for this time of year.
Seattle eastside home sales should continue to be strong through April. We’ll see what happens after that time, however, I don’t expect much to change for the higher price ranges. And nothing may change at all. We could continue to have a strong real estate market.
What’s happening in your area?
Bellevue Real Estate, Issaquah Real Estate, Kirkland real estate, Redmond real estate, Sammamish home sales, Seattle real estate, Woodinville real estate
In Bellevue Real Estate, Bellevue, WA, For Buyers, For Homeowners, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, Issaquah, WA, King County Real Estate, Kirkland, Real Estate News, Redmond, Sammamish, WA, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, market statistics, real estate on April 8, 2010 at 9:55 pm
Seattle- Eastside Real Estate Sales, March 2010
The odds of selling a home on the Eastside in March, 2010 ranged from a low of 18% to a high of 34%, with an average 27% absorption rate. (The absorption rate is the number of homes for sale in any given month divided by the actual number of homes sold that month.)
March, 2010 2923 homes for sale 778 homes sold 27% odds of selling.
February, 2010 2706 homes for sale 506 (was 599) homes sold now 18% (was 22%) odds of selling.*
March, 2009 3711 homes for sale 305 homes sold 8% odds of selling.
*Adjusted from previous month’s numbers to reflect the actual number of homes sold and closed. Each month some sales fall apart and don’t close. A lower number of home sales may be reported at a later date to show the actual number of sales that did close.
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March, 2009 Seattle-Eastside real estate market compared to March, 2010:
- Home sales were up in all Seattle-Eastside cities, a trend which we’ve seen since the first of the year.
- Last week, we hit 12,726 properties for sale in King County, exactly 3000 more properties than the first week in January.
- This week we saw the first significant drop in the number of King County properties for sale as the number dropped by 120 to 12,606. There’s only been one other week this year where the amount of homes for sale dropped and that was only by 8 homes.
- On Seattle’s eastside the number of homes for sale continues to rise as over 200 more homes came on the market this past month.
- The median price was down by 7%, the same as last month. (Keep in mind this is comparing last March’s numbers to this March and is not an indication of the total drop in price for the year.)
- Home sales on Seattle’s Eastside: up 85%!
- Number of homes for sale on Seattle’s Eastside: down 21%
Best odds of selling: Redmond, near Microsoft, and East Bellevue with the greatest odds of selling. Thirty-four percent of the homes got offers.
Worst odds of selling: West Bellevue, with only 18% of the homes getting accepted offers.
Biggest increase in sales from last year: The plateau cities of Sammamish and Issaquah, plus Fall City and North Bend, with 154% increase in the number of home sales from last year.
Smallest increase in sales from last year: Redmond and Carnation, with an 18% increase in home sales over last year.
Decline in real estate sales from last year: None on the eastside. More homes sold in all areas of the eastside this March than compared to March, 2009.
The peak of homes for sale in 2008: July, 4370 homes.
The peak of homes for sale in 2009: June, 3859 homes.
The number of eastside homes for sale at the start of 2010: 2584 homes
The number of eastside homes for sale now: 2923 homes.
Rate of home sales that failed and did not close: 16%
What have you seen happening in your area? Are real estate sales popping?
For The Seattle Times view of the March, 2010 real estate market, check out this link. KPLU had a piece earlier this week about last month’s real estate activity.
What’s in store for April? What do you think will happen? I suspect the market will continue to be very strong, particularly in more affordable price ranges. Will our more positive real estate market continue after the April 30th deadline for the home buyer tax credit?
buyers markets in Seattle, King County Real Estate, Seattle eastside real estate Eastside real estate, Seattle real estate, sellers markets in Seattle
In Bellevue Real Estate, Bellevue, WA, For Buyers, For Homeowners, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, King County Real Estate, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Windermere Real Estate, market statistics, real estate on April 8, 2010 at 8:16 pm
Seattle-eastside real estate is starting to see “red.” Red is a sellers’ market, which means the average market time to sell a Seattle eastside home in the areas marked in red is from 3-6 months.
I sell a lot homes in the “hottest Seattle eastside area, which we call area 530, East Bellevue and the Redmond neighborhoods around Microsoft. Homes sales were hopping this past month, with sales often happening in two weeks or less. If you live in any of the areas marked in “red” and your home is not selling, it’s priced too high compared to competition. If your home is overpriced, you’re helping to sell other homes and they’re selling at your expense.
Seattle proper remains the “hottest” area overall, but if you’re looking to buy on the eastside, all the areas are either a real estate market that’s balanced between buyer and seller (yellow) or in “red,” a sellers’ market.
Buyers markets were absent in March. There’s no green (for a buyers market) left on this map, with the exception of Vashon Island, so the buyers’ markets we’ve been experiencing over the last few years were no where to be seen in in March.
Will the map show the same colors next month? I believe April will also be a very strong month for Seattle-eastside real estate.
Which King/Snohomish County Areas Are Selling Faster?
What do the 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.
Yellow means a balanced market between buyers and sellers.
Green means it’s a buyers’ market.
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.
King County, King County Real Estate, KingCounty, Seattle Eastside real estate, Seattle real estate, WA
In For Buyers, King County Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Windermere Real Estate, market statistics, real estate on March 30, 2010 at 1:40 pm
King County has a lot more properties for sale than the first week of the year. The first quarter of 2010 has passed and there are now 24% more homes and condos for sale, exactly 3000 more. Each week of the year has seen an increase in the number of properties for sale with the exception of one week. Right now there are 12,726 properties for sale and we started the year with 9726 available properties in King County.
This is typical of the Seattle area real estate market. Each spring the number of properties for sale increases dramatically. The good news is most Seattle areas are experiencing a huge jump in real estate sales. But that’s for another post!
King County WA Real Estate 3-29-10
King County Real Estate, Seattle real estate
In 2010 Home buyer Tax Credit, Bellevue Real Estate, For Buyers, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, King County Real Estate, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, real estate on March 17, 2010 at 8:52 am
King and Snohomish County WA Real Estate, February, 2010
The truly “hot” Seattle real estate areas in February, 2010, those in red, are in the core neighborhoods of Seattle itself. However, almost all of the map is in “yellow”, which means the average market time for a home to sell in other Seattle areas is between 3-6 months. This means we’ve had another month with a very balanced, “normal” Seattle real estate market. A normal real estate market is when supply and demand balance out to be 3-6 months to get a home sold. A balanced market is not a reflection of home values, but a reflection of the real estate sales activity.
On most of Seattle’s eastside, home prices are down, but sales have gone up dramatically, anywhere from 52% to 193%, depending on the neighborhood. Prices are lower in most eastside areas, fewer homes have been on the market compared to last year, and more homes are selling.
Will the colors on the Seattle real estate map stay the same in the coming months? It’s hard to answer this question now, but I do know the number of homes coming up for sale is growing pretty quickly. The increase in the number of Seattle-eastside homes and condos for sale could impact the total number of properties that sell and the market time to get a sale. With the April 30th deadline for the home buyer tax credit, much will depend on how many homes are on the market and the interest rates. Check my March eastside blog posts next month to find out what will happen.
What’s your prediction for Seattle-eastside real estate in the coming months? Will “yellow,” representing a balanced real estate market between home buyers and sellers still be the predominant color on the map?
———————————————————————————————————–
What do the 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.
Yellow means a balanced market between buyers and sellers.
Green means its a buyers’ market.
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.
Bellevue Real Estate, Issaquah Real Estate, Kirkland real estate, Redmond real estate, Sammamish home sales, Seattle real estate, Woodinville real estate
In Bellevue Real Estate, For Buyers, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, King County Real Estate, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Windermere Real Estate, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, market statistics, real estate on March 15, 2010 at 10:40 am
Seattle-Eastside Residential Real Estate Statistics-Feb 2010
The odds of selling a home on the Eastside in February, 2010 ranged from a low of 16.5% to a high of 29%, with an average 22% absorption rate. (The absorption rate is the number of homes for sale in any given month divided by the actual number of homes sold that month.)
February, 2010 2706 homes for sale 599 homes sold, 22% odds of selling.
January, 2010 2588 homes for sale, (n0w 477) 539 homes sold, (now 18%) 20% odds of selling.*
February, 2009 3574 homes for sale, 264 homes sold, 7% odds of selling.
*Adjusted from previous month’s numbers to reflect the actual number of homes sold and closed. Each month some sales fall apart and don’t close. A lower number of home sales may be reported at a later date to show the actual number of sales that did close. (see explanation below)
_____________________________________________________________
February, 2009 Seattle-Eastside real estate market compared to February, 2010:
- Home sales were up in all Seattle-Eastside cities.
- The number of homes for sale has begun its “spring creep up”. The year started out at the lowest point in three years. We’re now seeing more on the market. Expect to see a jump in homes for sale with the March report coming next month.
- The median price was down by 7%. (Keep in mind this is comparing last February’s numbers to this February and is not an indication of the total drop in price for the year.)
- Home sales on Seattle’s Eastside: up 103%!
- Number of homes for sale on Seattle’s Eastside: down 25%
Best odds of selling: Redmond, near Microsoft, and East Bellevue with the greatest odds of selling. Twenty-nine percent of the homes got offers.
Worst odds of selling: West Bellevue with only 16.5% of the homes getting accepted offers.
Biggest increase in sales from last year: South Bellevue with 193% increase in the number of home sales from last year.
Smallest increase in sales from last year: West Bellevue, with a 52% increase in home sales over last year.
Decline in real estate sales from last year: None on the eastside. More homes sold in all areas of the eastside this February than last February, which is no big surprise.
The peak of homes for sale in 2008: July, 4370 homes.
The peak of homes for sale in 2009: June, 3859 homes.
The number of eastside homes for sale at the start of 2010: 2584 homes
The number of eastside homes for sale now: 2706 homes.
Rate of home sales that failed: 12%
For a media perspective on February’s real estate trends, check out this article from The Seattle Times.
Will our more positive real estate market continue after the April 30th deadline for the home buyer tax credit? What do you think?
2010 Home buyer Tax Credit, Eastside real estate, King County WA homes for sale, King County WA real estate, Seattle Eastside real estate, Seattle real estate
In 2010 Home buyer Tax Credit, Bellevue Real Estate, For Buyers, For Sellers, Kirkland, WA real estate, real estate, real estate opinion on March 2, 2010 at 7:20 pm
Everyone who has wanted to sell on Seattle’s eastside in the last few years seems wants to sell in the next 60 days, including me.
I know some home sellers Angie Bondurant, my business partner, and I will be representing have been madly getting their homes ready to sell. I bet contractors on Seattle’s eastside are busier than they’ve been in a long time. The contractor I use has gone from working on a rental home I plan to sell to a client’s home. As home seller wanna-bes, we’re all in the same boat, scrambling to meet the looming deadline of April 30th. We’re hoping to catch that home buyer who wants to get the benefit of the 2010 home buyer tax credit. (By the way, I don’t think the market will fall apart after April 30th, 2010, but those thoughts will be for another post)
Right now, the number of homes and condos for sale in King County is doing it’s normal spring time creep up (yes, it’s spring here in Seattle). So far, the number of properties for sale isn’t unusually high.
- King County, WA Real Estate For Sale, 3-2-10
In some of the Seattle-eastside neighborhoods where I’ve sold a lot of homes and which I blog about, I’ve talked about the fact that there are fewer homes on the market. I think that may be changing and I am wondering if others are experiencing the same thing.
Are other Realtors seeing the same thing happening with their business?
Do you have more homes coming up for sale in the next 60 days?
Do you expect to sell more homes or condos in the next 60 days because of the tax credit?
Are home owners seeing more “For Sale” signs popping up in their neighborhoods?
Bellevue Real Estate, Issaquah Real Estate, Kirkland real estate, Redmond real estate, Sammamish home sales, Seattle real estate, Woodinville real estate
In Bellevue Real Estate, For Buyers, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, King County Real Estate, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Windermere Real Estate, Woodinville, WA Real Estate on February 10, 2010 at 4:41 pm
Seattle-Eastside Real Estate, January, 2010
The odds of selling a home on the Eastside in January, 2010 ranged from a low of 12% to a high of 28%, with an average 21% absorption rate. (The absorption rate is the number of homes for sale in any given month divided by the actual number of homes sold that month.)
January, 2010 2588 homes for sale, 539 homes sold, 27% odds of selling.
December, 2009 2584 homes for sale, 419(now 358) homes sold 16%(Now 14%) odds of selling.*
January, 2009, 3144 homes for sale 248 homes sold 9% odds of selling.
*Adjusted from previous month’s numbers to reflect the actual number of homes sold and closed. Each month some sales fall apart and don’t close. A lower number of home sales may be reported at a later date to show the actual number of sales that did close. (see explanation below)
_____________________________________________________________
January, 2009 Seattle-Eastside real estate market compared to January, 2010:
- Home sales were up in all Seattle-Eastside cities.
- The number of homes for sale dropped to the lowest number since February, 2007.
- The median price was down by 1.8%. (Keep in mind this is comparing last January’s numbers to this January and is not an indication of the total drop in price for the year.)
- Home sales on Seattle’s Eastside: up 76%!
- Number of homes for sale on Seattle’s Eastside: down 27%
Best odds of selling: Redmond, near Microsoft, and East Bellevue are back on top as the areas with the greatest odds of selling. Twenty eight percent of the homes got offers. Last month the area had the worst odds on the eastside.
Worst odds of selling: West Bellevue with only 12% of the homes getting accepted offers.
Biggest increase in sales from last year: Redmond, near Microsoft, and East Bellevue with 103% increase in the number of home sales from last year.
Smallest increase in sales from last year: West Bellevue, with a 35% increase in home sales over last year.
Decline in real estate sales from last year: None on the eastside.
The peak of homes for sale in 2008: July, 4370 homes.
The peak of homes for sale in 2009: June, 3859 homes.
The number of eastside homes for sale at the start of 2010: 2584 homes
The number of eastside homes for sale now: 2588 homes.
Rate of home sales that failed: 15%
Why home sales fail to close:
- This can be the result of inspections in which buyers and sellers do not agree, an appraisal that does not justify the sales price, lenders who do not package the loan properly or the great number of short sales that are out there.
- Short sales are sales in which the selling price for a property is less than the price owed to the bank, so the seller is “short.” Many of these offers do not stay together because it often takes months for a short sale to get approved by the bank. There’s no guarantee the bank will accept an offer. I’ve heard only 4% of the short sales actually close in King County. Since there’s a huge number on the market, if you’re someone willing to take a chance and accept that your offer may never be looked at or accepted, then a short sale may be a way to go. With the extension of the home buyer tax credit, home buyers have more time to go after short sales. However, months may still be needed to get the short sale closed, if it is to close at all. Since most buyers truly want to purchase a home and close on it, I would recommend NOT making offers on short sales. I’d also recommend reading as much as you can about short sales before attempting to make an offer on a short sale. This way you’ll be prepared if you choose to go the route of a short sale.
In 2009 stimulus package, 2010 Home buyer Tax Credit, Bellevue Real Estate, For Buyers, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, King County Real Estate, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, WA real estate, Windermere Real Estate, Woodinville, WA, real estate on January 13, 2010 at 1:16 pm
Seattle-Eastside Condo Real Estate Sales, Dec 2009
(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.)
December. 2009 1174 condos for sale, 125 condos sold, 11% odds of selling.
November, 2009 1289 condos for sale 140 (now 126)condos sold, 11% (now 10%) odds of selling.
December, 2008 1150 condos for sale 70 condos sold 6% 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. Thirteen percent of condo sales originally reported in October failed to close.
The number of condos for sale also dropped by 115 units, which is 9% decrease in the number of condos available for sale on Seattle’s eastside. The eastside condo sales remained about the same as November. The year finished out with sales happening, but not as many as September and October. Those months were affected by the 2009 first time home buyer’s tax credit.
With the extension and expansion of the home buyer tax credit into 2010, there’s the added benefit of a tax credit, but only if you buy before the end of April, 2010.
Seattle/Eastside real estate, Seattle real estate, Woodinville real estate, Eastside real estate, King County Real Estate, Bellevue Real Estate, Kirkland real estate, Sammamish real estate, Redmond real estate, Snohomish County real estate, sellers market in Seattle, Seattle home prices
In 2009 stimulus package, 2010 Home buyer Tax Credit, Bellevue Real Estate, For Buyers, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, King County Real Estate, Kirkland, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Windermere Real Estate, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, market statistics, real estate on January 13, 2010 at 12:19 pm
King-Snohomish County Real Estate December, 2009
December, 2009 Seattle real estate finished the year off on a more positive note. With so much of the Seattle area real estate market showing “yellow,” there was a solid return to a real estate market more evenly balanced between buyers and sellers. This is more like the real estate market we saw in the 1990′s.
There was still a significant increase in real estate sales from December, 2008, with West Bellevue leading the way on Seattle’s eastside. The number of West Bellevue home sales shot up by 279%! Because home prices in West Bellevue tend to be among the most expensive on Seattle’s eastside and in the Seattle area in general, this signaled more of return to confidence in the real estate market. Prices for high end homes have dropped to the point that buyers were more comfortable buying. Since most of these sales had nothing to do with the first time home buyer credit, this signaled a strong change in buyer confidence and willingness to buy.
Prices tended to be more reasonable all over the Seattle area. Lower prices, low interest rates, and the first time home buyers’ tax credit did a lot to open up the real estate market.
The year ended with the lowest number of homes on the market for all of 2009. The amount of properties for sale was similar to what was available in 2007. This does not mean the market will return to 2007 real estate activity, but it is a good thing to see that there were, and are, less properties for sale in the Seattle area.
What’s in store for 2010?
I expect the extension and expansion of the 2010 home buyer credit to continue to spur real estate sales on. I also expect it to bring more home sellers into the market, so competition could increase again. The number of properties for sale is a huge factor in pricing and market time. The first part of 2010 should be pretty active for both home buyers and sellers. After April 30th when the home buyer tax credit goes away, much will depend on how many homes are on the market and the interest rates.
As I’ve mentioned before, be prepared for any and everything with real estate sales in the coming months. There’s no “one size fits all.” Home sales will depend on the price point, location, the home’s condition, the competition, and/or a combination of these things. Some homes will sell quickly and for a good price, others will still undergo significant price reductions to meet market expectations, and others will sell, but for less than one would expect. This, actually, is what we expect to see in a normal, more balanced real estate market.
What do the 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.
Yellow means a balanced market between buyers and sellers.
Green means its a buyers’ market.
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.
Bellevue home sales, Bellevue Real Estate, Issaquah home sales, Issaquah Real Estate, Kirkland Home Sales, Kirkland real estate, Redmond home sales, Redmond real estate, Sammamish home sales, Seattle real estate, Woodinville home sales, Woodinville real estate
In Bellevue Real Estate, For Buyers, For Sellers, King County Real Estate, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Windermere Real Estate, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, real estate on January 13, 2010 at 11:36 am
Seattle-Eastside Residential Sales, December, 2009
The odds of selling a home on the Eastside in December 2009 ranged from a low of 11% to a high of 20%, with an average 16% absorption rate. (The absorption rate is the number of homes for sale in any given month divided by the actual number of homes sold that month.)
December, 2009 2584 homes for sale, 419 homes sold 16% odds of selling.
November, 2009 2943 homes for sale 503 (now 457)homes sold 17% (now 15.5%) odds of selling.*
December, 2008 3413 homes for sale 207 homes sold 6% odds of selling.
*Adjusted from previous month’s numbers to reflect the actual number of homes sold and closed. (see explanation below) Each month some sales fall apart and don’t close. A lower number of home sales may be reported at a later date to show the actual number of sales that did close.
_____________________________________________________________
December, 2008 Seattle-Eastside real estate market compared to December, 2009:
Several important trends this month:
- Home sales were up in all Seattle-Eastside cities.
- The number of homes for sale dropped to the lowest number since March, 2007. This is a huge factor in our real estate market. For most of the past two years, there’s been a large number of homes on the market. In 2005 and 2006, when the real estate market was booming, we saw the numbers of homes for sale on the eastside in the 2000-3000 range.
- The median prices were down by 3%.
- Home sales on Seattle’s Eastside: up 81%!
Sales prices: down 3%.
Number of homes for sale: down 24%.
Best odds of selling: For the third month in a row, the cities of Sammamish, Issaquah, Fall City, Snohomish, and North Bend, with 20% of the homes selling.
Worst odds of selling: West Redmond, near Microsoft, and East Bellevue with 13% odds of homes selling.
Biggest increase in sales from last year: West Bellevue, with 279% more home sales, which translates to 34 home sales in 2009 vs. 9 home sales in 2008.
Smallest increase in sales from last year: East Bellevue/Redmond area around Microsoft with a 6% increase in sales over last year.
Home sales in Bellevue and Redmond were tops for several years and have now dropped off when compared to other eastside cities.
Decline in real estate sales from last year: None on the eastside.
The peak of homes for sale in 2008: July, 4370 homes.
The peak of homes for sale in 2009: June, 3859 homes.
The number of homes for sale at the start of 2010: 9726 homes
Rate of home sales that failed this month: 9%
Why home sales fail to close:
- This can be the result of inspections in which buyers and sellers do not agree, an appraisal that does not justify the sales price, lenders who do not package the loan properly or the great number of short sales that are out there.
- Short sales are sales in which the selling price for a property is less than the price owed to the bank, so the seller is “short.” Many of these offers do not stay together because it often takes months for a short sale to get approved by the bank. There’s no guarantee the bank will accept an offer. I’ve heard only 4% of the short sales actually close in King County. Since there’s a huge number on the market, if you’re someone willing to take a chance and accept that your offer may never be looked at or accepted, then a short sale may be a way to go. With the extension of the home buyer tax credit, home buyers have more time to go after short sales. However, months may still be needed to get the short sale closed, if it is to close at all. Since most buyers truly want to purchase a home and close on it, I would recommend NOT making offers on short sales. I’d also recommend reading as much as you can about short sales before attempting to make an offer on a short sale. This way you’ll be prepared if you choose to go the route of a short sale.
- My team and I are closing on a short sale this week. The original offer was written in August. There were two lienholders, two banks with mortgages on the property, which complicated the process. Short sales can happen, but a buyer has to expect a rocky ride through the sales process, if the banks actually respond to the offer. Be ready for most anything and most of all, be patient and not under any time constraints.
Bellevue Real Estate, buyers market in Seattle, Eastside real estate, King County Real Estate, Kirkland real estate, Redmond real estate, Sammamish real estate, Seattle home prices, Seattle real estate, Seattle/Eastside real estate, sellers market in Seattle, Snohomish County real estate, Woodinville real estate
In Bellevue Real Estate, Bellevue, WA, For Buyers, For Homeowners, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, Issaquah, WA, King County Real Estate, King County, WA, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, WA, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Windermere Real Estate, Woodinville, WA, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, real estate on December 17, 2009 at 2:24 pm
King Snohomish County Monthly Supply - November 2009
King-Snohomish County Real Estate Map - October 2009
King Snohomish County Months Supply-November 2008
The November, 2009 Seattle real estate map looks a lot different than October and really different than last November. More of the eastside of Seattle was in the “yellow,” a real estate market more evenly balanced between buyers and sellers, in October than in November, 2009. The increase in real estate sales in the Seattle area in October was so huge, that the real estate market settled down a bit in November.
There was such huge increase in Seattle-Eastside home sales in October 2009 with 100%+ increase in many neighborhoods. This past November, the increase in Seattle area home sales was an average of 50% more than last November. This is still a terrific increase in Seattle home sales, but not off the charts like October. Kirkland had the highest increase with 148% more homes selling this year than last. The smallest increase at 9% was in area 530, the East Bellevue and Redmond area near Microsoft.
The number of homes for sale is at the lowest point in almost three years. We have not seen so few homes for sale since March, 2007.
I expect the extension and expansion of the 2010 home buyer credit to continue to spur real estate sales on.
As I’ve been mentioning, be prepared for any and everything with real estate sales in the coming months. There’s no “one size fits all.” Home sales will depend on the price point, location, the home’s condition, the competition, and/or a combination of these things. Some homes will sell quickly and for a good price, others will still undergo significant price reductions to meet market expectations, and others will sell, but for less than one would expect. This, actually, is what we expect to see in a normal, more balanced real estate market.
What do the 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.
Yellow means a balanced market between buyers and sellers.
Green means its a buyers’ market.
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.
2010 home buyer tax credits, Bellevue condo sales, Bellevue Real Estate, buying a condo on Seattle’s eastside, Redmond condo sales, Redmond real estate, Seattle Eastside real estate, Seattle-eastside condo sales, selling a condo on Seattle’s eastside
In Bellevue Real Estate, Bellevue, WA, For Buyers, For Homeowners, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, Issaquah, WA, King County Real Estate, King County, WA, Kirkland, Local news and information, Real Estate News, Redmond, Sammamish, WA, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Windermere Real Estate, Woodinville, WA, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, financing, market statistics, real estate on December 16, 2009 at 11:47 am
Seattle Eastside Condo Sales, Nov 2009
(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, 2009 1289 condos for sale 140 condos sold, 11% odds of selling.
October, 2009 1363 condos for sale 239 (now 207) condos sold 17% (now 15%) odds of selling.*
November, 2008 1243 condos for sale 85 condos sold 7% 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. Thirteen percent of condo sales originally reported in October failed to close.
The number of condos for sale also dropped by 74 units, which is 6% decrease in the number of condos available for sale on Seattle’s eastside. The number of Seattle Eastside condo sales dropped from the last couple of months to numbers more similar to what we saw in the summer.
With only about 10 out of 100 condos selling, it’s a great time to buy. There’s not much competition with other buyers. With the extension and expansion of the home buyer tax credit into 2010, there’s the added benefit of a tax credit, but only if you buy before the end of April, 2010.
Bellevue home sales, Bellevue Real Estate, Issaquah home sales, Issaquah Real Estate, Kirkland Home Sales, Kirkland real estate, Redmond home sales, Redmond real estate, Sammamish home sales, Seattle real estate, Seattle-eastside real estate. selling a home on Seattle’ s eastside, Woodinville home sales, Woodinville real estate
In Bellevue Real Estate, Bellevue, WA, Built Green and Sustainable Living, For Buyers, For Homeowners, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, Issaquah, WA, King County Real Estate, King County, WA, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, WA, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Windermere Real Estate, Woodinville, WA, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, market statistics, real estate on December 15, 2009 at 11:47 am
How did November, 2009 stack up to November, 2008 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.)
The plateau: Sammamish, Issaquah, North Bend, and Fall City
The odds of selling a home were 23%.
Median sales price remained the same, $552,500.
The number of homes for sale dropped by 27% and sales were up by 77% from last year.
West Redmond/East Bellevue
The odds of selling a home were 17%.
Median sales price remained the same, $479,000.
The number of homes for sale dropped by 18% and sales were up by 9%.
South Bellevue/Issaquah
The odds of selling a home were 20%.
Median price was the same at $685,000.
The number of homes for sale dropped by 21% and sales were up 71%.
Woodinville/Bothell/Kenmore/Duvall/North Kirkland
The odds of selling a home were 13.5%.
Median price was the same at $411,750.
The number of homes for sale declined by 16% and sales were up by 29%.
Kirkland
The odds of selling a home were 15%.
Median price was the same at $739,000.
The number of homes for sale declined by 21% and sales were up by 148%.
West Bellevue
The odds of selling a home were 14%.
Median pricing was the same at $996,500.
The number of homes for sale decreased by 22% and sales increased by 68%.
Redmond/Education Hill/ Carnation
The odds of selling a home were 16%
Median pricing was the same at $559,900.
The number of homes for sale decreased by 21% and sales increased by 19%.
Last month I reported an increase in home prices in the Redmond/Education Hill/Carnation area and was surprised since all the other cities had lower median home prices. This month, however, almost all the median home prices in the different Seattle eastside cities remained the same as November, 2008. This is good news as prices may have stabilized. Since the number of homes for sale on Seattle’s eastside stands at the lowest number since March, 2007, it bodes well for Seattle real estate. With the extension of the home buyer tax credit, smaller numbers of homes for sale, low interest rates, real estate activity should be brisk in the first part of the year. For those reasons, if you want to sell your home and move in 2010, do it now, rather than later in 2010.
Bellevue home sales, Bellevue Real Estate, Issaquah home sales, Issaquah Real Estate, Kirkland Home Sales, Kirkland real estate, Redmond home sales, Redmond real estate, Sammamish home sales, Seattle real estate, Seattle-eastside real estate. selling a home on Seattle’ s eastside, Woodinville home sales, Woodinville real estate
In Bellevue Real Estate, Bellevue, WA, For Buyers, For Homeowners, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, Issaquah, WA, King County Real Estate, King County, WA, Kirkland, Real Estate News, Redmond, Sammamish, WA, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Windermere Real Estate, Woodinville, WA, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, market statistics, real estate on December 15, 2009 at 10:04 am
Eastside Real Estate Sales, November 2009
The odds of selling a home on the Eastside in November 2009 ranged from a low of 13.5 % to a high of 23%, with an average 17% absorption rate. (The absorption rate is the number of homes for sale in any given month divided by the actual number of homes sold that month.)
November, 2009 2943 homes for sale 503 homes sold 17 % odds of selling.
October, 2009 3240 homes for sale 644(now 561) homes sold 19%(now 17%) odds of selling.*
November, 2008 3645 homes for sale 238 homes sold 6.5% odds of selling.
*Adjusted from previous month’s numbers to reflect the actual number of homes sold and closed. (see explanation below) Each month some sales fall apart and don’t close. A lower number of home sales may be reported at a later date to show the actual number of sales that did close.
_____________________________________________________________
November, 2008 Seattle-Eastside real estate market compared to November, 2009:
Several important trends this month:
- Home sales were up in all Seattle-Eastside cities.
- The number of homes for sale dropped to the lowest number, below 3000 homes, since March, 2007. This is a very important factor in our real estate market. For most of the past two years, there’s been a large number of homes on the market. In 2005 and 2006, when the real estate market was booming, we saw the numbers of homes for sale on the eastside in the 2000-3000 range.
- The median prices were UP slightly, by 2%.
- Home sales on Seattle’s Eastside: up 50.5%, a terrific increase in sales, although a much smaller increase than in October, when the increase was over 100%.
Sales prices: UP 2.1%.
Number of homes for sale: down 22%.
Best odds of selling: For the second month in a row, the cities of Sammamish, Issaquah, Fall City, Snohomish, and North Bend, with 23% of the homes selling.
Worst odds of selling: Woodinville, North Kirkland, Bothell, Kenmore and Duvall, with 13% odds of homes selling.
Biggest increase in sales from last year: Kirkland, with 148% more home sales.
Last month, numbers like this were more common in all the eastside cities. Not so this month with Sammamish, Issaquah, etc. coming in with the second highest increase at 77%.
Smallest increase in sales from last year: Again it’s the East Bellevue/Redmond area around Microsoft, with the smallest increase this month, only 9%.
Home sales in Bellevue and Redmond have been so strong in comparison to other eastside areas for so long. Now other Seattle-Eastside neighborhoods are catching up.
Decline in real estate sales: None on the eastside.
The peak of homes for sale in 2008: July, 4370 homes.
The peak of homes for sale in 2009: June, 3859 homes.
Rate of home sales that failed this month: 13%
Why home sales fail to close:
- This can be the result of inspections in which buyers and sellers do not agree, an appraisal that does not justify the sales price, lenders who do not package the loan properly or the great number of short sales that are out there.
- Short sales are sales in which the selling price for a property is less than the price owed to the bank, so the seller is “short.” Many of these offers do not stay together because it often takes months for a short sale to get approved by the bank. There’s no guarantee the bank will accept an offer. I’ve heard only 4% of the short sales actually close in King County. Since there’s a huge number on the market, if you’re someone willing to take a chance and accept that your offer may never be looked at or accepted, then a short sale may be a way to go. With the extension of the home buyer tax credit, home buyers have more time to go after short sales. However, months may still be needed to get the short sale closed, if it is to close at all. Since most buyers truly want to purchase a home and close on it, I would recommend NOT making offers on short sales. I’d also recommend reading as much as you can about short sales before attempting to make an offer on a short sale. This way you’ll be prepared if you choose to go the route of a short sale.
- My team and I are closing on a short sale this week. The original offer was written in August. There were two lienholders, two banks with mortgages on the property, which complicated the process. Short sales can happen, but a buyer has to expect a rocky ride through the sales process, if the banks actually respond to the offer. Be ready for most anything and most of all, be patient and not under any time constraints.
Amazon, buying a home, DocuSign, Eastside real estate, electronic signatures, Microsoft, NAR, National Association of Realtors, Northwest Multiple Listing Service, NWMLS, real estate, Seattle Eastside real estate, Seattle real estate, selling a home, signing purchase and sale contracts
In For Buyers, For Sellers, Real Estate News, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, real estate, real estate opinion on November 18, 2009 at 10:52 am
Purchase and Sale Agreement
Have you ever been frustrated by the lack of electronic signatures when you’ve been buying or selling real estate in the Seattle area? Many of my hi-tech clients have been surprised and bemused by this over the years. Considering we live in the land of hi-tech with Microsoft, Amazon and many other hi-tech companies, our NWMLS (Northwest Multiple Listing Service) and the real estate industry in general have been behind the curve on this issue.
This may change as the NAR, The National Realtors Association, is investing in DocuSign, the company that develops software for electronic signatures.
From Dale Stinton of NAR:
Our capital investment and guidance will serve as a catalyst for this company to become the standard and meet the market demand for legally binding electronic signatures that help REALTORS close more deals at a faster rate, and offer the convenience and flexibility buyers require,” he said.
Market demand? Definitely, it’s an understatement and has been a long time coming. Since one of the untold rules of real estate is someone, the Realtor, the buyer or the seller are out of town when an offer needs to be presented and negotiated. Electronic signatures should make life a whole lot easier. I think of the times I’ve had clients on opposite sides of the globe in places such as Taiwan, India, and Sweden or clients who are at out of town conventions or meetings.
Having been in the business of helping people buy and sell homes for a long time, I’ve traveled from offers having to be signed with original signatures in person or via snail mail to the giant leap made with faxed signatures. It would be terrific to make another leap forward to meet the needs of our clients who are busy and on the move.
What do you think? Have you ever been in a difficult situation with getting an offer signed and delivered?
2010 home buyer tax credits, Bellevue condo sales, Bellevue Real Estate, buying a condo on Seattle’s eastside, Redmond condo sales, Redmond real estate, Seattle Eastside real estate, Seattle-eastside condo sales, selling a condo on Seattle's eastside
In Bellevue Real Estate, Bellevue, WA, For Buyers, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, Issaquah, WA, King County Real Estate, King County, WA, Kirkland, Sammamish, WA, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Woodinville, WA, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, market statistics, real estate on November 11, 2009 at 12:35 pm
(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, 2009 1363 condos for sale 239 condos sold 17% odds of selling
September, 2009 1407 condos for sale (now 210) 236 condos sold (now 15%) 17% odds of selling.
October, 2008 1351 condos for sale 116 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.
More Seattle Eastside condos are selling than earlier this year, although the absorption rate is still under 20%.
Important news for all condo buyers:
With the extension and extension of the home buyer tax credit to include not only first time buyers, but many move up buyers, I’m hoping the number of condo sales on Seattle’s eastside will increase in the near term.
Bellevue home sales, Bellevue Real Estate, Issaquah home sales, Issaquah Real Estate, Kirkland Home Sales, Kirkland real estate, Redmond home sales, Redmond real estate, Sammamish home sales, Seattle real estate, Seattle-eastside real estate. selling a home on Seattle' s eastside, Woodinville home sales, Woodinville real estate
In Bellevue Real Estate, Bellevue, WA, For Buyers, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, Issaquah, WA, King County Real Estate, King County, WA, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, WA, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle, Seattle real estate, WA, WA real estate, Woodinville, WA, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, market statistics, real estate on November 10, 2009 at 12:04 pm
How did October, 2009 stack up to October, 2008 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.)
The plateau: Sammamish, Issaquah, North Bend, and Fall City
The odds of selling a home were 26%.
Median sales price decreased by 9% from $559,000 to $509,000.
The number of homes for sale dropped by 33% and sales were up by 119% from last year.
West Redmond/East Bellevue
The odds of selling a home were 19%.
Median sales price decreased to $445,000 from $484,725, a decrease of 9%
The number of homes for sale dropped by 23.5% and sales were up by 53%.
South Bellevue/Issaquah
The odds of selling a home were 23%.
Median price increased by 4% to $592,500 from $569,900.
The number of homes for sale dropped by 21% and sales were up 156%.
Woodinville/Bothell/Kenmore/Duvall/North Kirkland
The odds of selling a home were 16%.
Median price was down to $429,975 from $533,925, a 19.5% decrease.
The number of homes for sale declined by 15% and sales were up by 89%.
Kirkland
The odds of selling a home were 18%.
Median price decreased by 29.5%, from $709,475 to $500,000.
The number of homes for sale declined by 23% and sales were up by 142%.
West Bellevue
The odds of selling a home were 14%.
Median pricing decreased by 18% from $1,399,000 to $1,150,000.
The number of homes for sale decreased by 16% and sales increased by 100%.
Redmond/Education Hill/ Carnation
The odds of selling a home were 23%
Median pricing increased by 6% to $449,995 from $472,425.
The number of homes for sale decreased by 16% and sales increased by 190%.
The increase in sales was huge all over the Eastside. Surprising, but maybe not so surprising, the increase in sales was the smallest in the area that has traditionally been the strongest over the last few years, the East Bellevue/Redmond area near Microsoft. This could be the result of a few factors. One is Microsoft is not hiring as many people and is also doing some layoffs. Also, with the area so strong in home sales over the years, other areas are starting to catch up more in the number of sales.
Two areas saw an increase in median pricing from last year, downtown Redmond and Carnation and South Bellevue and Issaquah. This is a real surprise, since every area has shown a decline in prices. This may be an anomaly, so I’ll check it out next month.
Bellevue home sales, Bellevue Real Estate, buying a home on Seattle’s eastside, Issaquah home sales, Kirkland Home Sales, Kirkland real estate, Redmond home sales, Redmond real estate, Sammamish home sales, Sammamish real estate, Seattle Eastside real estate, Seattle real estate 10-09, selling a home on Seattle’s eastside, Woodinville home sales
In Bellevue Real Estate, For Buyers, For Homeowners, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, King County Real Estate, Kirkland, Real Estate News, Redmond, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, market statistics, real estate on November 9, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Seattle Eastside Real Estate Sales, October 2009
The odds of selling a home on the Eastside in October 2009 ranged from a low of 14% to a high of 26%, with an average 20% absorption rate. (The absorption rate is the number of homes for sale in any given month divided by the actual number of homes sold that month.)
October, 2009 3240 homes for sale 644 homes sold 19% odds of selling.
September, 2009 3518 homes for sale (now 606) 668 homes sold (now 17%) 20% odds of selling.*
October, 2008 4097 homes for sale 257 homes sold 6% odds of selling.
*Adjusted from previous month’s numbers to reflect the actual number of homes sold and closed. Some sales from each month fall apart and don’t close, hence a lower number of sold homes may be reported at a later date.
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October, 2008 Seattle-Eastside real estate market compared to October, 2009:
Sales were up a huge, and I mean huge, amount in most of the Seattle-Eastside cities. The number of homes for sale and the median prices were down in all neighborhoods with the exception of South Bellevue/Issaquah and downtown Redmond/Union Hill. In both of these areas the median price increased from last October to this October.
Home sales on Seattle’s Eastside: up 118%!!!!
Sales prices: down 12%.
Number of homes for sale: down 22%.
Best odds of selling: and it’s not Redmond, near Microsoft, and East Bellevue! This month, the plateau areas of Sammamish, Issaquah, Fall City, Snohomish, and North Bend are the top home sales areas with 26% of the homes selling.
Worst odds of selling: West Bellevue with 12% odds of homes selling.
Biggest increase in sales from last year: Downtown Redmond, Union Hill, Redmond Ridge, Carnation, 190% more home sales.
Smallest increase in sales from last year: East Bellevue/Redmond area around Microsoft goes from the top home sales area to the area with the smallest increase this year from last October, only 53%. Home sales in Bellevue and Redmond have been so strong in comparison to other eastside areas for so long. Now other Seattle-Eastside neighborhoods are catching up.
Decline in real estate sales: None on the eastside, all areas had huge increases in the number of home sales ranging from 52% to 190%.
The peak of homes for sale in 2008: July, 4370 homes.
The peak of homes for sale in 2009: June, 3859 homes.
Rate of home sales that failed this month: 11%
Why home sales fail to close:
- This can be the result of inspections in which buyers and sellers do not agree, an appraisal that does not justify the sales price, lenders who do not package the loan properly or the great number of short sales that are out there.
- Short sales are sales in which the selling price for a property is less than the price owed to the bank, so the seller is “short.” Many of these offers do not stay together because it often takes months for a short sale to get approved by the bank. There’s no guarantee the bank will accept an offer. I’ve heard only 4% of the short sales actually close in King County. Since there’s a huge number on the market, if you’re someone willing to take a chance and accept that your offer may never be looked at or accepted, then a short sale may be a way to go. With the extension of the home buyer tax credit, home buyers have more time to goafter short sales. However, months may still be needed to get the short sale closed, if it is to close at all. Since most buyers truly want to purchase a home and close on it, I would recommend NOT making offers on short sales. I’d also recommend reading as much as you can about short sales before attempting to make an offer on a short sale. This way you’ll be prepared if you choose to go the route of a short sale.
real estate, home sales, King County Real Estate, WA real estate, first time home buyers, buying a home, $8000 first time home buyer credit, James McIntire, Senator Isakson, HFA, HFA first time home buyer programs
In 2009 stimulus package, For Buyers, For Sellers, WA real estate, financing, real estate on October 20, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Should the first time home buyers credit be extended or are there other options? The time available to use the $8000 first time buyer home credit is almost gone. There’s little time left to buy a home and close on it by November 30th to be eligible for the credit.
Should the tax credit be extended? Some lawmakers, the building association, and the real estate industry believes it should.
Republican Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia said:
This economy that we’re in went into the tank because of residential housing, and it will only really come out of the tank with residential housing.
The stimulus that Congress passed was $787 billion. The total cost of this, if you extend it for a year, not half a year, and if raised to 10,000, would be about $28 billion. That’s less than four percent of the stimulus – yeah, we already have proof of how many home sales it will generate, how many jobs it will produce. So by any measure, it is a small down payment on a great repayment that we’ll get in our economy and it’s not throwing dollars away.
The first time home buyer tax incentive had a positive effect on real estate sales, obviously, as we’ve seen higher sales since last year at this time. but has it also had a positive effect on the economy?
The recent opinion piece in The Seattle Times written by James McIntire, Washington’s State Treasurer states:
Every 1,000 home sales generate $112.4 million of economic activity with $71.9 million of it directly from home-sale preparation and the actual real-estate transaction. In addition, more than 700 new jobs are created.
Buying a home requires building inspectors, lenders, escrow people, and movers to complete the process. Home buyers buy curtains, appliances, beds, couches, TV’s and other hard goods. Buying a home employs shop keepers, store personnel, and the factory workers who make the goods needed to furnish a home. Home owners employ plumbers, electricians, landscapers, and other contractors. Home sales to first time home buyers has allowed other home owners to buy and make a move up, helping to increase overall home sales.
Home buying has provided one of the few boosts to the national economy this past year. Money must come back into the economy in order to breathe life into it.
Just this morning, I heard on NPR about a housing program for first time buyers that is coming back into play, The Housing Finance Agency. This agency has been unable to fund loans for first time buyers since the credit freeze. The Obama administration is looking into opening credit by issuing tax exempt bonds to raise the money to lend to first time home buyers.
Treasury’s plan is for the federal government to buy the bonds from HFAs, who will in turn have the money to lend to first-time home buyers…
Should we extend the $8000 first time home buyers credit? Or should we look to new/old programs, such as the HFA? What do you think?
Bellevue condo sales, Bellevue Real Estate, buying a condo on Seattle's eastside, Redmond condo sales, Redmond real estate, Seattle Eastside real estate, Seattle-eastside condo sales, selling a condo on Seattle's eastside
In Bellevue Real Estate, For Buyers, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, King County Real Estate, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, real estate on October 12, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Seattle Eastside Condo Sales Sept 2009
(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.)
September, 2009 1407 condos for sale 236 condos sold 17% odds of selling.
August, 2009 1429 condos for sale 206(now 178) condos sold 14%(now 12) odds of selling.
September, 2008 1458 condos for sale 151 condos sold 11% 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.
More Seattle Eastside condos are selling. The trend continues as sales numbers are more than double January and February of this year.
Sales don’t close for a variety of reasons: In September, 2% of the condo sales failed to close. Some sales are falling apart and not closing because of inspection, financing issues, and appraisal issues.
A sale could fail because an appraisal came in lower than the selling price, an inspection happened in which both buyer and seller couldn’t agree or a lender didn’t put the loan package together properly. Unfortunately, there are other reasons sales fail to close, such as short sales in which a seller is selling a condo for less than is owed on the property. If the bank doesn’t agree to sell the condo at the price established between the buyer and seller, the deal could be off.
My team and I worked on a condo sale that almost fell apart because of the FHA spot approval. The condo complex did not meet FHA spot approval guidelines because of the lack of a condo reserve study. The buyer had to redo their loan and was able to qualify for conventional financing. It was a little hairy for a while, but the sale closed.
Important news for all condo buyers: FHA spot approvals will be going away soon. Come November, FHA spot approvals will be gone.
As the year comes to a close, look to see if the absence of FHA spot approvals and the end of the $8000 first time home buyer tax credit affect the number of condo sales. I suspect the entry level condo sales, those under 300k, will slow down.
Bellevue condo sales. Redmond condo sales, buying a Seattle-eastside condo, eastside condo sales, Seattle Eastside real estate, Seattle-eastside condo sales, selling a Seattle-eastside condo
In Bellevue Real Estate, For Buyers, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, King County Real Estate, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, market statistics, real estate on October 12, 2009 at 7:13 pm
How did September, 2009 stack up to September, 2008 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 plateau: Sammamish, Issaquah, North Bend, and Fall City
The chances of selling a home were 22%.
Median sales price decreased by 5% from $519,000 to $493,995.
The number of homes for sale declined by 25% and sales were up by 30% from last year.
West Redmond/East Bellevue
The chances of selling a home were 32.5%.
Median sales price decreased to $499,500 from $550,000, a decrease of 9%
The number of homes for sale dropped by 30% and sales were up by 31%.
South Bellevue/Issaquah
The chances of selling a home were 15%.
Median price decreased by 5% to $594,500 to $564,900.
The number of homes for sale dropped by 19% and sales were up 11%.
Woodinville/Bothell/Kenmore/Duvall/North Kirkland
The chances of selling a home were 19%.
Median price was down to $399,975 from $459,950, a 13% decrease.
The number of homes for sale declined by 11% and sales were up by 33%.
Kirkland
The chances of selling a home were 15%.
Median price decreased by 21%, from $695,000 to $549,950.
The number of homes for sale declined by 20% and sales were up by 47%.
West Bellevue
The chances of selling a home were 17%.
Median pricing decreased by 23% from $1,314,000 to $1,012,000.
The number of homes for sale decreased by 13% and sales increased by 92%. WOW!
Redmond/Education Hill/ Carnation
The chances of selling a home were 18.5%
Median pricing decreased by 14% from $525,000 to $449,950.
The number of homes for sale decreased by 3% and sales decreased by 6%.
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Bellevue home sales, Bellevue Real Estate, buying a home on Seattle's eastside, Redmond home sales, Redmond real estate, Seattle Eastside real estate, Seattle real estate-Sept 09, selling a home on Seattle's eastside
In Bellevue Real Estate, For Buyers, For Sellers, King County Real Estate, Redmond, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, WA real estate, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, market statistics, real estate on October 12, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Seattle-Eastside Real Estate Sales September 2009
The odds of selling a home on the Eastside in September 2009 ranged from a low of 15% to a high of 32.5%, with an average 19% absorption rate. (The absorption rate is the number of homes for sale in any given month divided by the actual number of homes sold that month.)
September, 2009 3518 homes for sale 668 homes sold 19% odds of selling.
August, 2009 3604 homes for sale 683 (now 604) homes sold 19 (now 18)% odds of selling.
September, 2008 4240 homes for sale 433 (now 373) homes sold 10 (now 9)% odds of selling.*
*Adjusted from previous month’s numbers to reflect the actual number of homes sold and closed. Some sales from each month fall apart and don’t close, hence a lower number of sold homes may be reported at a later date.
_____________________________________________________________
September, 2009 Seattle Eastside real estate market:
Sales were up, the number of homes for sale and the median prices were down in all neighborhoods, except for the Redmond/Carnation area.
Home sales on Seattle’s Eastside: up 29%
Sales Prices: down 11%.
Number of homes for sale: down 17%.
Best odds of selling: Redmond, near Microsoft, and East Bellevue, 32.5% chance.
Worst odds of selling: South Bellevue/Issaquah, a 15% chance.
Biggest increase in sales from last year: West Bellevue, 92% more home sales.
Smallest increase in sales from last year: Sammamish, Issaquah plateau, 30%
Decline in real estate sales: Redmond/Carnation, -6%
The peak of homes for sale in 2008: July, 4370 homes.
The peak of homes for sale in 2009: July, 3819 homes.
Failure rate for home sales: 12%
Why home sales fail to close:
- This can be the result of inspections in which buyers and sellers do not agree, an appraisal that does not justify the sales price, lenders who do not package the loan properly or the great number of short sales that are out there.
- Short sales are sales in which the selling price for a property is less than the price owed to the bank, so the seller is “short.” Many of these offers do not stay together because it often takes months for a short sale to get approved by the bank. There’s no guarantee the bank will accept an offer. I’ve heard that only 4% of the short sales actually closed in King County. Since there are a huge number on the market, if you’re someone willing to take a chance on a property, are willing to accept your offer may never be looked at or accepted, then a short sale may be a way to go. However, since most buyers truly want to purchase a home and close on it, I would recommend NOT making offers on short sales.
For more of a picture of Seattle’s real estate market, check on the articles in The Seattle Times, The Seattle PI, and KING 5.
Bellevue Real Estate, Issaquah Real Estate, King County Real Estate, Kirkland real estate, Redmond real estate, Sammamish real estate, Seattle, Seattle real estate, Seattle/Eastside real estate, Woodinville real estate
In Bellevue Real Estate, Bellevue, WA, For Buyers, For Homeowners, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, Issaquah, WA, King County Real Estate, King County, WA, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, WA, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Woodinville, WA, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, real estate on September 14, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Seattle-Eastside Real Estate Activity August 2009
The chances of selling a home on the Eastside in August 2009 ranged from a low of 15% to a high of 28%, with an average 19% absorption rate. (The absorption rate is the number of homes for sale in any given month divided by the actual number of homes sold that month.)
Here are the real estate statistics for single family home sales activity on Seattle’s Eastside:
August, 2009 3604 homes for sale 683 homes sold 19% chance of selling.
July, 2009 3819 homes for sale 631 (now 538) homes sold* 19%(now 14%) chance of selling.*
August, 2008 4346 homes for sale 433 homes sold 9% chance of selling.
*Adjusted from previous month’s numbers to reflect the actual number of homes sold and closed. Some sales from each month fall apart and don’t close, hence a lower number of sold homes may be reported at a later date.
_____________________________________________________________
(Click on the cities below to see real estate trends for the past 5 years. You can see the median pricing for each city and whether the number of homes for sale and the number of sales went up or down. If you look at the charts, you’ll notice the total number of homes for sale and the number of homes sold can vary slightly from the above chart. The information for the charts is gathered at slightly different times so can vary slightly. Regardless, the charts show the same trends.)
(click on city names for a chart showing the latest stats in the area)
How did August, 2009 stack up to August, 2008 in your neighborhood?
The plateau: Sammamish, Issaquah, North Bend, and Fall City
The chances of selling a home were 19%.
Median sales price decreased by 10% from $572,000 to $515,000.
The number of homes for sale declined by 22% and sales were up by 21% from last year.
West Redmond/East Bellevue
The chances of selling a home were 28%.
Median sales price decreased to $475,000 from $549,000, a decrease of 13.5%
The number of homes for sale dropped by 23% and sales were up by 12%.
South Bellevue
The chances of selling a home were 17%.
Median price decreased by 15% to $499,500 from $592,475.
The number of homes for sale dropped by 15% and sales were up 55%.
Woodinville/Bothell/Kenmore/Duvall/North Kirkland
The chances of selling a home were 18%.
Median price was down to $425,000 from $478,062, an 11% decrease.
The number of homes for sale declined by 17% from last year and sales were up by 50%.
Kirkland
The chances of selling a home were 21%.
Median price decreased by 10.5%, from $649,950 to $581,919.
The number of homes for sale declined by 15% and sales were up by a whopping 83%.
West Bellevue
The chances of selling a home were 15%.
Median pricing decreased by 10% from $999,950 to $899,475.
The number of homes for sale decreased by 12% and sales increased by a truly whopping 129%.
Redmond/Education Hill/ Carnation
The chances of selling a home were 21%
Median pricing decreased by 10% from $599,950 to $542,250.
The number of homes for sale decreased by 12% and sales increased by 27%.
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Thoughts on the August 2009 Seattle Eastside real estate market:
Is there a change in the Seattle-Eastside real estate market? You bet! The key indicator is homes are not only selling, but more homes in the high end are selling. This means that buyers in all price ranges are less afraid to go out and buy. This uptick in real estate sales is not just the result of first time buyers looking for the $8000 tax credit, but for home buyers in every price range.
Most eastside homes had 19% chance of selling. Nineteen out of 100 homes had offers last month and are now pending.
Home sales on Seattle’s Eastside were up 42% and prices were down 8.5% overall.
Several areas had a huge increase in the number of homes sold:
West Bellevue 129%
Kirkland 83%
South Bellevue 55%
- Best odds of selling: once again it’s Redmond, near Microsoft, and East Bellevue with a 28% chance of a home selling.
- Most difficult odds of selling: West Bellevue, with a 13% chance of selling a home. Yet, West Bellevue had the biggest sales increase from last year, a whopping 128% more homes sold this August than last year.
- Last month the median sales price in Kirkland and West Bellevue both were up over July, 2008. Looking at August’s median pricing, every neighborhood experienced a decline in median pricing combined with a strong uptick in home sales.
- If you look at the chart above, it’s clear the number of homes for sale is less than last year when the peak of homes for sale happened in July of 2008. I’m hoping this year we hit the peak of homes for sale on Seattle’s Eastside back in July, when 13,835 homes were for sale. So far, this is holding true and the number of homes for sale on Seattle’s eastside keeps dropping each month.
- It’s still looking like a lot of home sales fail to close. There’s a high fallout rate with sales, as you can see from July’s numbers alone, almost a 100 home sales did not close! Given that originally 631 sales were reported for the month in July and 538 sales were reported a month later, 15% of July’s sales failed. This is a high number of failed sales and could be the result of inspections in which buyers and sellers do not agree, an appraisal that does not justify the sales price, lenders who do not package the loan properly or the great number of short sales that are out there.
- Short sales are sales in which the selling price for a property is less than the price owed to the bank, so the seller is “short.” Many of these offers do not stay together because it often takes months for a short sale to get approved by the bank. There is no guarantee the bank will ever look at an offer or approve and accept it. I’ve heard that only 4% of the short sales actually closed in King County. Since there are a huge number on the market, if you are someone who’s willing to take a chance on a property, are willing to accept that your offer may never be looked at or accepted, then a short sale may be a way to go. However, since most buyers truly want to purchase a home and close on it, I would recommend NOT making offers on short sales.
Here’ s what the local news media, The Seattle PI and The Seattle Times reported about August real estate activity. The Times echoed my thoughts above as to the fact that the higher end of the real estate market has new life.
Bellevue Real Estate, Eastside real estate, Issaquah Real Estate, Kirkland real estate, Redmond real estate, Sammamish real estate, Seattle, Seattle Eastside, Seattle real estate, Woodinille real estate
In Bellevue Real Estate, Bellevue, WA, For Buyers, For Homeowners, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, Issaquah, WA, King County Real Estate, King County, WA, Real Estate News, Redmond, Sammamish, WA, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Woodinville, WA, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, market statistics on August 12, 2009 at 9:03 pm
Eastside Residential Real Estate July 2009
The chances of selling a home on the Eastside in July 2009 ranged from a low of 13% to a high of 27%, with an average 16.5% absorption rate. (The absorption rate is the number of homes for sale in any given month divided by the actual number of homes sold that month.)
Here are the real estate statistics for single family home sales activity on Seattle’s Eastside:
July, 2009 3819 homes for sale, 631 homes sold 16.5% chance of selling.
June, 2009 3859 homes for sale, 675 ( now 599) homes sold 17%( now 15%) chance of selling.*
July, 2008 4370 homes for sale 494 homes sold 11% chance of selling.
*Adjusted from previous month’s original numbers to reflect the actual number of homes sold and closed. Some sales from each month fall apart and don’t close, hence a lower number of sold homes may be reported.
_____________________________________________________________
(Click on the cities below to see real estate trends for the past 5 years. You can see the median pricing for each city and whether the number of homes for sale and the number of sales went up or down. If you look at the charts, you’ll notice the total number of homes for sale and the number of homes sold can vary slightly from the above chart. The information for the charts is gathered at slightly different times so can vary slightly. Regardless, the charts show the same trends.)
(click on city names for a chart showing the latest stats in the area)
How did July, 2009 stack up to July, 2008 in your neighborhood?
The plateau: Sammamish, Issaquah, North Bend, and Fall City
The chances of selling were 18%.
Median sales price decreased by 9% from $575,000 to $525,000.
The number of homes for sale declined by 21% and sales were up by 24% from last year.
West Redmond/East Bellevue
The chances of selling were 27%.
Median sales price decreased to $470,000 from $574,990 a decrease of 18%.
The number of homes for sale dropped by 21% and sales were up by 40%. (77 vs. 55 sales)
South Bellevue
The chances of selling were 15%.
Median price increased by 2% to $617,000 from $604,950
The number of homes for sale dropped by 14% and sales were even with last year as 80 sales happened July-08 and July-09.
Woodinville/Bothell/Kenmore/Duvall/North Kirkland
The chances of selling were 16%.
Median price was down to $460,000 from $475,000, a 3% decrease.
The number of homes for sale declined by 9% from last year and sales were up by 6%.
Kirkland
The chances of selling were 14%.
Median price increased by 5%, from $569,000 to $599,000.
The number of homes for sale declined by 11% and sales were up by 27.5%.
West Bellevue
The chances of selling were 13%.
Median pricing decreased by 46% from $1,748,000 to $950,000.
The number of homes for sale decreased by 4.5% and sales increased by 165%.
Redmond/Education Hill/ Carnation
The chances of selling were 17%
Median pricing decreased by 9% from $549,375 to $499,000.
the number of homes for sale decreased by 7% and sales increased by 33%.
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Thoughts on the July 2009 Seattle Eastside real estate market:
- Most eastside homes had 16.5% chance of selling. Sixteen to 17 out of 100 homes had offers last month and are now pending.
- It looks like 11% of the home sales fell out of escrow, as the absorption rate for June dropped by 2% from 17 to 15%. Originally, there were 675 pending sales, so 76 offers did not stay together. This is a high number of failed sales and could be the result of inspections in which buyers and sellers do not agree, an appraisal that does not justify the sales price, lenders who do not package the loan properly or the great number of short sales that are out there. Short sales are sales in which the selling price for a property is less than the price owed to the bank, so the seller is “short.” Many of these offers do not stay together because it often takes months to resolve a sale between the buyer, seller, and the bank.
- Best odds of selling: once again it’s Redmond, near Microsoft, and East Bellevue with a 27% chance.
- Most difficult odds of selling: West Bellevue, with a 13% chance of selling a home. Yet, West Bellevue had the biggest increase from last year with the chance of getting a home sold, a whopping 165% more homes sold this July than last year, 45 vs. 17.
- In a couple of areas prices actually went up this month from last year, quite an unusual occurrence these days. West Bellevue and Kirkland had a slightly higher median price this past July than July, 2008.
- Overall, the number of homes for sale is less than last year. I’m hoping we hit the peak of homes for sale on Seattle’s eastside back in July, when 13,835 homes were for sale. Home sales were up 22% and prices were down 7%.
King County Real Estate, MLS, NWMLS, Seattle Eastside real estate, Seattle real estate, Snohomish County real estate, Windermere Real Estate
In Bellevue Real Estate, For Buyers, For Homeowners, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, King County Real Estate, King County, WA, Sammamish, WA, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Woodinville, WA, market statistics, real estate on June 15, 2009 at 3:15 pm
The Seattle area real estate market is going from green to yellow. The map colors have changed on these real estate maps, representing a shift in the real estate market.
King Snohomish County Months Supply Area Map May 2009
King Snohomish County Months Supply Area Map-May 2008
Here’s what these maps show:
Each NWMLS (Northwest Multiple Listing Service) real estate area in the two counties is shown on the maps. For example, if you look at the eastside, you’ll see an area labeled 530, which is East Bellevue and parts of Redmond, and 560, which is Kirkland.
Every area of the NWMLS is then evaluated by looking at the number of homes for sale and the number of homes that sell each month in that area. If there’s an overabundance of homes for sale compared to the number of homes selling, then it’s a buyers’ market. If there are a reasonable number of homes selling each month compared to the number of homes on the market, then it’s a balanced market between buyer and seller. Lastly, if the number of homes is selling well compared to how many are for sale, then it’s a sellers’ market.
What do the colors on the maps represent?
- Green represents a buyers’ market.
- Yellow represents a balanced market between buyer and seller.
- Red represents a sellers’ market.
Along the sides of the maps, each real estate area is listed with the number of months it would take to sell all the homes currently for sale in the area. Let’s look at area 530 again. In area 530, if no other home comes on the market, it would take about 4.4 months for the homes to sell. In Kirkland, area 560, if no other home comes on the market, it would take 8.1 months to sell the homes for sale. East Bellevue and Redmond near Microsoft are color coded in yellow. With 4.4 months of inventory, it has a more balanced market. Kirkland is colored green. It’s a buyer’s market because it would take 8.1 months to sell the homes on the market.
Looking at 2009′s map, it’s clear how much the Seattle area real estate market has changed to a more balanced market. Most King and Snohomish county real estate areas are colored yellow, showing a balance between buyers and sellers.
May of 2008 was very definitely a buyers’ market and a buyers’ market only. In May of 2008, green for a buyers’ market was the predominant color on the map. In May of 2009, yellow is the dominant color, representing a more balanced real estate market.
Bellevue, Bothell, Bothell real estate, buyers market, buying a home, Kirkland, Kirkland real estate, Raleigh, real estate, Seattle, Seattle Eastside real estate, Seattle real estate, sellers market, selling a home
In For Buyers, For Sellers, King County Real Estate, WA real estate, real estate, real estate opinion on May 22, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Is this a good time to buy a home and make a make a move up? Two long term clients of mine called me today to talk about the possibility of making a move up. Both realized it will be tough to sell, they know they won’t get 2007 prices, but they won’t pay 2007 prices either. If they decide to buy, they’ll pay 2004-5 prices. People are starting to get it. This is the 4th past client whose called in the past month to talk about making a move up.
Real estate has focused more on the first time home buyer because of the stimulus package’s $8000 first time home buyer credit. I’ve spent a lot of time writing about this tax credit on this blog, but many of us who blog about real estate forget about those who already own a home. This is a terrific time to make a move up.
Here’s the equation: Lower prices+ lots of choices+ good interest rates=buyer’s market. Buyers rule right now. So if you’re a seller, expect to sell for less than you thought you would, but then make it up as a buyer. The happy news website tells the tale of a Bothell couple who moved from a small condo to their first single family home. They sold their condo for less, but paid considerably less for their new home. I just sold a home for a couple in the Juanita area of Kirkland who would have sold their home a year ago in the low 400′s. It just sold for $360,000. They bought new construction in Kirkland priced a good $100,000 less than its original asking price.
People forget how difficult it was to buy a home in a seller’s market. The Seattle-Eastside has been a seller’s market for most of the decade from 1997-2007. Some years were more challenging for buyers than others. Buyers jumped to compete in multiple offers, paid over full price for homes, bought a home without an inspection or financing clause, pledged their first born, and were happy to do it. Sometimes buyers paid for a pre-inspection because the offer could not have an inspection clause to compete with other offers. Sometimes buyers paid for multiple inspections on different homes before they bought a house. Many people think our real estate market of the past was easy. It was easier for the sellers, but it was difficult for the buyers.
Now it’s a lot easier for the buyer to buy, but more difficult for the seller to sell a home. It’ s hard to reach that nirvana of a balanced market between home buyers and home sellers ( although we are getting closer in some Seattle neighborhoods), so if you think about making a move up, go for it as a buyer and be giving as a seller.
Couple all the above with the improvement in the real estate market in Seattle and if you want to move up, now’s the time. Are we at bottom? Many people, including me, believe we’re near or at the bottom of the real estate market, so this could be a good time.
Barbara Corcoran, the owner of Corcoran Real Estate in NYC, spoke about the Top Five Real Estate Markets Expected to Rebound:
- Denver
- Raleigh
- Austin
- Seattle
- San Francisco
The 8 criteria to be in one of the top five cities:
- job growth
- growing population
- location-good weather (we may be gray and cloudy, but usually not a lot of snow)
- first time buyers
- No over building of condos and office space
- Vital downtown
- well educated ( Seattle is a brainy city)
- first with foreclosures
Does Seattle fit all of the above criteria? I think not, but we fit most of it, hence we’re not number #1, but #4. Downtown Seattle and Bellevue have a huge number of new condo developments that are not filling up. Seattle was not one of the first cities with a large number of foreclosures. However, Seattle has a young, bright population, a vital downtown both in Seattle and Bellevue, and great prospects for future job growth.
So is this time for you to make a move up? With all these factors playing on the side of buyers, it is a great time to make a move up. What do you think?
$8000 first time home buyer credit, real estate, stimulus plan for first time home buyers, WA State Realtors, WA State Senate Ways and Means Committee, WA Tax Credit Advance Loan Program, Washington Real Estate
In 2009 stimulus package, For Buyers, Mortgages, WA real estate, financing, real estate on April 21, 2009 at 10:37 am
Will Washington State be the first state in the nation to offer a program to first time buyers to use the $8000 home buyer credit towards a down payment for a home?
Here’s a memo from Barbara Lally of the Washington State Realtors Association explaining the program that is in the works:
OLYMPIA, Wash. – The Senate Ways and Means Committee last night (Thursday) unanimously approved a measure designed to help first-time home buyers come up with a down-payment. The committee adopted the measure as an amendment to the proposed Senate biennial operating budget.
The proposal would make the $8000 federal tax credit for first-time home buyers available at the closing of a home sale instead of when a buyer files a tax return. Home buyers would repay the $8000 after filing for and receiving a tax refund. The amendment creates a Tax Credit Advance Loan Program and authorizes the State Treasurer to deposit $25 million in a financial institution giving it the ability to open a line of credit to the State Housing Finance Commission to provide the down payment loans. The deposit would not deplete state funds, but would provide liquidity for the financial Institution to lend its own funds.
The program is the first of its kind in the nation and would work as follows:
- The State Treasurer’s Office would make an off-setting deposit in an FDIC-insured short-term
account with a selected financial institution. The investment would earn a low interest rate to
stay fully insured under federal guidelines.
- Realtors and other stakeholders back the loans with funds to provide security against losses.
- The financial institution provides the Washington State Housing Finance Commission a line of
credit to advance up to $8000 to qualified first-time home buyers for a down-payment.
- Buyers repay the advance loan after filing for and receiving the tax credit.
The amendment is the result of the efforts of the Washington REALTORS®, Washington State Treasurer’s office, and Washington State Housing Finance Commission. State Treasurer James McIntire wrote the budget proviso and is helping to advance the measure through the state legislature.
State Sen. Steve Hobbs (D-Lake Stevens), who offered the amendment, said that using the $8,000 tax credit to help first-time home buyer make down payments could help jump-start the economy. Hobbs noted that home purchases have a significant impact on the retail and banking sectors of the economy and on state and local coffers. “In this recession we need to find new and innovative ways to stimulate the economy. This proviso will slow the decline of our housing market and stimulate the economy,” Hobbs told the Senate Ways and Means Committee.
“Down-payment assistance to our first-time home buyers is the key we need to unlock economic activity throughout the state,” said Greg Wright, President of the Washington Realtors. “This tax credit is new money that we can put to work now to help the housing market and ignite economic action statewide.” According to a study by the Washington Research Council, each home sale by a first-time buyer generates $11,100 in state and local tax revenue. Every 1,000 home sales generate $126 million in general economic activity, supporting 711 jobs.
Home buyer tax credit fact sheet
The goal of the program is to get the money to buyers efficiently and return the federal refund quickly so that the HFC can turn it around to provide more assistance. The funds may revolve as many as three times before the tax credit expires, reaching up to 9000 first-time homebuyers. These “bridge loans” would expire at the same time as the federal tax credit, on November 30, 2009. All of the bridge loan funds return to the state system by early 2010 to use for capital projects in 2010-11.
“With homes at affordable prices and interest rates at historic lows the $8,000 tax credit opens a window of opportunity that may never be seen again,” said Wright, a Chelan Realtor. “The Senate’s budget helps bring that opportunity to families throughout our state.”
Lack of a down-payment is the only barrier to home ownership for up to 50 percent of first-time home buyers, according to J. Lennox Scott, Chairman and CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate. A recent study by the Federal Reserve Board showed that home ownership for people 35 years and younger increased by as much as 43 percent when a primary mortgage was combined with a down-payment assistance loan.
“First-time home buyers are the most critical to the recovery of the housing market and our overall economy, because their purchases set off a chain reaction of buying and selling,” Scott explained. ”The first step toward stimulating the state housing market is making the federal tax credit available at the closing table and increasing down-payment assistance.”
(REALTOR® is a federally registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.)
Interestingly, a private company in a suburb of Atlanta is proposing the same thing. The article from NuWire Investor did not have positive things to say about the program
What do you think about the possibility of using the tax credit as part of the down payment for a first time buyer?
Bellevue Real Estate, buying a condo on Seattle's eastside, Issaquah Real Estate, Kirkland real estate, Redmond real estate, Sammamish real estate, selling a condo on Seattle's eastside, Woodinville real estate
In Bellevue Real Estate, For Buyers, For Sellers, Issaquah, WA, King County Real Estate, Kirkland, Real Estate News, Redmond, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, market statistics, real estate on April 16, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Seattle Eastside March 2009 condo real estate statistics
March, 2009 1300 condos for sale, 123 sold, 9.5% chance of selling.
March, 2008 1288 condos for sale 175 sold 13.5% chance of selling.
(pended means the number of condos that got offers this month)
The good news is 36 more condos sold this past month than in February. There were, however, 105 more condos to choose from. I’m expecting more condos to come on the market per the typical spring real estate selling season. The chances of selling a condo increased slightly this month from February, as more buyers seem to have that spring time bug and are out shopping around.
Competition will remain fierce. Since there are many options in each price range, sellers will need to be realistic both in their asking price and what they’re willing to take for a final sales price. The good news is more people are buying and the realistic news is prices are not going up at this time.
Bellevue Real Estate, buying a home in Seattle, buying a home on Seattle's eastside, Issaquah Real Estate, Kirkland real estate, Redmond real estate, Seattle Eastside real estate, Seattle real estate, selling a home in Seattle, selling a home on Seattle's eastside, Woodinville real estate
In Bellevue Real Estate, For Buyers, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, King County Real Estate, Kirkland, Real Estate News, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, market statistics, real estate on April 16, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Seattle Eastside March Real Estate Statistics
The chances of selling a home on the Eastside in March 2009 ranged from a low of 6.5 % to a high of 15%, with an average 10% absorption rate. (The absorption rate is the number of homes for sale in any given month divided by the actual number of homes sold that month.) Numbers will be rounded off to the nearest whole number, unless the number is exactly .5% between two numbers.
Here are the real estate statistics for single family home sales activity on Seattle’s Eastside:
March, 2009 3711 homes for sale 372 homes sold 10% chance of selling.
March, 2008 3637 homes for sale 493 homes sold 13% chance of selling
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I’ve changed the format of this monthly Seattle/Eastside real estate report to include the trendgraphix chart above. This chart is clear and easy to read, so you can get the real estate data quickly. For those of you who want to get more detail, you can still read the MLS charts by clicking on each area below. The charts have some of the same information, but also show the real estate trend for the last 5 years, the median pricing, and whether the number of homes for sale and the number of sales are up or down. If you look at the charts by area, you will notice the total number of homes for sale and the number of homes sold can vary slightly from the trendgraphix chart above to the MLS-Windermere graphs. Some of this may be a result of when the information for the charts are gathered . Regardless of the exact numbers, it’s clear the charts show the same trends, which is the most important piece of information.)
(click on each area name for a chart showing the latest stats in the area)
The plateau: Sammamish, Issaquah, North Bend, and Fall City
Sellers had an 8% chance of getting a home sold, THE SAME as last month and DOWN from 14.5% last year. Median home prices were DOWN from $579,500 to $513,025. Inventory was down by 6% and sales were down by 35% from last year.
West Redmond/East Bellevue
Sellers had a 15% chance of getting a home sold, UP from 10% last month, and DOWN from 19% last year. Median sales price decreased from $539,000 to $499,000, a decrease of 8%. Inventory was up 4% and sales were down 24%.
South Bellevue
Sellers had an 11% chance of getting a home sold, UP from7% last month and DOWN from 12% last year. Median price decreased by 21% from $659,900 to $519,900. Inventory was up 1% and sales were down 7%.
Woodinville/Bothell/Kenmore/Duvall/North Kirkland
Sellers had a 10% chance of selling a home, last month and DOWN from 12% last year. Median price was down to $450,000 from $525,000, a 14% decrease. Inventory was up by 4% from last year and sales were down by 16%.
Kirkland
Sellers had 6.5% chance of selling a home, DOWN from12% last month and DOWN from 9% last year. Median price decreased by29%, from $699,999 to $499,000. Inventory was up by 4% and sales were down by 33%.
West Bellevue
Sellers had a 9% chance of selling a home, The SAME as last month, and UP from 5% last year. Median pricing decreased by 5% from $1,250,000 to $1,185,000. Inventory increased by 1 % and sales increased by 57%.
Redmond/Education Hill/ Carnation
Sellers had a 11% chance of selling a home, UP from 10% from last month, and DOWN from 15% last year. Median pricing decreased by 20% from $600,000 to $481,975. Inventory increased by .3% and sales increased by 29%.
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Thoughts on the March 2009 Seattle Eastside real estate market:
- Most of the real estate sales activity is happening below the $750,000 range. Out of the 247 sales on the eastside in March, 210, or 85%, were below $750,000.
- Forty-eight percent of the sales were below $500,000.
- The chances of selling a home on the eastside increased from February to March in all areas except Kirkland.
- More homes are selling as the number of sales in just the first week in April increased by 37% more than most of the past 6 weeks.
- Both West Bellevue and Redmond, north of downtown, had an increase in the number of sales from last year to this year.
- Redmond, north of downtown, had a more balanced real estate market last month than any other area on the eastside. With the number of home sales increasing by 29%, the sales activity represented a more balanced market.
- Other eastside areas are still more of a seller’s market.
- More sales are beginning to happen, but prices are not going up.
- The great interest rates and the $8000 buyer tax credit may be starting to kick in.
For more on March, 2009 Seattle Eastside real estate statistics, you can check articles from the Ballard Tribune and the Eastside Business Journal.
condo buyers, condo buying, condo sellers, condo selling, condominium sales, condominiums, real estate, sales absorption rate, Seattle/Eastside, Seattle/Eastside real estate, town home sales. town home buyers, town homes
In Bellevue Real Estate, Bellevue, WA, For Buyers, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, Issaquah, WA, King County Real Estate, King County, WA, Kirkland, Real Estate News, Redmond, Sammamish, WA, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, WA real estate, Woodinville, WA, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, market statistics, real estate on November 21, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Sellers had a 12% chance of selling a condo on Seattle’s Eastside in October, 2008. ( click on 2008 year to date statistics in the link above for a chart showing the condo report)
October, 2008 1324 condos for sale, 153 condos sold, 12% chance of selling.
September, 2008 1414 condos for sale, 173 condos sold, 12% chance of selling.
October, 2007 1121 condos for sale, 202 condos sold, 18 % chance of selling.
The number of condos/ town homes for sale on the Eastside is dropping from its summer high. The chance of selling a condo, however, has remained pretty constant throughout the year with 12-13% of the available condos selling each month.
Median pricing was down this month by about 13%, dropping from $345,416 to $300,215. Inventory is up by 18% from last October and sales have dropped by 24%.
I’ve seen some great condos sell and all of the ones that have sold were well priced and showed well, the key to success in this market. Sellers must be ahead of the curve in pricing or they stay among the pack of available condos.
Bellevue, Bellevue Real Estate, Carnation, Eastside real estate, Education Hill, home buyers, home sellers, home selling, Issaquah, King County Real Estate, Kirkland, Kirkland real estate, market statistics, Redmond, Redmond real estate, Sammamish, Sammamish real estate, Seattle, Seattle Eastside, Seattle real estate, union Hill, WA, WA real estate, Woodinville, Woodinville real estate
In Bellevue Real Estate, Bellevue, WA, For Buyers, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, Issaquah, WA, King County Real Estate, King County, WA, Kirkland, Real Estate News, Redmond, Seattle real estate, WA real estate, Woodinville, WA, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, market statistics, real estate on September 18, 2008 at 2:49 pm
The chances
of selling a home on the Eastside in August 2008 ranged from a low of 6% to a high of 19%, with an average 12% absorption rate. (The absorption rate is the number of homes for sale in any given month divided by the actual number of homes sold that month.) Numbers will be rounded off to the nearest whole number, unless the number is exactly .5% between two numbers.
Here are the real estate statistics for single family home sales activity on Seattle’s Eastside:
August 2008 4240 homes available, 503 sold, 12% chance of selling.
July 2008 4332 homes available, 543 sold, 12.5% chance of selling.
August 2007 3336 homes available, 643 sold, 19% chance of selling.
_____________________________________________________________
(click on the each area name for a chart showing the latest stats in the area)
The plateau: Sammamish, Issaquah, North Bend, and Fall City
Sellers had a 13% chance of getting a home sold, UP from 12% last month and DOWN from 21% last year. Median home prices were up by 4%, from $549,250 to $572,000. Inventory was up by 19% and sales declined by 22% from last year.
West Redmond/East Bellevue
Sellers had a 19% chance of getting a home sold, UP from 16% last month, and DOWN from 25 % last year. Median sales price decreased from $582,475 to $549,000, a decrease of 6%. Inventory was up 43% and sales were down 12%.
South Bellevue
Sellers had a 11% chance of selling a home, DOWN from 14% last month and DOWN from 20% last year. Median price decreased by 8.5% to $592,475 from $647,800. Inventory was up 14% and sales were down 38%.
Woodinville/Bothell/Kenmore/Duvall
Sellers had a 11% chance of selling a home, DOWN from 15% last month and DOWN from 16% last year. Median price was down to $478,062 from $502,500, a 5% decrease. Inventory was up by 30% from last year and sales declined by 14%.
Kirkland
Sellers had a 9% chance of selling a home, DOWN from 10% last month and DOWN from 14% last year. Median price declined by 11%, from $649,950 to $585,000. Inventory was up by 29% and sales were down by 14.5%.
West Bellevue
Sellers had a 6% chance of selling a home, UP from 5%, and DOWN from 19% last year. Median pricing decreased by 37% to $999,950 from $1,582,500. Inventory increased by 73% and sales declined by 42%.
Redmond/Education Hill/ Carnation
Sellers had a 14% chance of selling a home, the same as last month, and DOWN from 26% last year. Median pricing decreased by 8% from $650,000 to $599,950. Inventory increased by 19% and sales dropped by 34.5%.
July and August’s market activity was very similar, with most neighborhoods seeing the same chances for selling in both months. However, the top area for sales on the Eastside, with the largest increase in chances from last month, was the East Bellevue/West Redmond/Microsoft area. The chances of selling your home in South Bellevue, North Kirkland, Woodinville, Kenmore, Bothell, and Duvall dropped by few percentage points. For the first time this year, West Bellevue’s median price dipped below $1,000,000. We’ve not seen median pricing in West Bellevue below $1,000,000 since 2006.
To determine the most realistic view of the market, look at several months worth of data. Pay particular attention to the amount of homes for sale in your area. Regardless of what’s happened in the previous months, make sure you know the actual competition in your area before establishing a sales price and going on the market.
Be the best home out there and your home will sell. People are still relocating, changing jobs, needing more space, reasons that still exist for making a move.
The Seattle/Eastside area is still far more fortunate than many other areas of the country. For example, Southern California is looking at a 34% price drop from last year.
condo buyers, condo buying, condo sellers, condo selling, condominium sales, condominiums, real estate, sales absdorption rate, Seattle/Eastside, Seattle/Eastside real estate, town home sales. town home buyers, town homes
In Bellevue Real Estate, Bellevue, WA, For Buyers, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, Issaquah, WA, King County Real Estate, King County, WA, Real Estate News, Redmond, Sammamish, WA, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA, WA real estate, Woodinville, WA, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, market statistics, real estate on August 12, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Sellers had a 12.7% chance of selling a condo on Seattle’s Eastside in July of 2008. ( click on 2008 year to date statistics in the link above for a chart showing the condo report)
July, 2008 1476 condos for sale, 187 condos sold, 12.7% chance of selling.
June, 2008 1427 condos for sale, 194 condos sold, 13.6% chance of selling.
May, 2008 1472 condos for sale, 211 condos sold, 14% chance of selling.
July, 2007 918 condos for sale, 332 condos sold, 37% chance of selling.
The chances of selling a condo have been pretty consistent for the last three months, varying only by a percent. The number of available condos shrunk a little in June, but is now slightly over the number of condos available to buy in May.
Are condo prices still going up? Yes. However, this past month and in May, the increase in value was less than one percent. Increases in value have slowed down considerably, while the inventory and the chance of selling has stayed fairly constant. Cream puffs are selling, other condos are taking a very long time to sell. If you are buying, consider the best condo with the least amount of issues.
Is the condo located near employment, transportation, schools, shopping?
Is the condo in good condition?
Is the condo in a quiet location?
Does the condo have a strong amount in reserves?
Are the condo dues low?
Do the dues cover exterior maintanence, water, sewer, and garbage?
Anything else you should look for? Do let me know.
Bellevue, Bellevue Real Estate, Carnation, Eastside real estate, Education Hill, home buyers, home sellers, home selling, Kirkland, Kirkland real estate, Redmond, Redmond real estate, Sammamish, Sammamish real estate, Seattle, Seattle Eastside, Seattle real estate, union Hill, Woodinville, Woodinville real estate
In Bellevue Real Estate, Bellevue, WA, For Buyers, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, Issaquah, WA, King County Real Estate, Kirkland, Real Estate News, Redmond, Sammamish, WA, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, WA, WA real estate, Woodinville, WA, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, market statistics, real estate on July 17, 2008 at 10:23 am
The chances
of selling a home on the Eastside in June 2008 ranged from a low of 9.5% to a high of 23.2%, with an average 15.2% absorption rate. (The absorption rate is the number of homes for sale in any given month divided by the actual number of homes sold that month.)
Here are the real estate statistics for single family home sales activity on Seattle’s Eastside:
June 2008 4154 homes available, 635 sold, 15.2 % chance of selling.
May, 2008 4349 homes available, 522 sold, 12% chance of selling.
June 2007 3107 homes available, 841 sold, 27% chance of selling.
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(click on the each area name for a chart showing the latest stats in the area)
The plateau: Sammamish, Issaquah, North Bend, and Fall City
Sellers had a 16.7% chance of getting a home sold, UP from 12.7% last month and DOWN from 25.3% last year. Median home prices were down by 2.6%, from $604,475 to $589,000. Inventory was up by 17.5% and sales declined by 22.6% from last year.
West Redmond/East Bellevue
Sellers had a 23.2% chance of getting a home sold, UP from 13.5% last month, and DOWN from 42.5% last year. Median sales price decreased from $624,500 to $549,500, a decrease of 12%. Inventory was up 80.4% and sales were down 1.3%.
South Bellevue
Sellers had a 12.5% chance of selling a home, UP from 11.5% last month and DOWN from 24.9% last year. Median price decreased by 15.7% to $588,975 from $699,000. Inventory was up 25% and sales were down 37.4%.
Woodinville/Bothell/Kenmore/Duvall
Sellers had a 15.5% chance of selling a home, UP from 9.6% last month and DOWN from 26.8% last year. Median price was down to $498,875 from $522,475, a 4.5% decrease. Inventory was up by 37% from last year and sales declined by 20.9%.
Kirkland
Sellers had a 16.5% chance of selling a home, UP from 9.6% last month and DOWN from 23.5% last year. Median price declined by 4.5%, from $724,950 to $694,000. Inventory was up by 28% and sales were down by 10%.
West Bellevue
Sellers had a 9.5% chance of selling a home, UP from 7.3%, and DOWN from 34% last year. Median pricing decreased by 13.7% to $1,294,750 from $1,500,000. Inventory climbed by 95.7% and sales declined by 45.5%.
Redmond/Education Hill/ Carnation
Sellers had a 13.2% chance of selling a home, DOWN from 21.2% last month, and DOWN from 25.5% last year. Median pricing increased by 12.2% from $598,000 to $671,035. Inventory increased by 25.5% and sales dropped by 35%.
Inventory on Seattle’s Eastside dropped significantly from last month, by 195 homes, a 5% deline in inventory. All the eastside areas showed an increase in the absorption rate, the number of sales compared to the amount of homes for sale, except in the Education Hill, Union Hill, Carnation area. This area was the highest performing area last month, with the sales activity declining this month. West Redmond/East Bellevue had the best absorption rate of the Eastside once again. May was the only month this year that the area east of 405 and south of highway 908 was not the best performing area on the eastside.
To determine the most realistic view of the market, look at several months worth of data. Pay particular attention to the amount of homes for sale in your area. Regardless of what’s happened in the previous months, make sure you know the actual competition in your area before establishing a sales price and going on the market.
Remember sellers, it’s price and condition in this market. Homes are selling, but as we all know, there’s competition.
Bellevue Real Estate, condo buyers, condo buying, condo real estate statistics, condo sellers, condo selling, Eastside real estate, Issaquah Real Estate, Kenmore real estate, Kirkland real estate, monthly condo real estate statistics, Redmond real estate, Seattle, Seattle real estate, Seattle/Eastside real estate, Woodinville, Woodinville real estate
In Bellevue Real Estate, Bellevue, WA, For Buyers, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, Issaquah, WA, Kirkland, Real Estate News, Redmond, Sammamish, WA, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, WA real estate, Woodinville, WA, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, market statistics, real estate on June 16, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Sellers had a 14% chance of selling a condo on Seattle’s Eastside in May of 2008. ( click on 2008 year to date statistics in the link above for a chart showing the condo report)
May, 2008 1472 condos for sale, 211 condos sold, 14% chance of selling.
April, 2008 1392 condos for sale, 222 condos sold, 15.9% chance of selling.
May, 2007 761 condos for sale, 376 condos sold, 49% chance of selling.
Condo values on the Eastside continue to go up. Last month prices increased over 5% from May of last year. The actual number of sales is down considerably, which means the cream of the crop is getting the offers and the other condos are just sitting on the market. Pay attention to the competition in the area and price or buy accordingly.
Distressed Sales, Distressed Sellers, home sales, home selling, real estate, Washington HB2791, Washington Real Estate, Washington Real Estate law
In For Buyers, For Sellers, King County Real Estate, Local news and information, Real Estate News, WA real estate, real estate on June 11, 2008 at 10:00 am
Many real estate bloggers are writing about the change in the real estate law, HB2791 which covers distressed home sales in the State of Washington. The bill is very complicated and very confusing, setting up some situations which may not be as the law was intended, to help seller’s in distress. The intent of the law is good, however the execution of the law is severely flawed. The legislature hopes to protect home owners going into foreclosure, but who are also 30 days late with a mortgage payment. This law is something we’ll be hearing more and more about in the coming months.
I thought two of the members of The Seattle Post-Intelligencer Real Estate Professionals Blog, of which I am a member, wrote some excellent pieces regarding the new law, Kary Krismer from Keller Williams and Dugald Allen from Windemere. Both of the articles and the resulting commentary are worth a read. Jillayne Schlicke over on raincityguide.com had another perspective.
There would never be this much discussion on blogs if the new law were not so complicated. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. Again, I applaud the intent of the law, but question its execution.
Bellevue, Bellevue Real Estate, Eastside real estate, home buyers, home sellers, home selling, Issaquah, Issaquah Real Estate, King County, King County Real Estate, Kirkland, Kirkland real estate, monthly real estate statistics, Redmond, Redmond real estate, Sammamish, Sammamish real estate, Seattle real estate, Seattle/Eastside real estate, Seattle/Eastside real estate statistics, Woodinville, Woodinville real estate
In Bellevue Real Estate, Bellevue, WA, For Buyers, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, Issaquah, WA, King County Real Estate, King County, WA, Kirkland, Local news and information, Real Estate News, Redmond, Sammamish, WA, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA, WA real estate, Woodinville, WA, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, market statistics, real estate on May 12, 2008 at 7:50 am
The chances
of selling a home on the Eastside in April 2008 ranged from a low of 8.46% to a high of 19%, with an average 12.8% absorption rate. (The absorption rate is the number of homes for sale in any given month divided by the actual number of homes sold that month.)
Here are the real estate statistics for single family home sales activity on Seattle’s Eastside:
April, 2008 3985 homes available, 512 sold, 12.8% chance of selling.
March, 2008 3637 homes available, 493 sold, 13.5% chance of selling.
April, 2007 2444homes available, 734 sold, 30.0% chance of selling.
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(click on the each area name for a chart showing the latest stats in the area)
The plateau: Sammamish, Issaquah, North Bend, and Fall City
Sellers had a 15.4% chance of getting a home sold, UP from 14.5% last month and DOWN from 29.4% last year. Median home prices were down by 6.2%, from $637,000 to $597,639. Inventory was up by 48.8% and sales declined by 22% from last year.
West Redmond/East Bellevue
Sellers had a 19% chance of getting a home sold, DOWN from 21.7% last month, and DOWN from 46.0% last year. Median sales price increased from $569,000 to $608,998. Inventory was up 110% and sales were down from 63 sales to 55 homes, a 12.7% decline.
South Bellevue
Sellers had a 10.6% chance of selling a home, DOWN from 12.3% last month and DOWN from 25.9% last year. Median price decreased by 19% to $600,000 from $741,150. Inventory was up 54.5% and sales were down almost 36.7%.
Woodinville/Bothell/Kenmore/Duvall
Sellers had a 12.5% chance of selling a home, a minimal change from 12.3% last month and DOWN from 37% last year. Median price was down to $484,450 from $514,950, a 5.9% decrease. Inventory was up by 60.1% from last year and sales declined by 45.9%.
Kirkland
Sellers had a 8.46% chance of selling a home, DOWN from 10.7% last month and DOWN from 30.5% last year. Median price declined by .03%, from $710,000 to $707,950. Inventory was up by 62.6% and sales were down by 54.8%.
West Bellevue
Sellers had a 9.03% chance of selling a home, UP from 7.26%, and DOWN from 28.3% last year. Median pricing increased by 42% to $1,399,000 from $985,000. Inventory climbed by 106.2% and sales declined by 34.1%.
Redmond/Education Hill/ Carnation
Sellers had a 14.0% chance of selling a home, DOWN slightly from 14.8% last month, and DOWN from 20.9% last year. Median pricing increased by 13.1% from $577,015 to $652,450. Inventory increased by 71% and sales dropped by 14.5%.
County wide, inventory is up from January’s numbers. On the eastside 2963 homes were on the market in January and now there are 3985 homes for sale, a 26% increase. The chances of selling in the different eastside areas varied very little from March’s numbers. However, if sales were down in an area, there was no absolute correlation with median price. Even if sales were down, the median price could still go up. The median price was up from last April in four of the eastside areas and down in three of the areas.
If you are trying to get a feel of the market in a particular area, look at several months worth of data. This will give the most realistic view of the market. Pay particular attention to the increase in inventory in your area. Sellers. regardless of what’s happened in a previous month, make sure you understand how much actual competition there is in your area before establishing a sales price and going on the market.
Remember sellers, it is price and condition in this market. Homes are selling, but as we all know, competition for the buyer is fierce.
Eastside Real Estate Buzz
