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How Can You Make More Money Selling Your Seattle Eastside Home?
It's simple. Price your home right and it will sell quickly and for full price. Overprice your home, it will take longer to sell and it'll sell for less than full price. In today's hot real estate market, buyers know a good home when they see it because they run out to see everything as soon as it comes up for sale. If it's priced right, a home will attract multiple offers and sell for full price or more. If it doesn't sell quickly, given the shortage of supply, it's clear a house is overpriced and will need a price reduction to attract a buyer.
Two thirds of the sellers got it right during the first quarter of the year and sold their homes quickly and for full price or more. When you price your home, position yourself to be in that two thirds that sells for full price. If you do, you'll end up walking away with more money in your pocket.
April Showers Brought More Real Estate Sales on Seattle’s Eastside
Seattle Eastside real estate sales keep climbing! Home sales have increased by 35% since January of this year.
Buyers don't despair. We're starting to see a significant increase in the number of homes for sale, which is good for buyers. Sellers still have the advantage in the marketplace, though, because the supply is still low when compared to previous years when 3000-4000 homes were for sale each month on Seattle's Eastside.
Will the market ease up for buyers if more homes come up for sale? More than likely if the supply increases, the market will still perform well for sellers, but it may not be as frenetic. It still will be a matter of time before there are any big changes to the marketplace, but it will be interesting to see how the rest of the year plays out. We believe more homes will come up for sale as typically happens each summer as the school year comes to a close. Will this change the marketplace dynamics between buyers and sellers? Probably not much at this point, because we're still on the low side of supply.
Here are the specifics for April, 2013 as compared to April, 2012:
- 80% of the available homes sold this past April, 41% sold in April, 2012.
- Homes sold in 48 days, down from 101 days in April, 2012.
- In 2012 median pricing in April was $485,000. In 2013, April's median pricing was $565,000. Wow, that's a huge jump in median pricing. We're still expecting median pricing to continue to work its way back up to the higher $500+ range, but much will depend on how many homes come on the market.
If you'd like to know more about the value of your home, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Seattle Eastside March Real Estate Marched On!
Seattle Eastside Real Estate Sales Through March, 2013
Finally, there were a few more homes for sale on Seattle's eastside in March, the first month since August of last year!
Did this increase in inventory dampen the number of sales? So far, nothing has slowed down the rate of sales. In fact, the rate of home sales in Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, and other eastside cities was higher in March than February. Seventy-eight percent of the homes on the market sold! There is still more than one buyer for each home, so multiple offers remain the norm.
It's been hopping out there in the real estate market on the eastside. We're starting to see some Eastside buyers behave like Seattle buyers. This past weekend, a buyer pre-inspected one of our listings before making an offer. Rumor had it that there were going to be at least 4 offers on the table and this particular buyer wanted to come to that table with a very clean, straightforward offer. Buyers in Seattle have pre-inspected homes for years when the market has been hot. It's not something we've seen as much on the eastside, but we wouldn't be surprised if it continues.
Here are the specifics for March, 2013 as compared to March, 2012:
- 78% of the available homes sold this past March, 44% sold in March, 2012.
- Homes sold in 62 days, down from 109 days in March, 2012.
- In 2012 median pricing in March was $470,000. In 2013, March's median pricing was $560,000. We're expecting median pricing to continue to work its way back up to the higher $500+ range, particularly since inventory is still so low.
The Seattle Times reported a 17% increase in pricing from March, 2012 on the eastside.
It was the biggest monthly percentage gain since April 2012, when King County’s median home price started rising after 19 months of decline.
If you'd like more information specific to your home, don't hesitate to contact us.
If You Had a “For Sale” Sign in Your Yard in February on Seattle’s Eastside You Probably Sold Your Home!
Seattle-Eastside Real Estate Sales Through February, 2013
Did February's real estate sales top January? They sure did! Seventy-four percent of the homes on the market sold! Homes continue to sell with multiple offers and for over full price.
The number of homes dropped only a bit from January, and was the lowest number of homes for sale in over 20 years. Sales skyrocketed though, climbing from 605 to 713 homes. This number doesn't sound like a lot, until you consider the fact that only 968 homes were for sale.
The hot market continues, but two areas of Seattle's eastside were on fire. South Bellevue and Issaquah and East Bellevue and Redmond, near Microsoft. If a home had a "for sale" sign in the yard in these areas, it sold last month!
Sellers still need to price their homes for the market or the buyers will not come. Buyers will pay more than full price if there's competition from other buyers and the house is a well maintained with a market value price tag on it. Homes don't sell for more than full price if they are overpriced when they go on the market. But if buyers see the value of the home and there's more than one buyer, that's when a home sells for more than full price. Sellers must attract the buyers with a good value if they truly expect to attract multiple buyers and sell for at least full price and possibly more!
Buyers, since the ball is in the seller's court in 2013, you have to be prepared. Work with a Realtor who knows market value and whether it's worth paying more for a home if there are multiple offers. Find out if your Realtor has worked in this kind of seller's market before and how they handle multiple offers. Get pre-approved by your lender and have it in writing to present with your offer. Make a simple, clean offer. Include a good earnest money check to accompany the offer. Pre-inspect the house if the seller allows it, so you can be assured of an inspection, but not have it be part of the offer. It's one less contingency that you and the seller will have to sort out when comparing the offers and puts your in a better position.
The hottest selling price range was for homes priced under $350,000. Right behind it were the homes priced between $500-750,000. Fifty three homes sold for over $1,000,000 this past month. There's less than 2 months worth of inventory for all homes priced below $750,000!
The strong real estate market should continue. In the Seattle Times, Dick Conway, an economic forecaster said:
…. robust job creation by the likes of Boeing, Amazon and other major companies headquartered here should create more demand for new housing, which in turn will create construction jobs, and hunger for more housing.
Here are the specifics for February, 2013 as compared to February, 2012:
- 74% of the available homes sold this past February, 33% sold in February, 2012.
- Homes continued to sell quickly, in 79 days, which is down from 119 days in February, 2012.
- In 2012 median pricing in February was $447,000. In 2013, February's median pricing was $525,000. Median pricing has been a solid $500,000+ for months now and should continue to be for the next few months
If you'd like more information specific to your home, don't hesitate to contact us.
*The absorption rate is the percentage calculated by dividing the number of sales by the number of homes for sale.
Seattle Eastside Real Estate Sails into The New Year!
Seattle Eastside Real Estate Sales Through January, 2013
In January, buyers were lining up to buy the few available homes on Seattle's Eastside. Sixty-five percent of the homes on the market sold! There were so many buyers that most homes attracted multiple offers and sold for over full price.
For many months now, I've repeated myself. I've been reporting that the number of homes for sale during each of the last few months is the lowest number in 15 years, yet with each month the number has gotten smaller and smaller. The start of 2013 marks the first time the number of homes for sale has dropped below 1000 homes in such Eastside cities of Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, etc, I checked back to 1990, 23 years ago, and this is the lowest, and the lowest by far, number of homes for sale. Traditionally, there are several thousand homes for sale.
Sales, on the other hand, are high. Eastside real estate sales increased by 17% from January, 2012, while the number of homes for sale dropped by 44%. Redmond and East Bellevue continue with the top the absorption rate.* Over 95% of the homes near Microsoft sold last lmonth! There were only 44 homes on the market in those areas and 42 sold!
Fewer homes to buy + more sales = hot market.
Sellers, your ship has come in! But keep in mind, the homes that sell for the best prices are in show condition, not in need of repairs and are priced right.
Buyers, you have more of a challenge in this market. But it can be done. You can buy a home. Be prepared with a strong pre-qualification letter, learn your market, and have a Realtor representing you who is a savvy negotiator in multiple offer situations.
Here are the specifics for January, 2013 as compared to January, 2012:
- 65% of the available homes sold this past January, 24.5% sold in January, 2012.
- Homes continued to sell quickly, in 71 days, which is down from 106 days in January, 2012.
- In 2012 median pricing in January was $470,000. In 2013, median pricing was $514,000.
If you'd like more information specific to your home, don't hesitate to contact us.
*The absorption rate is the percentage calculated by dividing the number of sales by the number of homes for sale.
Seattle Eastside 2012 Real Estate Ends the Year on a High Note
What a year we had in real estate on the Seattle eastside! December real estate was on fire, just like much of 2012! Just over 1000 homes were for sale, about 1/2 as many as were for sale just a year ago. It's been over 15 years since there have been so few homes for sale in Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond and other eastside cities. In a few eastside neighborhoods, every home for sale sold, but the bottom line is in every area most homes were selling, if they were priced right and showed well.
The area with the most sizzling sales activity was near Microsoft, in Redmond and East Bellevue. There was and is a dearth of listings, so every home that was for sale sold! Over 100% of the available homes sold in December! More than likely a few homes sold before they were on the market, causing the percentage of those sold to top 100 percent.
Our listings have been selling in a matter of days with multiple offers. Typically, homes sold for more than full price because of the intense competition and lack of inventory.
In 2012, 7300 homes sold on Seattle's eastside. Even with fewer homes for sale in 2012 than in 2011, more homes actually sold in 2012. In 2011, 5440 homes sold. In 2012, most of the homes sold were priced between $500-$750,000. The second most popular price range for homes in Eastside neighborhoods was $350-$500,000. Market time was really short by the end of 2012. It would have taken about 2 months to sell every home for sale, which was half the time it would have taken to sell off all of the available inventory in 2011.
Here are the specifics for December 2012 as compared to December, 2011:
- 46% of the available homes sold this past December, 17% sold in December, 2011.
- Homes continued to sell quickly, in 63 days, which is down from 106 days in December, 2011.
- In 2011 median pricing in December was $460,000. In 2012, median pricing was $506,000.
The median price of $506,000 listed above reflects the median price of the sales in December. The median price for homes sold in all of 2012 was $525,399, up from $502,784 in 2011. The chart below shows the median pricing for each of the last 5 years. As I've mentioned in previous posts, it makes more sense to look at the trendline (the red line) for the year then to just compare one month to another. It's clear that for the first time in the last 5 years, we are seeing a solid trend with price increases.
The fabulous activity in the 2012 eastside real estate market should continue into 2013. We've started the year with our listings selling just after the ink is dry on the listing and it's posted on the internet. With supply at an amazing low and demand still very high, there are multiple buyers for homes.
Seattle is on a strong path forward because of our strong economic footing, according to Jed Kolko, the chief economist at Trulia:
On the other hand, metros like Seattle, which came in second on the list of cities with the highest asking-price recovery, are on a smoother path to growth because of their strong economic fundamentals, he said.
If you'd like more information specific to your home, don't hesitate to contact us. Have a wonderful 2013.
Many Homes on Seattle’s Eastside Are Selling For Over Full Price!
In the third quarter of 2012, almost 30% of the homes that sold in the cities of Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Sammamish, Woodinville, Issaquah sold for over full price! The demand by buyers for homes and the lack of inventory is creating this huge uptick in competition for a home. When more buyers are competing for the same house, the offers often have to be for more than full price to stand out from the competition. Many homes are now getting multiple offers and many, almost a third, are now selling for more than the asking price.
We've recently sold several listings in which the selling price was over $20,000 more than the asking price! In one instance, the home had come on the market only hours before. The buyers didn't want to take the risk that another offer would be written before the seller had time to respond, so they offered over full price. Another home sold within 48 hours. Three buyers made offers for that home.
As you can see in the above chart, the homes that sell for more than full price, sell for about 3% above the asking price, with the range from just a hair over asking price all the way to 22.5% above the asking price!
Twenty-one percent of the homes sold for full price. This means 51% of the homes on the eastside sold for full price or more!
The homes that sold above full price only lasted on the market, on average,16 days. Homes that sold for full price were on the market for about a month.
But what about the other 49%? (Not to be confused with the 47% that was talked about in the election)
Why did half the homes sell for less than full price if the market is so hot? More than likely, one of these reasons was the cause:
- Location
- Pricing
- Condition
- Marketing
- Competition
You can't change the location or the fact that there is competition for a particular home. But when selling a home, you need to maximize your buyer attraction by pricing your home well, having it in stellar condition, and presenting it well to the buyers through fabulous marketing.
If you have questions about how to have your home be one of the 51% that sells for full price or more, feel free to contact us!
How Safe Is Your Neighborhood? Crime Mapping Has Come to Bellevue and Kirkland
A public website where you can find out what types of crimes are happening in a neighborhood? You can now find this online in Bellevue and Kirkland and some other Washington cities. The City of Kirkland used a grant from Washington State to buy a crime mapping program that is available to anyone with a computer. The goal of the program is to raise the level of awareness regarding crime in the neighborhoods. The hope is people will see suspicious activity and report it to the police. Citizens will be empowered to assist the authorities and will be more knowledgeable about what is happening in their neighborhoods.
Aware citizens are a good thing. Just recently 3 burglars in Kirkland were caught because neighbors were being vigilant and reported suspicious activity to the police.
The program is not an attempt to scare people, but to raise the level of awareness of people within the community. With a raised level of citizen awareness, people will be even safer. No city is immune from crime, but here on the eastside, things are generally safe.
Who could benefit from this program?
- Anyone who wants to know about the safety of their neighborhood.
- Anyone who wants to increase their level of awareness about what is going on in a city.
- Anyone who is thinking of buying a home and wants to check the safety of a neighborhood.
It's simple to access the program. You can log on by going directly to the site or through a link on the City of Kirkland website. When you input an address you can check for a variety of different crimes within a certain radius. No actual addresses are given as crimes are reported by blocks instead of a specific address.
The city has also added links to crime prevention tips for each type of crime and to the King County Sex Offender registry.
Other important things to know:
- You can sign up for email alerts.
- You can search for more than one place, ie.a school or job location.
- You can create reports by category of crime or during a specific block of time.
- There is a free iPhone app.
The information is updated by the police on a regular basis and is an attempt to keep the public well informed. In Kirkland data will be updated on Tuesdays-Thursdays. However, if there is an active crime investigation going on, reports may be withheld.
You can access a huge number of other cities across the United States. Sometimes it is good to do that to see how safe living in Kirkland and Bellevue is when compared to other cities in the nation.
May Was a Strong Real Estate Market on Seattle’s Eastside
With a 46% chance of getting a home sold in May, home sellers in Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond and other eastside cities had great odds of getting their home sold. We saw a slight uptick in the number of homes for sale, but that did not change the fast paced nature of the market. When almost half of the homes for sale are selling, a few more listings doesn't make that much difference.
But if many more listing come on the market will that change the balance of the market between buyers and sellers? Time will tell, but historically when the demand outstrips the supply, we have a fast paced sellers market. If the supply increases, the competition between listings could heat up and we could have a good market, but not as fast paced. The market would be more balanced between buyers and sellers. The market balance in the upcoming months will hinge on the supply of available homes and the number of buyers.
The market is great, but 54% of the homes did not sell. One of the necessary elements necessary for a quick, well priced sale was more than likely missing for many of these homes. The homes that did not sell may have needed to be better priced or have sharper photos, smart staging and/or marketing. These homes may not have gotten the attention from the savvy buyers if one of the key elements for a successful sale was missing. They focused on those homes that are well priced and show well.
How did this past May compare to May of 2011?
- 46% of the available homes sold this past May, 24% sold in May, 2012.
- Homes sold in 58 days, which is down from 76 days in May, 2012.
- Median pricing remained the same at $500,000. This is very good news!
- Homes sold within 96% of the original asking price. Last year homes sold within 92% of the asking price.
- 23% more homes sold this year.
The market stats over the next few months will dictate whether Seattle-eastside real estate will remain a hot seller's market.
Will the number of listings increase?
Will the number of buyers decrease?
Will prices continue to increase slightly?
Stayed tuned to to see how our eastside real estate market turns out! Check in with us next month.
If you'd like more information specific to your home, don't hesitate to contact us.
Was May The Best for Condo Sales on Seattle’s Eastside in the Last 5 Years?
Even fewer condos were on the market in May on Seattle eastside and sales were still strong. There were 6 fewer sales, but because there were fewer condos for sale, a slightly higher percentage sold. Slightly over 44% of the available condos sold in May, which could very well be the best odds of selling a condo in the last 5 years on Seattle’s eastside! We expect this positive market to continue in Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, and the other cities east of Seattle. But if many more condos come up on the market, then the odds of selling may dip slightly. It is that old law of supply and demand.
It’s a great time not only to sell a condo, but to buy one, as the prices have not been this low since early in the last decade. But be careful out there. Just because something is a fabulous price doesn’t mean it really is a great deal or a great place to live. Buying a condo also means you’re buying into an association. It’s important to check the association rules, regulations and financial statements.
Last month my post about the condo market listed a number of questions sellers should ask before selling. Many of these same questions should be asked by a buyer when planning to purchase a condominium. When you find a condo you like, you can make an offer because one of the conditions of all offers is for you, as the buyer, to have time to review all this information. Condo buyers receive a copy of a “resale certificate as a condition of the offer. This document has tons of information about the condo and the association, but that’s for another blog post!
