For HomeownersRecyclingWindermere Real Estate July 10, 2013

Free Eastside Recycling Event This Weekend at Windermere Real Estate

Bellevue, WAEastside Real EstateFor BuyersFor HomeownersFor SellersIssaquah, WAKing County Real EstateMarket StatisticsReal EstateRedmondSammamish, WASeattleWoodinville, WA March 23, 2012

A Booming Real Estate Market in Kirkland, Bellevue, Redmond And Other Eastside Cities in February, 2012

The February Real Estate Map shows a strong sellers market.

Multiple offers, low supply of homes, a huge percentage of homes selling in a short amount of time, all are happening in the eastside communities of Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Issaquah, Woodinville, and Bothell.  This is an exciting trend that we expect will continue as long as people feel good about the economy, Seattle companies are hiring and there is this shortage of homes for sale. The national press is jumping on the bandwagon and reporting the uptick in the real estate market.  However, I believe this is not happening everywhere. We are among the fortunate areas in the country that are experiencing this positive real estate market.

Almost half of all the homes for sale in Kirkland and Redmond sold this past month! That’s astonishing odds. The cities below are grouped together to follow our MLS areas (multiple listing service).  This is how our statistics are reported.

How was real estate market in your Seattle-Eastside city in February, 2012?

1. Redmond/East Bellevue

The odds of selling a home were 49%

Median sales price decreased from $435,000 to $400,000 (y-o-y)**

113 homes were for sale

A total of 35 homes sold

Days on the market: 84

 

2. Kirkland

The odds of selling a home were 48%

Median sales price decreased from $457,000 to $442,000

140 homes were for sale

A total of 38 homes sold

Days on Market:  98

 

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

The odds of selling a home were 40%

Median sales price decreased from $514,000 to $442,000

There were 428 homes for sale

A total of 100 homes sold

Days on the market: 121

 

4.  South Bellevue/Issaquah

The odds of selling a home were 33%

Median price decreased from $580,000 to $525,000

239 homes were for sale

A total of 43 homes sold

Days on market: 118

 

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

The odds of selling a home were 32%

Median sales price decreased from $366,000 to $360,000

368 homes were for sale

A total of 105 homes sold

Days on Market: 115

 

6. West Bellevue

The odds of selling a home were 20%.

Median sales price increased from $840,000 to $960,000

123 homes were for sale

A total of 15 homes sold

Days on Market: 133

 

7.  Redmond/Education Hill/ Carnation

The odds of selling a home were 4%

Median sales price increased from $382,000 to $515,000

205 homes were for sale

A total of 29 homes sold

Days on Market: 152

 

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

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

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

Eastside Real EstateFor BuyersFor HomeownersFor SellersMarket StatisticsReal Estate March 22, 2012

The Seattle Eastside Condo Market Was Great in February, 2012

 


 
If you have a condo to sell on Seattle’s eastside, now is a great time to put it on the market. If you’ve hoped to move and have felt as if you couldn’t do so over the last few years, things are different now.  Competition among sellers has dropped dramatically, because there are so few condos for sale.  There were only 723 condos for sale in all the eastside cities of Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Woodinville, Issaquah, etc.  Just a few years ago, there were twice as many condos for sale.
 
Prices are not going to go back up any time and, more than likely, will no longer continue to drop.  If your condo is underwater and/or you can’t or don’t want to sell because you’re taking a huge loss, that’s unfortunate.  But for those who have contemplated a move up or out of the area, this is the best time to put your condo on the market in the last 5 years.
 
If you’re a buyer, condos haven’t been this affordable for about 6-7 years, so it’s a great time to buy.  Most real estate gurus and economists think we’re at the bottom of the market.  The situation varies dramatically in different parts of the country.  Seattle is one of the bright spots in the economy, so our market is doing well. If you’re waiting for prices to go down even more, it doesn’t sound like that will happen, particularly in the Seattle area.  We’ve been hit over the head with this fact since so many of the condos and homes are now selling with multiple offers.  As soon as that happens, we know we were at bottom.
 
Last month, 25% of all the condos on the market sold.  Condos sold, on average, within 89% of the original asking price.

Eastside Real EstateFor BuyersReal Estate February 29, 2012

How Was The Seattle Eastside Condo Market in January 2012?

 

The Seattle-Eastside condo real estate market in the cities of Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, etc was even better in January than December of last year. This is not terribly surprising.  When the calendar rolls around to a new year, buyers minds turn to real estate and home buying.
 
The number of condos for sale on the eastside was almost the same as in December.  However, 31 more condos sold in January than in December. Interestingly,  there were 247 new listings, but with the number of sales happening and other condos coming off the market, the supply has remained static.  The demand has been far greater.  The well priced and well maintained condos are selling as fast as they are coming up on the market.
 
Ironically, 20% fewer condos were on the market in January than a year ago.
 
As I’ve mentioned before, expect this year’s condo real estate market to be the strongest we’ve had for sales in 5 years.  In January, 20% of the available condos sold which is equal to the highest percentage of sales in July of last year.  Condos were on the market an average of 133 days and sold within 89% of their original asking price. Surprisingly, the median price dropped from $235,000 last year to $168,000 this year.   
I truly think this only represents the fact that the majority of condos that sold in January happened to be less expensive than those that sold last January.  I don’t think prices have dropped that much.  I look forward to seeing the price point for condo sales when we have February’s statistics available.  So don’t give up hope just yet.  Prices are down for everyone, whether it’s a house or condo, but it may not be as bad as January’s median pricing suggests.
 
As we’ve mentioned before, expect this year’s condo real estate market to be the strongest we’ve had for sales in 5 years. The lack of supply should help to spur the market on.  Happy condo hunting!

Bellevue Real EstateBellevue, WAEastside Real EstateFor BuyersFor SellersIssaquah Real EstateIssaquah, WAMarket StatisticsReal EstateRedmondSammamish, WASammamish, WA Real EstateWoodinville, WAWoodinville, WA Real Estate February 29, 2012

How Was The Real Estate Market In Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, and Other Eastside Cities At The Start of 2012?

 

What a difference a month makes!  The January Real Estate Map shows a “Seller’s Advantage” in our market!

There’s a lot of  “red” on the above Seattle area real estate map!  There’s more “red” than we’ve seen in years, and I mean years.  What does the “red” mean?  It means it’s a seller’s market. The homes that are in the “red” areas sell in less than 3 months on average.  In January, most of the eastside was a seller’s market.  Mercer Island, West Bellevue, and Kirkland did not quite reach the threshold of a seller’s market, but Kirkland was almost there.  The real estate markets in these areas were more evenly balanced between the buyers and sellers as homes sold on average within 3-6 months.

This real estate market is pretty exciting to see after the tough markets of the last few  years.  But what this really means is that we have a more normal market on Seattle’s eastside. The good homes that are priced right and show well are the homes that are selling quickly and bringing the average market time down.  There are and still will be homes that aren’t priced well or don’t show well which will sit on the market and take longer to sell.

The chance of a home selling in the different eastside cities ranged from 15-30%. West Bellevue had the fewest sales when compared to the number of available homes, while the plateau cities of Sammamish, North Bend, and Fall City saw almost a third of the homes sell in one month!

The Seattle Times talked about the drop in median prices, but was careful to point out that data varies from city to city and neighborhood to neighborhood.

But King County is a big place, and the real-estate market isn’t the same in SeaTac as it is in Sammamish.
A closer look at the statistics reveals significant variations from neighborhood to neighborhood.

It’s good to see the Times recognizing the neighborhood differences, since too many times the media publishes data, which covers too broad an area.  This does not give an accurate picture of the real estate data.

The cities below are grouped together to follow our MLS areas (multiple listing service).  This is how our statistics are reported. 

How was real estate market in your Seattle-Eastside city in January, 2012?


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

The odds of selling a home were 30%

Median sales price decreased from $496,000 to $465,000  (y-o-y)**

There were 469 homes for sale

A total of 86 homes sold

Days on the market: 123

 

2.  South Bellevue/Issaquah

The odds of selling a home were 28%

Median price decreased from $575,000 to $484,000

226 homes were for sale

A total of 35 homes sold

Days on market: 90

 

3. Kirkland

The odds of selling a home were 27%

Median sales price decreased from $534,000 to $522,000

155 homes were for sale

A total of 34 homes sold

Days on Market:  62

 

4. Redmond/East Bellevue

The odds of selling a home were 26%

Median sales price increased from $380,000 to $460,000

125 homes were for sale

A total of 32 homes sold

Days on the market: 94

 

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

The odds of selling a home were 25%

Median sales price decreased from $390,000 to $344,000

387 homes were for sale

A total of 64 homes sold

Days on Market: 115

 

6.  Redmond/Education Hill/ Carnation

The odds of selling a home were 21%

Median sales price decreased from $522,000 to $483,000

193 homes were for sale

A total of 30 homes sold

Days on Market: 112

 

5. West Bellevue

The odds of selling a home were 15%.

Median sales price increased from $650,000 to $1,230,000

118 homes were for sale

A total of 18 homes sold

Days on Market: 86

 

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

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

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

Bellevue, WAExploring the EastsideKirkland February 13, 2012

And You Wonder Why We Live on Seattle’s Eastside?

 

Below are some gorgeous views of Seattle from Bellevue and Kirkland looking west.  Sunsets are gorgeous around here!

 

A peek at the Space Needle

Sunset view of the Space Needle

The Seattle Skyline across Lake Washington

Seattle skyline sunset

The Olympic Mountains

Mt Olympus and sunset

Not Real Estate September 22, 2011

Go Food Shopping on Seattle's Eastside on Saturday, the 24th

Food donations on Seattle's eastside

Emergency Feeding Program Collects for Eastside Month of Concern for the Hungry

There are hungry people on the eastside that need you!  There’s an easy way for you to help.  This weekend marks the start of the Eastside Month of Concern for the Hungry.    Many eastside supermarkets will have volunteers from the Emergency Feeding Program standing by to collect food from shoppers.  Please help donate all that you can so we can make this annual program successful and feed those who are in need.

If you can’t make it to the supermarket this weekend, there will be other collection days in different eastside areas on Saturdays in October.  You can also donate throughout the month at a number of collection sites all over the eastside.     There’s also a list of the most needed items.   Interested in volunteering your time to help out?  Here’s where you can sign up.

Thanks for your help!