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It Was Mostly a Buyers' Market on Seattle's Eastside in September, 2010
King & Snohomish County Reat Estate, 9-30-10
Sellers’ markets on this map are in red and there is no red in Seattle or on Seattle’s eastside. Most of the neighborhoods are buyers’ markets, which are in green. Only two areas, Bellevue and Redmond near Microsoft, which is area 530, and area 600, which is Woodinville, Bothell, Duvall, are balanced markets. Last month, Bellevue and Redmond near Microsoft and Kirkland were the balanced markets.
A balanced market is when homes on average are selling between 3-6 months, which means there was a level playing field between buyers and sellers in those areas for that particular month. A buyers’ market means the homes on average are taking longer than 6 months to sell and a sellers’ market means the homes take less than 3 months to sell.
A real estate market is labeled a buyer or sellers’ market depending on the homes that actually sold that particular month. Since the sales can vary each month, the type of real estate market can very easily change, going back and forth between a buyer or seller advantage. Don’t count on the market staying the same each month in any area.
Remember, too, an area may be a buyers’ market and there can still be a terrific home that’s the best of the competition and sells with multiple offers or for full price. It’s always important to understand how much competition a particular home has and how well priced it is when compared to the competition. So look at the overall real estate market, look at the market in your neighborhood, and then look at the specific home and how well it’s priced for that market. Weigh all of this information when making a buying decision or a decision as to how to price your home.
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.
Seattle-Eastside Real Estate is Mostly Green, A Buyers' Market
- King & Snohomish County Real Estate Activity 8-31-10
The Seattle-eastside has flipped back almost completely to a buyers’ market. Two areas, Redmond and East Bellevue near Microsoft and Kirkland, were more balanced real estate markets, with the market time to sell a home falling between 3 to 6 months. If you check out what the colors represent below, you can see how much of King County real estate is in the buyers’ camp right now. With today’s low interest rates and the ability to negotiate strongly because of this market trend, it’s probably a better time to buy a home now than when everyone was rushing to beat the expiration of the tax credit. The savings would be spread out over a longer time period, but would be worth far more than the one time $8000 tax credit. If you do decide to buy, remember to look for a home you can grow in that’s close to transportation, shopping, schools, and jobs. A home that meets these criteria will hold its value better.
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.
There Were No Sellers Markets in the Seattle Area in July, 2010
King & Snohomish County Real Estate, 7-31-10
There were no sellers’ market in July. “Red” indicates a sellers’ market with homes selling in less than 3 months. If you look at the map above, all the Seattle markets are either a buyer’s market or a balanced market between buyers and sellers.
There’s a mix on Seattle’s eastside. Some markets are buyers’ markets such as West Bellevue and the Sammamish plateau cities of Sammamish, North Bend, Preston, and Fall City. Homes in these real estate markets took on average over 6 months to sell. The majority of Seattle Eastside real estate was a balanced market with homes selling between 3-6 months.
The state of the real estate market is a huge contrast from just three months ago when there was no “green” on the map at all.
- King Snohomish Counties Real Estate Market 4-30-10
Clearly, the tax credit did its magic during that time. Is it the economy, job situation or is it the lack of urgency with interest rates slated to be low for a long time that is keeping buyers from making a home purchase? I’ve heard opinions about all three reasons as the cause for the slow moving real estate market. What do you think?
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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.
"Green" is Back on the Seattle-Eastside's Real Estate Map, May, 2010
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.
