How Many Real Estate Sales Were in Your Seattle Eastside Neighborhood in May, 2011?

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How many homes sold in May, 2011 in your neighborhood?

May real estate sales are proof again that real estate is local. Seattle eastside real estate is doing relatively well when compared to the last few years and to other parts of the country. Regardless of what the national news reports about real estate, Seattle area real estate sales are better than most parts of the country.

In most eastside areas, roughly 1/4-1/3 of the homes on the market sold. In some areas of the eastside, such as East Bellevue, Redmond near Microsoft, and Kirkland, more than 30% of the available homes sold. These areas tend to shine, particularly East Bellevue and Redmond, near Microsoft. These neighborhoods have a mix of housing styles and prices and are located close to good schools and jobs. The areas that are further out tend to be on the slower end of the sales spectrum. More home buyers in today’s market are looking for the convenience of living close to amenities.

I also should qualify my statements regarding the market. Prices are not up, but remained stable in some areas and lost ground in others.

Seattle’s eastside has a “normal” real estate market when considering the market over the last few years. A “normal” market means everything is happening from homes selling the minute they hit the market to homes taking months to sell and at reduced prices. The “hot” homes are selling. “Hot” homes are great values with a good price tag, are staged and ready to go. The homes that are not “hot” are taking a long time to sell and go through several price reductions before getting an offer.

From the Seattle Times Eric Pryne:

While the rise in pending sales was more modest on the Eastside, King County’s priciest area, closed single-family sales in May actually were up 6 percent from the same month last year — bucking the countywide trend — while prices fell just 4 percent, less than half the countywide drop.

Windermere’s Deasy attributed that in part to hiring by major Eastside employers. “People will start to see houses sell before they have a chance to act on them,” he predicted.

Eastside condo sales also were up from May 2010, climbing 15 percent. Countywide, however, condo sales fell nearly 4 percent, and the median price — $215,000 — was down 14 percent.

(Click on the cities below to see real estate trends for the past 5 years. You’ll find the median pricing for each city and whether the number of homes for sale and the number of sales went up or down. The odds of selling a home in each area is a result of the number of homes for sale divided by the actual number of home sales, so if 10 out of 100 homes sold, the odds of selling would be 10/100 or 10%)

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

The odds of selling a home were 22%.

Median sales price dropped: $559,880 to $487,000.

There were 752 homes for sale.

A total of 186 homes sold.

Redmond/East Bellevue

The odds of selling a home were 34%.

Median sales price decreased to $409,000 from $480,000.

189 homes were for sale

A total of 73 homes sold.

South Bellevue/Issaquah

The odds of selling a home were 29%.