King County Real Estate Trends

The top 5 areas within King County* that have had the greatest numbers of real estate transactions in the first half of 2014 are:


1)Kirkland/Redmond with 911 residential resale transactions
2) West Seattle at 765
3) Bellevue with 732
4) South Seattle with 711
5) Kent with 673

Adding together the Seattle neighborhoods of Ballard (49), Capitol Hill (38),Leschi and Madrona (118), Green Lake/ U District (645),Madison Park (140), Magnolia(164), Mt Baker (157), Northgate (193), Queen Anne (142), South Seattle and West Seattle yields a total of 3122 transactions. This makes the City of Seattle the greatest in terms of numbers, but breaking the stats down by neighborhood allows us to see which areas of Seattle are most active. Seattle represents 29% of all residential sales in King County in the first half of 2014.

In terms of median prices for house sales in the first half of 2014, the top 5 areas in King County are:
1) Mercer Island at $1,100,000
2) Madison Park at $904,300
3) Capitol Hill at $813,750
4) Queen Anne at 795,000
5) Magnolia at $695,000

All of these areas were well above the King County median house price of $420,000.

The 10 least expensive places to buy a single family house in King County in 2014, based on median house prices, were:
1) East County at $200,000
2) Seatac at $224,500
3) Auburn at $233,489
4) Federal Way at $245,000
5) Normandy Park at $255,600
6) South Seattle at $256,000
7) Milton at $257,500
8) Kent at $259,500
9) Enumclaw at $260,000
10)Tukwila/Burien at $265,500

These areas have seen a 13% average appreciation in price compared to the same period in 2013; while King County as a whole has appreciated an average of 6%. The trend is clear, that as house prices increase, home buyers and investors look for value in less expensive areas of King County.

Happy Investing!

*Data from Data Data Inc.

Motivated Buyers Returning to the Washington State Housing Market

The NWMLS just released their January statistics:

KIRKLAND, Wash. (Feb. 3, 2011) – Dramatic increases in open house activity and shrinking inventory are fueling optimism among members of the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. Many believe that the bottom of the local housing market has been reached.

Year-over-year pending sales were down somewhat, the volume of new listings declined more than 23 percent, sales prices continued to slip, but the number of closed sales increased slightly across the 21 counties in the Northwest MLS service area.
Last month’s pending sales lagged totals for the same month a year ago, but only by 186 units system-wide, a decline of about 3.3 percent.

Members reported 5,393 pending sales (mutually accepted offers) of single family homes and condominiums during January. That compares to 5,579 pending sales for the same period a year ago, and marked a big gain from both January 2009 (4,353 pending sales) and January 2008 (4,499 pending sales).

Closed sales rose a modest 2.1 percent from a year ago, increasing from 3,142 transactions to 3,207 sales. Prices on those completed sales were down about 6.3 percent. The overall median price for last month’s closed sales of single family homes and condominiums was $243,500, which compares to the year-ago selling price of $259,903. For single family homes (excluding condominiums) the median selling price was $250,000, down about 5 percent from a year ago; for condos, last month’s sales had a median price of $200,000, down 16.7 percent from twelve months ago.

Only four counties (Clallam, Cowlitz, Kitsap, and Okanogan) reported year-over-year price gains.

In King County, the median sales price on last month’s sales was $333,500, a drop of 4.7 percent from twelve months ago when it was $350,000.

Figures from the National Association of Realtors® show distressed homes rose to 36 percent of sales of existing homes in December, up from 33 percent in November and 32 percent a year ago. Such homes are typically discounted by 10 to 15 percent, according to NAR research.

Northwest Multiple Listing Service, owned by its member brokers, is the largest full-service MLS in the Northwest. Its membership includes more than 24,000 brokers and agents. The organization, based in Kirkland, currently serves 21 counties in Western and Central Washington.

For more information on this report, contact the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

King County Housing Trends

It is still solidly a buyer's housing market in King County. Inventory is up and median prices are, well, flat....

Both new and active listings of residential and condominium units are up over the same period last year. There were 14,217 total active residential listings in King County through August 2010, as compared to 13,145 at this same time last year. Sellers are becoming more realistic in their pricing, down to an average list price of $556,076 compared to average asking prices of $652,363 last year. Nevertheless, the average SOLD price in 2010 is $431,678; as compared to the average sold price of $428,354 last year. This means, on average, that list prices are still 29% higher than where they need to be in order to sell.

Median home prices in King County hovered around $350,000 ($349,238 in 2010) for both residential and condominium sales. Not surprisingly, days on market have gone up dramatically throughout Washington state, and King County is no exception. While homes took approximately 81 days on market to sell in 2009, they are now taking an average of 122 days to sell in 2010.

What does all this mean? If you are a buyer, there is plenty of inventory from which to choose, prices are more affordable than they have been in years, and mortgage interest rates are at historical lows.

If you are a seller, be realistic about your list price, make sure your house is in pristine, ready-to-show condition, and be willing to offer creative and attractive terms for your prospective buyers.

For more tips on how to beat buyers to the hottest listings, how to sell your home fast and for top dollar, and how to sign up for my VIP Client programs, visit my website at www.HomeLandSeattle.com .

Seattle vs. National Housing Market

17 of the top 20 US metro areas saw increases in housing prices between May and June, but Seattle was not one of them, according to the latest Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices report. Phoenix and Las Vegas were the other metro markets where housing prices dropped from May to June.

Nationally these markets saw an average increase in housing prices of 4.2% over the previous year; while Seattle housing prices dropped 1.8% over the same period.

The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes dropped 27.4% in July from the previous July; and new homes sales dropped 54.6% in Western states from the previous year, according to a joint report by the US Census Bureau and the US Housing and Urban Development Department.

In King County, the median price of single family homes sold in August was $380,000, an increase of 1.3 percent from the year-ago figure of $375,000. Inventory on the NW Multiple Listing Service has gone up 6.4% since last year, creating a strong buyers market for "value-hunters."

Economists believe the housing sales to be artificially low due to the tax credit program pushing some sales earlier in the year. And concern remains regarding the long-term prospects for the housing market. An expected increase in FHA mortgage rates in October may further delay the housing recovery.

Yet Marcus and Millichap expects to see recovery in the local apartment market, due to anticipated growth in jobs and employment in the Puget Sound. 31,000 jobs are to be added in the Puget Sound region this year. New apartment development in the North Seattle/Northgate area however, is expected to increase vacancy rates there.