Leschi Art Walk

Come visit me at my real estate booth at the Leschi Art Walk tomorrow, Saturday, June 14 from 11am until 4pm. I will be hosting a booth with Cheryl Taylor, my mortgage lender at American Pacific Mortgage, for both my residential real estate firm, Home Land Seattle, and for my commercial development company, Van Gogh Development Corporation.

Van Gogh Development Corporation will be developing an artist live/work-style mixed-use commercial building on South Henderson Street at the Rainier Beach Light Rail Station in Seattle. This is scheduled to open in early 2016. We will have a display board and will be handing out flyers on this project at the Leschi Art Walk.

In addition, we will have opportunities for Leschi homeowners to get a free on-line market evaluation of their property, and enter their business cards for a chance to win a $25 Starbucks coffee card.

The day's activities will feature live musical performances, children's activities, arts and crafts, and artist booths. The Seattle SAKE Dragon Boat Club (for which I am vice-president) will also be manning a booth at the Leschi Art Walk. The Art Walk will be located in the Leschi business district on Lakeside Avenue between Lake Washington Blvd and E Yesler Way. The Leschi Art Walk is sponsred by the Leschi Community Council, Leschi Business Association, City of Seattle Parks & Recreation, Leschi Mart, Starbucks, BluWater Bistro and others.

Come out and meet a few of the creative entrepreneurs in the Leschi neighborhood of Seattle tomorrow June 14.

Happy Investing!

Recent Home Sales in Seattle 98122

There have been 113 sales of single family houses(including 19 townhomes) in the 98122 zip code of Seattle in the past six months. This includes the communities of Capitol Hill, Leschi, Madison Valley, Madrona, and the Central Area. These neighborhoods are located east of downtown to the shores of Lake Washington. They are noted for walkability, quiet residential neighborhoods, close-in proximity to downtown, parks, hiking trails, shops, groceries, views of Lake Washington and the Cascade Mountains,beautiful sunrises, public transit and easy access to freeways.

Excluding townhomes, the median house sale here in the past six months is a three-bedroom, two-bath 2105sf house that sold for $465,000 in 38 days. 41% of the sales were identified as being in Madrona; 17% in the Central Area; 15% in Capitol Hill; 15% in Leschi; 11% in Madison Valley; and 1% elsewhere in 98122. Nine percent of sales in this zipcode this year were for bank-owned properties, up from 5% last year.

The median Madrona house sold for $465,000 or $215.28/sf; while the median Central Area house sold for $330,200 or $181.43/sf.

Last year in 2010, the median Madrona house sold for $647,500 or $270.92; while the median Central Area house sold for $389,995 or $216.66/sf. This represents a 21% decrease in median home values in the Madrona area; and a 16% decrease in median home values in the Central Area to date, as compared to last year.

On average, the median home price in the 98122 zip code has decreased 9% from median house sales in 2010. However, the number of transactions this year is up 8% over last year. This means buyers are increasingly seeing good value for the price. Sales in this zip code represent 5% of all Seattle sales this year.

Median values mean that half the houses sold for more and half sold for less.

There are several ways to interpret this data, and I welcome your comments. It may be that the types of buyers have changed in the past year, with more investors and cash buyers moving into the lower end of the market this year. It may be that there are more distressed properties being bought and sold this year. It may be that prices have fallen far enough that these areas now represent a good bargain for the savvy investor or homebuyer. It may be that the bottom is yet in sight. What do you think?