Seattle Housing News

Several news items in yesterday's Sunday Seattle Times about the housing market. The front page headline "Bidding Wars" describes the frenzied real estate market that I have blogged about here on several occasions. It turns out that the Seattle metro area is now the country's leader in the rate of bidding wars on home purchases, outside of the San Francisco bay area.

In fact, about 75% of all listed homes receive multiple bids here, and 56% sell for more than the asking price. This is double the national average, and up from 26% in Seattle from four years prior. Some desirable Seattle neighborhoods, such as Fremont, Phinney Ridge, Wedgwood, West Seattle and the University District have bidding wars on 90% of homes sold this year.

In the same front section of the paper, the Seattle Times reported on aggressive measures in Honolulu and other American cities to displace the homeless from their downtown tourist centers.

In the Business section of the paper, one popular column on real estate gave strategies that millennials have used to pay down student debt in order to purchase homes.

Another article reported on the Seattle City Council plan to scrutinize Airbnb, imposing limits on the number of nights that may be rented out and requiring more reporting to the City. The City's stated objective is to free up more long-term rentals at a time when demand for housing in Seattle is high. (See my previous blog last week on this topic).

Stay tuned to this blog for more updates on news affecting the local real estate market.

Happy Investing!

Sellers Market in Seattle

Sunday's Seattle Times reported that Seattle's metro housing market is ranked 6th in the nation for the greatest percentage of real estate transactions that sold for more than list price, during the second quarter of 2014. Almost 40% of all listings sold for more than list price in this area. Double-digit appreciation in the last year is driving some of the current demand.

Many local brokers are seeing bidding wars, particularly in Seattle's most desirable neighborhoods. Almost half of all listings in Seattle sold for more than list price. Half of the single family homes in Seattle's hottest neighborhoods sold in less than one week.

The most competitive buyers often pay cash and waive all contingencies for inspection, financing, and appraisal requirements. They may pay to do a pre-inspection prior to submitting an offer, or simply rely on what they can see during a walk-through.

I have a current client submitting a bid on a fixer/tear down house in Crown Hill, submitting an all-cash offer, no contingencies, at 3% above list price. All offers are due in by noon today. We are keeping our fingers crossed that he gets his offer accepted.

This, folks, is what a Seller's Market looks like. If you are thinking of selling, get a FREE quote on the market value of your home in today's market, by messaging me privately at HomeLandInvestment@gmail.com or leave a message on my recorded hotline at 888-621-4999.

Happy Investing!

Post Script: My buyer did not get the house. I told him his offer was not high enough....Moral: Find an agent you respect, and then trust their judgment on market values....