New Highs for Seattle Real Estate

Median list price in Seattle proper is now almost $730,000. Just think, last year around this time median list price was around $550,000. For all you non-math majors out there, that's a 32.72% increase year over year. Good grief.

Despite the ridiculous appreciation rates over the last couple years, Zillow still ranks Seattle as being in the top 10 for home-ownership nationwide.

Yet despite the appreciation rates of single family residences in Seattle, condos have not appreciated at the same rate over the last year, and therefore there are opportunities for new homeowners to stake their claim in the Seattle housing market. If you've driven around Seattle lately you know that there are plenty of new apartment buildings going up to accommodate the influx of tech transplants. With all the apartments being built, condo prices have remained a little more in check than single family homes. Reason being: The cost to purchase a condo needs to be similar to the cost of renting, because renting an apartment and buying a condo essentially provide the same standard of living. Given this, you cannot have skyrocketing rents and declining condo pricing, or vice versa. Single Family Homes are making all the headlines, but for those of you just looking to make a place your own, check out a condo...not quite the same story in the condo market as the SFR market.

Happy Investing! 

Today's blog courtesy of Kyle Bergquist, Guild Mortgage

 

2015 Housing Recap

The latest report from the NWMLS shows the year 2015 ended on a mostly positive note with pending sales, closed sales and prices all showing year-over-year increases.

Not surprisingly, listing activity dropped, in part because some sellers are balking at listing their home for fear of not finding a replacement.

The price of a single family home (excluding condos) that sold in King County during December jumped nearly 15.5 percent, from $440,000 to $508,000,

Area-wide there was just under 1.8 months of supply, with four-to-six months generally considered to be a “balanced” level. In King County, inventory dropped to less than one month (0.84). MLS figures show active listings in King County were down 39 percent (about 1,400 fewer properties) from 12 months ago.

Condo prices increased about 6.7 percent, from $239,000 to $255,000. In King County, which accounted for about 55 percent of the sales, the median sales price was $279,975. That’s up about 7.7 percent from a year ago.

Forecasts for 2016 all look strong for Sellers looking to cash in on their equity. For a free online evaluation of the value of your property in today's market, please send a private message to HomeLandInvestment@gmail.com with your name, contact information and property address.

Happy New Year!

Happy Investing!