Seattle Real Estate Trends: August 2016

I am still in awe of that amazing Seahawks win on Sunday. Let’s keep it up! Go Hawks!

Let’s take a look at what happened in Seattle’s August real estate market in key neighborhoods: Continue reading

Seattle Real Estate Trends: July 2016

We have had a slight increase in inventory in many neighborhoods which is much-needed.  Let’s take a look at what happened in Seattle’s July real estate market in key neighborhoods.

Inventory and Pendings

Below we compare the number of active listings (supply) and pendings (demand) for several of the key Seattle neighborhoods including Central Seattle, Queen Anne and Magnolia, Belltown and Downtown, Ballard and Greenlake, and North Seattle. Our table includes single family residences as well as condos comparing July 2015 and 2016.

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Overall, Seattle’s inventory of active listings increased 916 in June to 1,081 last month.  Pendings were down slightly (from 1,237 in June to 1,107 last month).

Median Sales Prices

Seattle’s median sales price for both residential and condos grew from $506,000 last July to $583,250 last month (represents a 15.3% gain). Looking at residential and condos separately, residential prices are up 14.0% ($560,000 to $638,585) and condo prices are up 12.1% ($410,000 to $459,475).

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List Price to Sales Price

When the list price to sales price is over 100%, this is usually an indicator of multiple offers. For all of Seattle, last July’s list price to sales price ratio was 103.4% as opposed to 104.4% this last month.

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I can’t believe we are only a few weeks away from the Seahawks pre-season! I am very excited! If you would like additional information on our market, please contact me – your Seattle Home Guy – at sold@windermere.com or give me a call: (206) 226-5300.

Link Light Rail Affects Real Estate Prices

It can be tough to get around in Seattle and on the Eastside. As we add hundreds of people per week to our expanding city, and even more to the whole area, the problem is not going to go away anytime soon. More-flexible work schedules and people working from home will certainly help, but in the coming years, as Link light rail expands, the value of properties around those light rail stops were expected to go up. But now there is a study that substantiates that!

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Seattle Real Estate Trends: May 2016

The cranes are busy, buyers are out shopping, and if we could get Felix Hernandez off the DL, we would really be cookin’! Let’s see what happened in Seattle’s real estate market in key neighborhoods this May.

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Seattle Real Estate Trends: April 2016

Let’s see what happened in Seattle’s real estate market in key neighborhoods this April!

Inventory and Pendings

Below we compare the number of active listings (supply) and pendings (demand) for several of the key Seattle neighborhoods including Central Seattle, Queen Anne and Magnolia, Belltown and Downtown, Ballard and Greenlake, and North Seattle. Our table includes single family residences as well as condos comparing April 2015 and 2016.

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The Future of Puget Sound Area Traffic

Sound Transit has put forth an ambitious plan, called the Sound Transit 3 Plan, to extend Light Rail service throughout the Puget Sound area. The plan is currently receiving public feedback from a number of neighborhood meetings being held throughout the different neighborhoods that will be affected. The finalized plan may be on the ballot in November. All residents (not just homeowners – renters too!) need to be aware of the expansion plan, the timeline, and the bottom line. I encourage you to go to one of the live meetings if you are able to do so. Continue reading

Seattle Real Estate Trends: March 2016

I am glad to see the number of homes on the market picking up as there are a lot of buyers out there who need to buy homes! I have ten listings and six of them pended in about seven days. The others haven’t been on the market yet a week but I expect them to go fast.

Let’s see what happened in Seattle’s March real estate market in key neighborhoods: Continue reading

Seattle Real Estate Trends: February 2016

Mariners baseball is starting in just a few weeks, the tulips are up, and all my listings are pending! Let’s see what happened in Seattle’s February real estate market in key neighborhoods:

Inventory and Pendings

Below we compare the number of active listings (supply) and pendings (demand) for several of the key Seattle neighborhoods including Central Seattle, Queen Anne and Magnolia, Belltown and Downtown, Ballard and Greenlake, and North Seattle. Our table includes single family residences as well as condos comparing February 2015 and 2016.

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Median Sales Prices

Median sales prices are up quite dramatically in some areas comparing February 2015 versus February 2016 numbers. See the tables below!

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With the number of sales dropping in some areas due to lack of inventory, median sales price adjustments may get more pronounced. For example, in North Seattle, the number of sales dropped from 81 last February to 65 this February. However, in Ballard/Greenlake, the sales went from 119 last year to 189. Belltown went from 23 last year to 40 this year. Queen Anne/Magnolia was about at par with 69 sales last year and 71 this year. Central Seattle went from 105 to 83.

In Ballard/Greenlake, there were several lower-priced properties that sold that might be skewing the median a bit. The Cove at Verdian counted for 8 of the 189 sales, all under $239,000. In addition the Vik condo project accounted for 64 sales, ranging from to $261,900 to $755,900.

Just like in Belltown last summer with the Ensignia project, as inventory is low and a buildings-worth of new product comes on the market, I expect median home prices to skew based on the pricing in the development.

The median home price for February in all of Seattle for both residential and condos was $511,000, which is 16.1% above last February’s $440,000. February had 695 listings available on the market and as of this writing, there are 747 active listings, which is good for our market.

If you would like to learn more about what is happening in your neighborhood, let’s talk! Please contact me – your Seattle Home Guy – at sold@windermere.com or give me a call: (206) 226-5300.

Seattle Real Estate Trends – January 2016

It already feels a little spring-like in Seattle. Trees are beginning to bloom, the days are getting longer, and the real estate market never even took a breath in the winter. Let’s see what happened in Seattle’s January real estate market in key neighborhoods:

Inventory and Pendings

Below we compare the number of active listings (supply) and pendings (demand) for several of the key Seattle neighborhoods including Central Seattle, Queen Anne and Magnolia, Belltown and Downtown, Ballard and Greenlake, and North Seattle. Our table includes single family residences as well as condos comparing January 2015 and 2016.

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Median Sales Prices

Prices are mostly up looking at January 2015 versus January 2016 numbers. See the tables below!

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The median home price for January in all of Seattle for both residential and condos was $520,000, which is 15.0% above last January’s $452,000. I was glad to see the amount of available inventory go up in January, from 548 in December to 659 this month. Last January actually had fewer listings than December, so it was good to see this shift as buyers are out in droves.

If you are thinking of a move this year, let’s talk! Please contact me – your Seattle Home Guy – at sold@windermere.com or give me a call: (206) 226-5300.

Seattle Real Estate Trends, December 2015

This 2016 is starting with the lowest number of homes for sale in Seattle in years! In December there were only 359 homes and condos for sale in all of Seattle. Let’s see what happened in Seattle’s November real estate market in key neighborhoods:

Inventory and Pendings

Below we compare the number of active listings (supply) and pendings (demand) for several of the key Seattle neighborhoods including Central Seattle, Queen Anne and Magnolia, Belltown and Downtown, Ballard and Greenlake, and North Seattle. Our table includes single family residences as well as condos comparing December 2014 and 2015.

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Median Sales Prices

Prices are up both year over year and month over month. See the tables below!

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I predict that 2016 will be another banner year in Seattle real estate, and I am hopeful that when interest rates start to go up our market will even back out in terms of supply and demand. Have a question about what to do about what to do with your real estate this year? Please contact me – your Seattle Home Guy – at sold@windermere.com or give me a call: (206) 226-5300.