Blog - Seattle Real Estate Agents - Seattle Homes for sale in WA

noreply@blogger.com (David & Karen Bell) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:16:00 +0000

Buying homes in today’s Seattle Real Estate Market

This is the best buyers market we have seen in Seattle Real Estate since we started our Real Estate business over 20 years ago. Having said that however, there are many pitfalls that buyers need to be aware of.

1. Is the home priced correctly? Even though prices have fallen over the past 18 + months you have to make sure that you are paying the correct price today. There are a lot of homes that are overpriced even in this market. Pricing in Seattle is more of an art than a science and a complete understanding of the market and prices is essential in making a good buying decision today. In the past if you paid a little too much for a home that wasn’t a huge problem as prices kept appreciating almost every month. Today, we think that we may be at the bottom of the market but prices will at best stay flat for sometime, maybe 3 to 4 years to be on the conservative side. Don’t think you can buy a home today and sell it for a profit in a year to two, it most likely won’t happen, so plan on keeping that home for a minimum of 5 to 7 years. That being said however, Seattle will be on of the first cities for the real estate market to turn around and start to appreciate again, but we are at least 2 years from that point depending on what happens with the national economy. With the increasing debt our country is experiencing right now some experts are predicting that we could see some serious inflation and raising interest rates that will make it harder to buy properties.

2. Is the home in a good location? Location is usually the most important factor in making a smart buying decision. Busy streets, questionable parts of otherwise good neighborhoods, or being too close to freeways with high traffic noise are just a few things that adversely effect home values. Poor locations only sell in white-hot markets and we don’t think we will see another white-hot real estate market in Seattle for several years. There is a lot of truth in the old saying that the three most important parts of real estate are location, location and location!

3. Does the home have good bones? The original building quality of the home has a huge impact on the future value of a home. If the home was built poorly it will not age well and the value will not hold up well. Costly repairs or updates will need to be made to keep the value up. Homes that were built well even if they are currently outdated will hold their value much better than homes that are updated but not built well. Good foundation, homes with minimal settling and quality workmanship will always be the best investments over the long run. Always get a home inspection by a experienced home inspector before you buy.

4. Can you qualify for Financing? Qualifying for a home mortgage today can be quite challenging. The days of 0 down and stated income or no doc loans are gone. If you are getting a conventional or a jumbo loan today most likely you’ll need to put 20% down and may need additional assets that the lender requires. Mortgage rates however are at 50-year lows and if you have good credit, a good job and some cash, you can get a great mortgage rate. If the home qualifies for FHA Financing you can put as little as 3.5% down, but FHA has its challenges but is a really good way to go today fro many buyers especially first time home buyers. There are many lenders however that have very little or no experience with FHA. FHA is not that difficult buy you need to work with a lender that has experience with FHA loans. (And the good news is that FHA loan limits just went back up today from $509,000 to $567,000. Conventional loan limits should be going up soon as well.) There are also lenders out there that will tell you that you qualify for a loan only to find out a few days before closing that you don’t or they have to charge you a higher interest rate in order to close. That can be devastating to a buyer if that happens, so you have to make sure you are working with the right people. You have to work with a lender that knows what they are doing in today’s market and will be completely honest with you from the beginning. A good Realtor knows who the good lenders are.

5. Are you working with a good and experienced Realtor? Finding the right Realtor today is essential. Buyers need their own representation today now more than ever. Buyers need to hire a “Buyers Agent”, a Realtor that specializes in Buyer Agency with a proven track record and good references. As we said earlier there are many many homes today that are still way over priced. Never use the Listing Agent to write up your offer if you are a buyer. The Listing Agent represents the seller and will never tell if the home is overpriced. At best they might say that they can get you a really good deal and save you some money if you work with them. We have seen homes today sell for as much as $150,000 over their actual market value and the buyers thought they were getting a great deal because they paid $50,000 under the asking price. BUYERS NEED THEIR OWN BUYERS AGENT THAT IS REPRESNTING THE BUYERS BEST INTEREST AND NO ONES ELSES. There are a lot of real estate agents (well, a lot fewer now than a year ago) but there are only a few Top Seattle Real Estate Agents. There is no substitution for knowledge and experience in our Seattle Real Estate market today. Another thing to look out for today is that there is a lot of refinancing going on right now. People are then putting the home on the market and showing the perspective buyer the appraisal they just got on the home. Buyers need to be very careful of lender appraisals as they are usually done to justify a loan amount and may not reflect the actual market value. We just had a situation where the seller of a new construction did a refinance and the appraisal came in at $900,000 and the house was maybe worth $650,000 on a really good day.

6. Should I buy a Short Sale or Foreclosed property? These properties can be very problematic to purchase. Usually you don’t save that much money on them and they can take months and months to close. Lenders can be very difficult to deal with and many times they are not realistic about the actual market value. We have a lot of experience with Short Sales and it’s our experience that in Seattle you can get just as good a deal buying a home that is not a short sale unless you buy the home at auction for cash and that doesn’t always assure you that you are getting the correct price as many of those prices are based on the original loan amount and we all know what has happened to homes that were purchased at the top of the market with zero down.

There are excellent buying opportunities right now in the Seattle Real Estate Market. We may actually never see a better time to buy than now in Seattle. A buyer needs to be well educated on the market and well represented. It’s interesting how so many people think they know the real estate business and home values but unless they have worked this market for many years and have a proven tract record for results, smart people can make some bad decisions that can cost them a lot of money. The smart people today are buying real estate and they are getting some incredible deals right now.

noreply@blogger.com (David & Karen Bell) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:14:00 +0000

We have recently updated our in-depth Buyers Report for the Seattle Real Estate Market. To receive your copy simply click on Buyers Report from our Home Page and we will email a copy to you. Below is the Current Market section of this 18 page report on the current Seattle Real Estate Market.

The Current Real Estate Market Today in Seattle (as of June 2009)

Wow has our market changed since the summer of 2007 or what?

We have had a very strong sellers market in Seattle/Bellevue from 1995 to the end of 2006 with a few short price corrections scattered in. Some reports in the Seattle Times had prices increase in Seattle an average of 21% in 1998 and another 12% in the spring of 1999. 2000 started out comparatively strong, and then the market started to soften in the spring/summer of 2000. Prices actually fell by about 5% to 6% between the winter of 2000 and the summer of 2001, but then the market had another growth period from the fall of 2001 to the end of 2002 but only for properties under $500,000. From 2003 through 2006 prices increased again by about 10% to 15% a year. Then at the beginning of 2007 when home prices started falling in most of the cities across the country Seattle remained strong until the summer of 2007, and 2008 was a very different story indeed.

2007 started off stronger than most people thought it would and while actual numbers of homes sold decreased, prices continued to rise or hold in the core neighborhoods of Seattle and Bellevue. But by September 2007 however, the Seattle Real Estate market changed drastically. Inventories more than doubled, marketing times tripled, and home prices started falling. It became very difficult for buyers to obtain financing and the national housing crisis that started in early 2006 finally hit Seattle. We started seeing a huge increase in home foreclosures however a majority of these were in the outlining areas, like Tacoma and Everett. The market in the city had changed and changed quickly, but a huge part of this was psychological and lenders not lending money. People became scared to buy homes and for good reason. We estimate that we now had about 60% to 70% fewer buyers in the market and consequently home prices started falling but by how much depended on the neighborhood. The close in neighborhoods like Magnolia, Queen Anne, Wallingford, Ballard, Green Lake, Bryant and Ravenna were falling but at a much slower rate than neighborhoods farther out. The farther out from the core you went the faster home prices were falling. We were in the first real Buyers market since the early 1990's and no one could predict where it was all heading. Real fear that turned to panic had set in across the country and finally in Seattle as well.

2008 was a very difficult year for the US economy and Seattle's economy and the housing market. By most estimates home sales were down by about 60%, inventories were up by about 3 to 4 times depending on where you were and prices kept falling every month. Some people thought that we were at or very near the bottom of the market by the end of 2008 however. We thought that might be the case, but there were still too many economic problems and too much uncertainty to be 100% sure we were at the bottom. But what we did know by the end of 2008 was that we were starting to see some excellent values out there. You actually never know if you are at the bottom of any market until you are well past it however, and as of the end of May 2009 there are some very good signs that Seattle was at or very close to the bottom. Having said that however, our market is not going to see any rapid increase in home prices for at least a few years. At best we believe that home prices will firm up and stay pretty flat for a couple of years or until the economic health of the country and region improves. What we are sure of is that there are wonderful buying opportunities right now in the Seattle real estate market in all price ranges. In the last few months we have been helping clients buy homes that a year ago would have sold for $1,100,000 for $850,000, another home that would have sold for $695,000 we got for $550,000 and two new town homes that would have sold for $449,000 six months ago we just got offers accepted at $360,000 with all the buyer’s closing costs paid by the lender and the builder. If you have a job, good credit, and some cash in the bank this could be one of the best times to buy that we have ever seen. Mortgage rates are at historic lows, but now lenders are making sure that the buyer actually qualifies for the loan. Lenders are back to the old qualification ratios they had in the 1970’s and 1980’s. The zero down loans or 80/20 loans are not available anymore, but depending on the loan amount and the buyer’s credit scores, rates can be found for under 5% on a 30 year fixed rate loan right now. FHA has also made a resurgence, and the typical cumbersome FHA policies have been greatly streamlined and we have closed FHA deals in 30 -45 days now. With a qualifying FHA loan you can put down as little as 3 ½ percent of the purchase price. And with the new $8000.00 tax credit for first time homebuyers, the State of Washington is working on a bill to allow that $8000.00 to be used as part of your down payment.

During a “normal” market, the Seattle real estate market usually has “strong” periods and “slow” periods. Having a good understanding of the market cycles is somewhat important for buyers today as well. Spring and then again the Fall has historically been the strongest real estate months in Seattle and late Summer and Winter are usually the slowest periods. Even today in our current market these cycles are still somewhat present. This Spring sales activity has picked up but we may very well see late July and August slow down with the Fall picking up again. There are still just too many other factors that may come into play that may affect the market either way. We talk with several escrow companies on a regular basis to get a read on their business volume, which gives us a much broader view of the overall Seattle/Bellevue market. Their business is starting to pick back up across the board right now. We hold open houses on a regular basis to get a feel for buyer activity and buyer attitude. Last September and October (2008) there was very little traffic at an open house and even the few potential buyers were too fearful of the market to actually buy then. They were renting or renewing their lease for another year. Now we are seeing a significant increase in traffic at open houses and we are seeing many more buyers out there than just 5 months ago with a more positive attitude. The fear is now giving way to some optimism finally, which usually marks the beginning of a turnaround, but this will be a slow one with some bumps along the way. We now believe that we are at or very near the bottom of the housing market in Seattle, mainly the close in neighborhoods. Yet, there are still many over priced homes on the market. Most of the homes that have sold recently are the ones that are priced really well, usually under all their competition. If a home is really over priced and some unsuspecting buyers with their inexperienced agent doesn’t buy it in the first week or two, then that home may sit on the market for several months with several price reductions and will usually sell for less than it would have if it were priced correctly to begin with. If it’s a good home then this is the time to look at buying it and we usually get most of these homes for our clients at a price well below even the current market. This is what happened to that $1,100,000 we sold, it was way over priced for the market and most likely if they had priced it at $950,000 it would have sold close to that (remember we got it for $850,000). An over priced listing can be a buyer’s best friend if you are patient and know how to do it!

Seattle is still one of the fastest growing cities in the country with one of the strongest and diverse economies anywhere. In the Spring of 1999, Forbes Magazine rated Seattle as the country’s most desirable place to live. Seattle continues to rank in the top 10 best cities to live in every year since. It has been predicted that the population of the Seattle area will grow by another 1 million by the year 2020. Will escalating property values ever stop? Not over the long run, but we just won’t see those double digit appreciation year after year. We have a very strong and diverse business base. Seattle is much more than Boeing and Microsoft today. Our downtown area is still growing and very vibrant. And because of the traffic and commuting problems we have, we believe that the close-in Seattle neighborhoods will continue to be the most desirable, and these neighborhoods should continue to see the greatest appreciation over time. In late 2008 Forbes predicted that Seattle/Bellevue would lead the country for the fastest turn around in the housing market.

So why do we think we are entering a great time to buy in Seattle/Bellevue?

Any investment consideration, whether it’s real estate, gold, or fine art follows a pretty predictable cycle. Usually this cycle starts with “Optimism”, the time in which many people are excited about buying, in our case a home. We have seen many periods of Optimism over the past 20 years. During this Optimistic Stage the market is strong, people purchase quickly, homes increase in value and soon that Optimism turns to Excitement which speeds everything up even more and then that turns to the Euphoria Stage. We started in our last “Optimism cycle” in 2000 and by 2004 we were in the Euphoria stage and that lasted until late 2006. Then in early 2007 as the housing market started to correct the Euphoria Stage was followed by the Denial Stage, which started in Seattle in early 2007. As prices start to fall buyers and sellers go into the Denial Stage and tell themselves this is only short lived and home values will keep going back up soon. For several months in early 2007 the number of homes being sold dropped by as much as 35% to 49% from the previous year but prices increased by about 5% to 7% depending on the neighborhood. After Denial comes the Fear Stage, which started here in Seattle in the early spring of 2008 and by the summer of 2008 most buyers were in the pure Panic Stage. They went out and rented a place, after all there were so many places to rent because no one could sell their homes. After the Panic Stage comes the Despondency Stage and then the last Stage is the Depression Stage. Then the whole cycle starts over again with Optimism. We think Seattle was in the Despondency Stage by the Summer of 2008 and then hit the Depression Stage by the Winter of 2008, when very few homes sold (the people that were buying in late 2008 and early 2009 were investors) until just recently. What we are seeing in the market today is that we are starting to come out of the Depression Stage in Seattle and depending on the national economy we should be moving up towards the Optimism range sometime soon. And then the whole cycle starts all over again but this time we don’t foresee the Euphoria stage coming back for a long time, but we do believe that we will see prices start to raise slowly again by spring of 2010.

Current Sales Numbers for Seattle's Neighborhoods

noreply@blogger.com (David & Karen Bell) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:58:00 +0000

As Barron's just stated in a July 14, 2008 article, could we be at the bottom or close to the bottom in our housing downturn?

In this new world of Blogging and the Internet we come across many different things everyday. We see and hear all the troubling news about how bad the Seattle Real Estate Market is and how bad the National economy is, and today we even read someone saying that he thought we are in a full fledged depression. As Dave Neihaus would say "My Oh My" where are these people coming from. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and there have always been the doom sayers out there but lets look at some facts here about the Seattle Real Estate Market.

We recently received a sales analysis from one of the Title Companies we work with here in Seattle and the following numbers are very interesting. These are resale numbers for homes in different locations and neighborhoods around and in Seattle. These are sales figures from May of 2007 through May of 2008

Area......................# of Sales YTD......................................Average Price YTD
...............................2008.........2007.....%Change......2008..............2007........%Change

Ballard.......................231..........316.......-27%.........$518,242.......$525,907......-1%
Bellevue....................376..........617.......-39%.........$900,769.......$931,086......-3%
Federal Way.............227..........361.......-37%.........$320,164........$333,990.....-4%
Green Lake..............450..........647.......-30%.........$630,758........$601,366......+5%
Issaquah...................181...........226.......-20%........$587,158.......$632,334......-7%
Kent...........................400..........647.......-38%.........$330,833.......$363,762......-9%
Magnolia....................180..........264.......-32%.........$821,126.......$804,701......+2%
Mt Baker....................249..........409.......-39%.........$839,440.......$751,435....+12%
Snoqualmie................116..........164.......-29%.........$477,729.......$504,367.....-5%
Renton.......................445..........695.......-36%.........$405,149........$447,133......-9%
Vashon Island.............45...........54.........-17%........$464,354........$491,971.....-6%

Interesting numbers aren't they? While you have to be careful about any statistics you put together or read as they can be slanted or spun in various ways, we believe while it may still be a bit early to tell, but we could be close to the bottom. Even so, we look at our market in Seattle as having huge potentials for buyers right now. There has never been so much inventory and prices are soft. But as you can se from the number above, while all the areas are experiencing a slow down in number of sales, prices have dropped in some areas, stayed pretty much the same in others, and have risen in others.

The Seattle Real Estate Market holds some really good opportunities at this time for the smart buyer. Over the last couple of years for example, there have been a very large number of Town Homes built in close-in neighborhoods. Some of these Town Homes are in good locations and some are not, but what they all have in common is that you now have a very motivated seller and good inventories to choose from. The same is true for many condo buildings so there are some very good deals to be had, but you have to understand pricing in this market and know how to get the best property at the best price. There are great opportunities but you have know what you are doing. And because of the traffic and now the cost of fuel, the close in neighborhoods will experience even more demand over the next several years.

And now because of gas prices and little to no possibility that they will be going down any time soon, will that "drive until you can afford what you want in a house" mentality be gone soon? There will be increasing pressure for those homes in close-in neighborhoods. And as you see by the above numbers those areas prices haven't been effected very much during this slow down as it is. But there are really good homes in these neighborhood that will sell for much less than they should over the next several months. This is a great time to buy in Seattle, we are convinced of that, but you have to buy smart, you have to know the market and the city. Today there are 88 Active Listing on Magnolia and Queen Anne between $600,000 and $800,000. Last year at this time there were maybe 40. What we have always found is that about 2 out of every 20 Listings are really good homes to buy. Today we know of that 88 homes Listed that there are 12 excellent homes to buy at about a 10% saving over last years prices. Now, we don't recommend that you buy home today if you plan on selling it again in two years, but if you are going to be in a home at least 5 years, this may be the best time to buy that we have has in almost 20 years.

Three keys to Happiness

noreply@blogger.com (David & Karen Bell) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 20:50:00 +0000

Yesterday I was listening to a local radio station in Seattle in my car. The host had a guest on that was talking about what makes a person and country happy. This was in response to a recent report listing the Happiest Countries in the World. A recent study from Britain's University of Leicester came up with a range of statistical data they devise to rank the world's happiest nations.

Denmark ranked number one, then Switzerland, Austria, Iceland, Bahamas, Finland, Sweden, Bhutan, Brunei, and Canada, round out the top 10. Zimbabwe and Burundi were at the bottom. China came in No. 82, India ranked 125, and Russia was 167. The U.S. came in at 23. According to the study, the countries that are happiest are those that are healthy, wealthy, and wise, with the most important factors being health, the level of poverty, and access to basic education. Population size of the country also played a role. Smaller countries with "greater social cohesion and a stronger sense of national identity" scored higher, while those with the largest populations scored far worse.

Now this guess, I didn't get his name or where he was from other that I think he graduated from Yale University has his opinion on what makes people happy. His list were: #1 Purpose in Life, #2 Success Level, and #3 Control of their Life. He went on to say that people that are doing things that they consider to be significant, things that help other people tend to be the happiest. The the success level of ones career or endeavor will make a person happy and lastly the amount of control a person has over their life is very important to ones happiness.

Now some you may be asking how we are going to turn this into something to do with real estate...well read on!

This guy belongs to some research group that I don't know the name of but they have done a lot of research regarding peoples happiness. What they found in questioning thousands of people is that the time these people are the least happy is during their morning and evening commutes to and from work. He said this was the case because during this time you are "not in control, the traffic is." He even said something like "so people that have moved out into the suburbs to live a quite peaceful life are finding that they are not as happy as those that live closer to work and the commute time a a lot less." See we got there. :-)

We have always believed that homes that are located in the "close-in" Seattle neighborhoods will have greater value now and will continue to have greater value over the long run from those homes located father out from the center of the city. Now with gas prices, a growing population, and more traffic issues with little to no good and economical solutions for them, "in-city" homes should continue to be the best investments. And, there are some of the best opportunities we have seen since 1999 to buy homes in the city right now. Inventories are high, you don't have the pressure to make a quick decision, there are NOT bidding wars anymore, and prices are down by as much as 10% to 15% from where they were in at the peak in May of 2007.

Nationally Home Prices Fall But Seattle is Better Off Than Most

noreply@blogger.com (David & Karen Bell) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:34:00 +0000

Throughout the US home prices are falling at the sharpest rate ever. The Office of Federal Housing and Standard & Poor's reported this week that Aprils 2008 home prices had a record decline over Aprils 2007 prices.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of the top 20 cities fell by 15.3% in April 2008 as compared to April of 2007. According to this report, Seattle was only down 4.9% from last year although for March 2008 Seattle was slightly up from March of 2007. We question this 4.9% figure as we think the decline in Seattle prices is closer to the 8% to 10% range, but that depends on the price range of the home as well. The hardest hit price range in Seattle at this time is in the over $750,000 to about $1.5 million range. We have seen a slight increase in sales activity for May and June however, but it goes in spurts. Two weeks will go by and nothing will happen with a listing, no showings, nothing. Then there is a spurt in activity and we'll get 3 or 4 showings in just a few days. Some agents report that they have no sales for a month and then 3 in one week. There are buyers out there, and this is actually the best time to buy a home in Seattle since 1990, but people are scared to buy because they read about all the bad stuff happening everywhere else. And, because they think the market may be still falling and they are trying to anticipate the bottom of the market before they step in. The problem is you never know you are at the bottom until your past it, and it's already gone up.

Some economists say that we are a year away from the bottom, and that may be the case, but where? Each market in the country has different factors affecting it. For most of 2007 prices in most of the US were falling and in Seattle they were still going up. Seattle has a strong economy and there are a lot of new people moving here for new jobs. It's anticipated that another 1 million people will be living in Seattle by 2020.

Seattle hasn't been effected anywhere as much as other areas, like Arizona, Southern California, Nevada, or Florida by all the foreclosures either. Seattle ranks about 27th nationally for the number of foreclosures and most of those are in Pierce County. In fact, we believe that the main reason for much of this huge "price drop" nationally is a direct result of so many foreclosures and Short-Sales. Some estimates are that 1 in 4 homes that sell in Las Vegas, Phoenix and Southern California is a Short Sale. Short Sales and Foreclosure sales can be as low as 60% or 70% of the market value, but most are about 75% to 85% of market value. Hum...85% of market value, isn't that about a 15% decrease in the home values? And the reported home price decease nationally was 15.3%! These distressed homes are selling at those prices and some people will be making "a lot" of money in some markets down the road when the market turns around, and it will. Some areas will rebound slowly and some rather quickly and we believe Seattle will be one of the faster turn-around areas in the country.

Here's the deal...I had a boss many years ago that said one day that "Success breeds success". I found that to be true, very true. So is the reverse true as well? I think so. We see all this bad news, almost every day now, for the past year or so, about how bad the real estate market is and about how bad the economy is. We hear that the world may come to an end because of global warming, we hear about how messed up the world is, and then we start to believe it whether it's affecting our city, our country, the world, or our real estate market. And believing all this stuff will eventually affect us. With the higher fuel and food prices, a knee jerk reaction in the credit markets for problems they often times created, consumer sentiment is pretty low, which perpetuates the problem even more. Living in Seattle we are living in one the best places in the US. And the US is the greatest country in the world. We are the most generous and innovative people in the world. You know we have our problems but overall we are pretty well off and I know we'll fix the problems we have, but the great thing is that we will always have new problems to overcome. Lets all have better attitudes and a more positive outlook, it works!!

More Home Foreclosures in Seattle's Future? What to do?

noreply@blogger.com (David & Karen Bell) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 22:02:00 +0000

It was reported last week that home foreclosures have exceeded the 1 million mark nation wide. Most of those however are located in other states. Washington State accounts for less than 1% of all foreclosures nationally. Most of these foreclosures nation wide have been blamed on adjustable rate mortgages, when the buyer was offered a "teaser" rate then saw their house payment increase significantly over the next couple of years while their income only went up slightly. We believe that some of the foreclosures in the Seattle area have and will be the result of buyers paying too much for the home when they bought it over the last couple of years as well.

Seattle saw years of biding wars. 1995 to 1997, then again in 2001 and 2002, and most recently from 2005 through most of 2007. In the fall of 2007, we started to see our real estate market change and prices have fallen and inventories have increased since then. Depending on the area of Seattle, prices have adjusted down between 5% to 12% in the $400,000 to $1,000,000 ranges mostly. But because many people paid $500,000 for a $450,000 home in 2006, that home is worth about $450,000 today, most likely.

Seattle has been one of the last areas in the US to see a downturn in our real estate market. There is still good activity out there however, and there are buyers ready to buy but sellers have to go about selling their homes much differently now than from years past. Pricing and condition is the key and overpriced properties just will not sell. The seller has to then reduce the price until it's below what it should have been and then it will most likely sell for even less than that because buyers expect a good deal and there so so much inventory now they have many many options and are willing to be patient.

Washington State has seen almost an 18% increase in foreclosure filings compared to the same time in 2007 however, according to RealtyTrac. Now there are buyers really looking for great Foreclosure sale prices, somewhere between 70 to 80 cents on the dollar. That translate into about a 20% or 30% reduction in price, but we believe that is still the exception and not the rule for most buyers. There are far fewer buyers out there, but they are usually willing to make an offer on a home that is priced fairly in our current market conditions. Then, there are those neighborhoods that have held their value pretty darn well even in this downturn. These are usually the very close-in neighborhoods like Queen Anne, Magnolia, Capitol Hill, Madison Park, Bryant and Ravenna. Gas prices, traffic congestion and a strong Seattle economy is keeping home prices in these area stronger than in most other neighborhoods.

The Tacoma area, Pierce County, is #1 in the state for foreclosure filings, according to the report, with one in every 574 households going into foreclosure. Interestingly, though, that number was a 6% decrease from the same time period in 2007. The Seattle area, King County is #2, Clark County is #3, and Snohomish County is #4 in the state, as of April 2008.

Then a new law in Washington State was passed an took effect on June 12, 2008 to protect homeowners that were in the foreclosure process or potentially within 4 months of the process.

For more detailed information on this law click: >Washington State Adopts a New Statue that May Harm Distressed Homeowners

While this new law has many good parts, many fear that good real estate agents will stay away from helping those that need them the most, the distressed Home Seller. This new law also has a potential impact on the person wanting to buy a home that is in foreclosure. Now as the law requires, if the transaction is set to close 20 day before the foreclosure date then the buyer has fiduciary duties to the seller that are above those to himself. This could cause many buyers to not buy these homes because of unnecessary but very real liabilities.

There will be real estate agents that will see a great opportunity to help distressed home sellers and be willing to take on the extra liabilities and knowledge required. Some of these will do a great job and some won't, so it's real estate business as usual but with more at stake for everyone, the real estate agent, the home sellers, and the buyers.

Stay tuned for more information about foreclosure and short sales in the days and weeks to come and some of the Do's and Don'ts in this new and complicated area of Seattle real estate.

Seattle Magazine’s Recognizes David & Karen Bell as “Best In Client Satisfaction” Selected By the Consumers

noreply@blogger.com (David & Karen Bell) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:28:00 +0000

David & Karen Bell

2004, 2005, 2006, & 2007 Winners

Your Clients Identified You As The Best!”

“David & Karen Bell are among less than 1% of agents in the Greater Seattle Area to just be chosen as a FIVE STAR Real Estate Agent “Best in Client Satisfaction” for 4 Consecutive Years!

Over 33,000 Consumers Surveyed for 2004, 2005, 2006, & 2007

31,000 Homebuyers for each year

1,500 Readers of Seattle Magazine each year

1,000 Mortgage and Title Company Offices each year

Each Agent Was Rated for:

Customer Service

Integrity

Market Knowledge

Communication

Negotiation

Closing Preparation

Finding the Right Home

Marketing of Home

Overall Satisfaction

We are obviously very proud of this Achievement Award and we believe that the level of service and degree of knowledge we provide to our clients is the Best in the Business. We would look forward to discussing your real estate goals with you, just call us direct at 206.283.9100 or email us at dkbell@dkbell.com.

Seattle/Bellevue Luxury Home Sales Have Increase Every Year Since 2001

noreply@blogger.com (David & Karen Bell) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 00:37:00 +0000

A Luxury Home in King County (valued at 1 million and up)

*Source: NWMLS

Year........................Number of Sales*..............Average Sales Price*

2001.................................291..................................$1,557,002

2002................................453..................................$1,508,945

2003...............................598....................................$1,511,012

2004...............................933...................................$1,642,545

2005............................1,601....................................$1,619,431

2006...........................2,093...................................$1,585,985

2007...........................2,290....................................$1,616,722

Top 10 Luxury Real Estate Markets in the US

According to the U.S. Census, the number of homes in the U.S. valued at 1 million or more have increased 470% between 2000 to 2005.

State...........................# of Luxury Homes.....................% of Total Homes

California............................619,170......................................8.76%

New York............................165,641......................................4.21%

Florida................................102,010.....................................2.08%

New Jersey...........................61,523......................................2.91%

Massachusetts.....................54,156.......................................3.45%

Illinois..................................43,523.......................................1.33%

Connecticut.........................40,578.......................................4.41%

Virginia................................38,725.......................................1.92%

Maryland.............................35,835.......................................2.49%

Washington........................28,704.......................................1.81%

Between 2000 and 2007 housing prices in the greater Seattle area increased by close to 100% in some areas, while some waterfront and high-end trophy homes increased by even more, 200% to 300% in some cases. In some areas in the U.S. like the wealthiest parts of Manhattan, along with parts of Boston, San Francisco, and parts of Florida for example, some properties have increased by as much as about 500% over that 7-year period. And still, in 2008, the condo and co-op prices in Manhattan have continue to appreciate by about 5%.

In the Seattle/Eastside markets the high end market has been affected much less than the rest of the market. Prices have not really fallen and the number of sales actually went up a little over 9% from 2006 or an additional 197 homes were sold in the over 1 million price range in 2007.

The Seattle area has the same characteristics as other strong high end markets. We have a scarcity of land close to the city. We have a robust population growth, a strong and diverse economy, and good income growth by the highest earners.

Almost 80% of the high end homes in Washington that have sold over the past few years have been in King County, with about 60% of those sales being on the Eastside, Bellevue, Kirkland, and Mercer Island. We think there could be a shift in demand over the next couple of years however, to more close-in Seattle city properties. Raising fuel prices and of course traffic congestion will continue to temp homebuyers to live closer in to the city placing higher demand for those properties as well. While many areas of this country are really hard hit with Foreclosures and falling prices, Seattle is one of the few that is holding it’s own. This is one of the best times we have had in Seattle for Byers in many years and there are some great deals to be had on many high-end homes right now.

Stop Reading the Newspapers…go buy Seattle Real Estate!

noreply@blogger.com (David & Karen Bell) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:36:00 +0000

Will Rogers once said “you only need to buy one newspaper in your life and just keep reading it over and over again because things don't really change.” People in Seattle...take his advice.

The economy in Seattle has been and continues to be strong. It's projected that Seattle will grow by about 1,000,000 people by 2020 and by a mere 100,000 by 2010. Housing inventories while they have increased since October of 2007 are still by all accounts pretty low. Mortgage rates are still at historic lows.

Marketing times have increase from about 20 days to over 60 days. And, home prices have fallen by about 6 to 10% depending on the price range. Where have all the Buyers Gone? I called Peter Paul and Mary and what they told me is that they sitting at home reading the newspapers and all the websites about how bad the housing markets are in California, Nevada, Florida, Arizona, and Ohio? However, buyers MUST BE KNOWLEDGEABLE about the local market and make sure they are not overpaying for the home. There are a lot of homes that are over priced today.

Buyers in Seattle...Get off the couch, turn off your computers...and go out and look at houses. The summer of 2008 may be perhaps the best buyers market we have had in Seattle since 1990. OK, OK loans are harder to get, now you actually have to be qualified to buy a home in a certain price range, and the rumors are that there are still many many qualified people in Seattle bringing home a very good paychecks. So what's the deal? Waiting for the market to bottom out? You know, you never know when something is going to hit the bottom (unless you drop a brick from the roof or something) and when something (financial) is going to hit the top until you are past it. We believe that we are at or very close to the bottom for home prices for the in-city neighborhoods at his time. We are seeing more activity everyday now. The Title and Escrow companies are actually getting busy again. This is traditionally the busiest time of the year in Seattle for real estate and there are some great values out there. If you have been thinking that you need a bigger home (the move up buyer) this market can be a gold mine. Buyers can actually write contingent offers" today and sellers are accepting them. If you tried doing that over the past 10 years you would be laughed at...not now. Homes that were selling for $900,000 in the spring of 2007 can most likely be purchased for about $810,000 today. So for the move up buyers you may get about $40,000 less for your $650,000 home but save about $90,000 on your $900,000 home...hummm... a net gain of about $50,000. (A $50,000 saving on an $810,000 investment...that's about a 6% return).

Then when all the hysteria ends about the housing market in Seattle (and it will soon) prices will be heading north again at a pretty strong pace. If past history is any indication we could be seeing double digit appreciation again by 2010 or 2011. We need to clarify something here...we are talking about "in-city neighborhoods", not suburban areas. In-city neighborhoods like Magnolia, Queen Anne, Capitol Hill, Montlake, Madison Park; Washington Park, Denny Blaine, Mt Baker, Seward Park, Ballard, Sunset Hill, Wallingford, Greenlake, Ravenna, Bryant, Viewridge etc. etc....in-city areas that are less than 20 minute commute to downtown not using the freeways. These areas are fully developed...no more land to build on. While all these areas have their own personality and architectural identities many of these neighborhoods have huge upside potential for substantial remodels some with impressive views. These properties tend to appreciate at an even higher rate and appeal to people that are less affected by cycles in the economy. Even if a home in a great location isn't improved it will still have more value than it's counterpart on the same street if it doesn't have that potential view because of its up side potential. Little ramblers on Magnolia and Queen Anne where a second floor would open up a city or sound view have much higher values and much higher demand...in other words a great investment on a property that is getting harder and harder to fine. Now we have this little matter of your monthly gasoline bill. High gas prices will eventually translate into people wanting to live closer in to where they work which will put even more pressure on close-in Seattle neighborhood homes. Seattle, a great place to live, a strong and diverse economy, and huge upside housing potential. Go buy something!

Can Real Estate Agents Really Effect Homes Prices in Seattle?

noreply@blogger.com (David & Karen Bell) — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 22:20:00 +0000

The Seattle Real Estate market has been pretty much unaffected by the housing slow down nationally until…maybe now! Since 1995 we have seen almost double digit appreciation every year for most of the greater Seattle area. Last year when we all saw a substantial downturn in housing prices across the country, Seattle Real Estate continued to go up. The interesting thing however is that while prices continued to go up, home sales actually have started to decrease.
Being a Buyer in the Seattle market over the past several years has meant that you had to be ready to act quickly to make an offer on a home or be prepared to get in a bidding war with several other Buyers. Here’s what happens: A new Listing comes on the market for $600,000. The Listing agent is holding offers for a week. Maybe you can justify a price of $649,000 so the Listing Agent maybe under priced it. But they got 7 offers, all waiving the Inspection and most waiving Financing as well. Three of those offers are over $750,000 because these 3 Buyers had already lost out of 3 other homes they bid on. Inventory in Seattle is tight and for every 15 new Listings there are usually only 2 or 3 good houses. Now we were putting a home on the market the day after this other Listing reviewed its 7 offers. The home we were putting on was worth $595,000 tops…but there are at least 6 frustrated Buyers for the neighborhood so we priced the home at $650,000 but didn’t hold offers. We sold it the first day for full price to one of the Buyers that bid on the other house. OK, so we are smart and we are representing the Seller and we are obligated to get the highest price possible for our client. We are doing our job and doing it well and…Caveat Emptor.
Does this situation create an interesting philosophical situation for us, our industry, and Real Estate Agents as a whole? Does it actually help to over inflate the market setting it up for a big fall in the near future? You know, I don’t know, and looking back over the last 12 years I think that it’s ridiculous what you can buy now for half a million dollars, but prices are still going up or are at least stable in our current market. Home prices in Seattle are also about 70% of what they are in the Bay Area and we have seen that ratio remain consistent for years now. Do we as professionals have a greater responsibility than to just get our clients the highest price? I think not, but it does keep me thinking, which I guess is good. We have heard that there are Real Estate Companies that tell their agents not to give advice about price, the condition of the house, but to be facilitators only, that way they don't assume any liabilities. We believe that we should have that liability and we tell our Buyers emphatically not to pay over an amount we think they could sell the house for if they had to sell it in a “normal” not a “hot” market. We also look at the building quality of the home and the location and advise them if they should even buy it at any price. What we can say is that Buyers need to be well educated and aware of what is happening in the market and to keep at least one foot planted firmly in reality.
It’s going to be interesting to see what impact the current lending problems will have on our market here in Seattle. Already in the past month Listing that have been holding offers to a specific date, many now are not getting any offers. Seattle however has a very strong economy and it’s predicted that 100,000 new employees will be moving here by the end of the decade. Traffic is a huge problem however in Seattle and living close-in is highly desirable and they are not making any more land close in to the city. The next two months should be petty telling as to where our market is heading.

Magnolia View Home Sells

noreply@blogger.com (David & Karen Bell) — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 22:19:00 +0000

While the Seattle Real Estate market is slowing down from the feeding frenzy this of this past spring, good homes are still selling. Our Listing on 38th Ave West on Magnolia had an offer accepted this week and very close to asking price after being on the market for just 37 days. When we put this home on the market on May 20, there were only 4 other properties that would be considered competing properties. However, in the past month, there have been about 20 additional properties listed for sale in the $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 price range with only 4 properties including ours selling. Right now the average days on market for this price range on Magnolia is 84 days. In March it would have been 30 days. Inventories have increased dramatically over the past month and sales have not kept up with the new inventory, a sure sign of a slowing real estate market. But the really good houses that are priced correctly are selling even in the over 1 million price ranges. We are also starting to see an increase in inventories in all price ranges in the city neighborhoods with the occasional multiple offer happening. It looks like the Seattle Real Estate Market is getting a bit more Buyer friendly but don't expect any major price drops.

Housing Outlook for 2007, The US and Seattle

noreply@blogger.com (David & Karen Bell) — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 17:40:00 +0000

The National Market

The 2006 housing market in the US had it's peaks and valleys. Here in Seattle the market slowed down somewhat but overall remained strong. According to leading industry analysts the housing market nationally in 2007 should be more consistent and positive. Alan Greenspan who retired as chairman of the Federal Reserve last year concurred that housing sales should pick up steam in 2007.

"Most of the negatives in housing are probably behind us," Greenspan said. "The fourth quarter should be reasonably good, certainly better than the third period." Others, including Steve Murry, publisher of Real Trends, a real estate research and information company, are saying that the desire for a home as a residence, or a recreation or retirement investment will remain strong for the next ten years. "We believe that housing consumers will purchase more homes in the next 10 years than they did in the last 10 years," Murry said.

David Lereah, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said 2006 was a different market because past declines were associated with the traditional factors of employment losses and rapidly increasing interest rates. However the 2006 slump occurred while jobs were being created, sound economic fundamentals were in place, and mortgage interest rates were at near historic lows.

"The 2006 declines came from affordability problems because prices were too high, forcing consumers to borrow too much," Lereah said. " We also experienced investors leaving the market, the perception that real estate was no longer a favorable investment, and the scare provided by some members of the media that the national bubble was bursting."

"Overall home-price gains will be modest, Lereah said of 2007's national outlook. "Home sellers are becoming realistic about current market conditions and are now offering more competitive pricing, in addition to some incentives or concessions."

"We now have the most favorable market for home buyers in several years, and most sellers who've been in their homes for a normal period of home ownership are still seeing very healthy returns on their investment, Lereah goes on to say. "Conditions for buyers have improved because sellers are flexible now and mortgage interest rates are near historic lows. The market promises to be more balanced between buyers and sellers by early spring, supporting future price growth."

The Seattle Market in 2007

Seattle was just 1 of about 5 market areas in the country that didn't experience a real turndown in homes sales and prices in 2006. This positive trend appears to be continuing now in early 2007. Lack of inventories has remained the same now for the past 3 years and home prices are continuing to increase but at varying rates depending on prices range and locations.

While the total number of homes and condos sold decreased from 2005 to 2006; prices were up. In 2005, there were 31,939 homes sold and in 2006 there were 27,834 homes sold for a decline of 12.9%. Condos went from 9,984 in 2005 to 9,694 in 2006 for a decrease of 2.9%.

The under $500,000 prices range continues to be the biggest market in the Seattle area where we are seeing the fastest appreciation, but that depends on location. The closer you are to the "major job hubs" of Seattle and Bellevue the higher the appreciation will be. Closer-in neighborhoods may see another 10% increase in prices by the end of the year and neighborhoods farther out will be less, about 3% to 7% depending on location.

In 2006 there were 4,181 homes sold between $300,000 and $500,000 as compared to 3,103 homes that sold between $500,000 and $6,000,000. The average price for a home in Seattle in 2006 was $536,701 with the median price being $449,950. The lowest price was $140,000 and the highest price was $6,000,000. Homes between $600,000 and $800,000 are seeing the next fastest appreciation and so on. The average price of a Seattle home in 2000 was slightly over $300,000, in 2003 it was about $350,000 and then on 2004 it went up to $400,000, in 2005 it was $450,000 and now it's $536,000.

The local economy continues to be robust and we are experiencing a shortage of local people to fill those jobs. It has been estimated that Seattle will see an additional 100,000 workers being moved to Seattle by the end of the decade. That along with historically low inventories will continue to push prices upwards but at a more modest rate than in the past 3 years.

2007 has started out with very low inventories and a reasonable demand. Properties are selling if they are priced correctly in less than 30 days in most prices ranges under 1.5 million. Investors and builders have been backing off paying premium prices however for projects now for about 6 months as we have seen a surge in new townhomes on the market. There is some concern that the condo market will be effected in the short term by how many new buildings are being built at this time and slated to open by the end of the year. Seattle is a great real estate market and the long term outlook is very positive indeed.

The Current Seattle Real Estate Market

noreply@blogger.com (David & Karen Bell) — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 18:12:00 +0000

Everyone is talking about what is or isn't happening in the Seattle Real Estate Market these days. Is the market slowing down, is the market still "hot" or is it somewhere in-between? The real estate market nationally has slowed down and the figures for August showed the first monthly decrease in several years. This is nationally however, and doesn't actually apply to the Seattle market. In a recent real estate industry article Seattle is listed as one of the 10 Best Cities for Real Estate in 2006. The article sites a good economy and low inventories that will keep the Seattle Market strong throughout the year. The nine other cities listed in this article are: Atlanta, Austin, Boise, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Antonio and Milwaukee.

In a recent Seattle Times article a Princeton economist writing for the New York Times, said: "The long-feared housing bust has arrived." "Nationally speaking, anyway." But again if you look at the housing history of Seattle over the past 20 years we have seen homes prices go up then leveling off, then going up again and then leveling off through recessions, interest-rate hikes, wars, and employment downturns. Seattle has been fairly immune to a downturn in home prices. This article goes on to talk about a "market-risk index" compiled by PMI Mortgage Insurance that calculates that San Diego faces nearly a 60% chance that homes prices will fall in the next two years, the highest of any city in the country. "Boston, Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Jose all have a 50% or greater chance of price dips" PMI says. Then there is Seattle with about a 11% chance of home prices falling.

As we have said in our other blogs, Seattle's job growth is among the strongest in the country and our unemployment rate is below our long-term average. But our housing prices are high here in Seattle but are still more affordable than prices in other west coast cities. The median price of a home in San Diego is $613,000 according the National Association of Realtors. That is more than $200,000 above King County's median price. However when prices get seriously out of range, prices will stall or fall until wages catch up. We are approaching or have reached that level in the Seattle area now according a recent story on a local TV news broadcast. They said that "home prices have now outpaced wages in the greater Seattle area." So are Seattle homes prices on the verge of falling now?

Here's our answer...some will fall, some will level off, and some will keep going up. We are in a very interesting time for Seattle real estate we believe. We are just coming out of a period now that for the past 24 months where we have had very low inventory of homes in Seattle. Inventories started increasing in July and August of this year and now at the end of September we are seeing more homes on the market in all price ranges than we have seen in a long time. Price reductions have also increased substantially and so have the average days on market. But there are still homes selling with "Multiple Offers" and some bidding wars still happening on some homes. Here is what we are seeing at this time: good homes in good locations that are priced correctly are selling quickly. Good homes in lesser locations are not selling quickly and may require a price reduction. Then just OK homes in just OK locations aren't selling quickly at all and may require several price reductions to finally sell.

When we look at the price of a home or what we think it will sell for we usually come up with a price range. For example; this house should sell for between $500,000 and $525,000 in our opinion. If it a normal average house in good condition in a good location, six months ago we would have priced it at $524,950. Today, six months later we would most likely price the house at $500,000. So it's not so much a price reduction as it is "we just can't push the price today." Now, lets say the house is a very special house in a great location and we think it will sell between $800,000 and $835,000 we would most likely price it at $835,000 and it might well above asking price with several offers.

For the most part we think we have reached the top of the market except for very special properties or great locations with huge view potential or waterfront property. We should still see an increase in the under $450,000 price range as that is about the bottom price now for a home in Seattle. We should see marketing times go up and inventories continue to build. But we agree with most people that we shouldn't see any significant downturn in home prices either.

Home Prices Up 11% from 2005

noreply@blogger.com (David & Karen Bell) — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 16:15:00 +0000

2005 and the first 6 months of 2006 has seen the Seattle Real Estate market continue to be very strong. As the Real Estate Market nationally has seen substantial corrections, Seattle has seen an over 11% increase in average selling price from the fist half of 2005 to the same period in 2006 in most close-in Seattle neighborhoods.

We thoroughly analyze the sales figures every month for the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle and those numbers are pretty typical for most of the other in-city neighborhood that we work. It would be far too time consuming to analyze all the neighborhoods because of the depth we get into with our analysis. When the MLS shows the sales figures for a home that is sold it only accounts for the last List Price the home had before it sold. By only using this figure we may not get an accurate representation of that particular sale. We go back and search the "history" of each property sold to find out the exact sales history so we can compute the exact % of asking price vs. sales price. For example: If a home is Listed on March 1 for $800,000 but then has a price reduction on March 25 to $750,000 and then another price reduction on April 15 to $699,000 and sells on April 30 for $675,000 the MLS will show that the property was listed for $699,000 and sold for $675,000 or 96.5% of asking. The home actually sold however for 84.3% of the original list price. Then if a listing "expires" or is "canceled" and then re-listed the Days on Market (DOM) may not reflect the actual total time the home was on the market, thus giving us inaccurate statistic's. Some might say that these things don't occur enough times to really impact the average numbers, but they do happen enough to actually impact the averages.

We just completed doing a 18 month running average for single family homes on Magnolia from January 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006 and the numbers are quite interesting. The average List Price on Magnolia for the first half of 2005 was $699, 723 and the average List Price for the same period in 2006 was $746,953, an increase of about $70,000. The average Sold Price for homes for the first half of 2005 was $639,825 and the average Sold Price was $711,211 for the same period in 2006, for a $71,386 increase in Sold Prices or a 11% increase from 2005. There has been an interesting trend however with average days on market (DOM) during this strong sellers market. From January 2005 through June 2005 the average DOM was 36 days. Then it went to 27 DOM from July 05 to the end of 2005. Now for the first 6 months of 2006 the average DOM has increased to 54 days. And the total number of "Price Reductions" has increased over the same time period as well. Could all this be indicating the start of a market correction here in Seattle? We don't think so and here is why. A majority of price reduction have been in the over 1 million market and we are seeing a substantial increase in inventories in that market segment as well. In May 2006 there were only 6 properties for sale on Magnolia in the over 1 million range. As of mid July 2006 there are 17 Active Listing over 1 million, a substantial increase in inventory, but there are also 9 properties over 1 million that are Pending. 3 months ago the sales ratio between Active Listings and Pending/Sold Listings was 85% and now it's about 53%.

So where is this all going...? We believe that the market will slow in the over 1 million price range, flatten out for the next few months in the $750,000 to $1,000,000 range and continue to be strong in the lower ranges. If we see inventories building in the lower price ranges then we could see a little slower market in the fall. July and August historically are slow months for sales in Seattle and if a lot of people put their homes on the market now or at the beginning of September then we could see a slight slowdown, but we don't see prices dropping and much as simply stabilizing. This could be one of the better times we have had for the move up buyers. As the price of higher end homes are not increasing at the same rate as lower priced homes.

Magnolia View Home Sells....

noreply@blogger.com (David & Karen Bell) — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 17:21:00 +0000

New Listing on Magnolia

noreply@blogger.com (David & Karen Bell) — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 16:46:00 +0000

We have just listed a wonderful view (on main and second floors) home on Magnolia. It's 4300 square feet with 3+ bedrooms and 3.25 baths. It was originally built in 1948 and has been completely remodeled from the studs out in 2006. It has sweeping views of downtown Seattle, Elliott Bay, Mt Rainier, and the Cascades. It's in an excellent Carlton Park location with underground wiring. Walk to Magnolia Village and Discovery Park. It's about 10 minutes by car to downtown Seattle. It has gas fired radiant heat, a true gourmet kitchen with a 48 inch DSC gas range with 6 burners a griddle top and double ovens. The Master Suite has a fabulous view from the sitting room, deck and bedroom. The Master Bath with extensive use of Travertine Marble is absolutely wonderful, with large walk in shower, huge soaking tub, washer and dryer, and huge walk in closet in the. The Family Room off the kitchen has a wonderful view and is open and light filled. This is a very special home and a rare find for Magnolia. If you want more information or arrange a private showing just let us know.

Is the Seattle Real Estate Market Trying to Slow Down?

noreply@blogger.com (David & Karen Bell) — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 23:58:00 +0000

The Seattle Real Estate Market has been trying to slow down now for about a year. 2005 was a very strong year for real estate across the country and Seattle was no exception. Most of the country has seen anywhere from a moderate to strong correction in the market sine January 2006. Not Seattle however. While the number of home sales is slightly down so far in 2006 as compared to 2005, demand is still strong and supply is well...very, very low in most of Seattle's close in neighborhoods. I think that buyers and agents alike would like to see things get back to just a normal "feeding frenzy" and we all think that a correction is just around the corner, but the corner just keeps getting longer and longer. January and February of 2006 were slower than the same period in 2005 but prices of single family homes just kept increasing. House that would have sold for $500,000 in October 2005 (which is almost the bottom price now for neighborhoods like Magnolia, Queen Anne, Wallingford, Green Lake, Ballard, Ravenna and Bryant) would now sell for about $550,000 and maybe $575,000. We are looking at homes that should sell for under $500,000 being Listed for $699,000 and some people are buying them. They have lost their minds because they have lost out on 3 or 4 homes because of bidding wars. This brings up a whole different subject but I'll get into that at a different time.

We have a friend and client who is an educator at the university level and we were talking a few weeks ago and did you know that the State of Washington ranks 43rd in the country in producing BA degrees? Yikes. But we are one of the highest educated states in the country. So, all of these people are being brought here for jobs that the locals can't fill. Microsoft has said recently that they are adding 10,000 new jobs in the next 4 to 5 years. Amgen at the base of Magnolia has said that they are adding about 500 new jobs in the next few years, and so on and so on and so on. Lots of high paying jobs, lots of out of state recruitment and very low housing inventory. Economics 101...prices are going up! And another interesting fact and what we tell our buyer clients is that about 1 out every 15 to 20 new homes that come on the market in Seattle is a really good house, the rest are well, the rest.