Greenwood Phinney Undressed

King County September Real Estate Stats

The NWMLSrecently posted real estate stats for September.  These stats apply to  King County residential units not condo’s.  If you would like detailed information regarding the condominium market in Seattle, please email me at kerriproperties@comcast.net and I will forward the requested information.

                                         08                 07                YTD 08          YTD 07

Closed Sales                 1,415            1,687              12,874            19,266

Avg Price                    $491,300     $563,645        $537,399      $569,580

Avg. time on market     73                  58                   74                    54

Pending Sales                1,767           1,541              15,494             21,068

New listings                  3,302             3,771            

Pending sales are up but we still have a lot of listings coming on the market so the time on market and the total months worth of inventory have not changed in a substantial way meaning that it is still a buyers market. 

Respectfully submitted by:  Kerri Sheehan, Realtor   Keller Williams Greater Seattle

Exceptional Value on Lower Phinney Ridge! $425,000.00

OCTOBER 16TH UPDATE:  This house went on the NWMLS on a Monday night, the sign went up 3ish on Tuesday, I held it open Tuesday from 3:30 - 6.  A couple came in that night who made an offer that was accepted Thursday morning!!!!  Opportunities abound for those ready to buy.  The upside future equity opportunity on this house is tremendous.  If you are ready to buy - there are loans available and even better, some great opportunities for first time buyers, those interested in new space and investors.  Call me at 206-660-7489 if you are interested in buying or selling. 

Welcome Home, This is the turn-key, old-world-charmer you’ve been looking for!  Enter to gleaming hardwoods and tons of natural light.  Updates include tuck-pointed chimney, remodeled bath, new electrical panel and service, and freshly refinished topnailed oak and fir floors.  Step out back to your beautiful back yard with a patio and fruit trees.  The 900 sq ft. unfinished basement and the 300 sq ft. attic both have high ceilings for future remodel to a finished 2100 sq ft house.  A master suit can easily be added upstairs and the basement has tons of potential.  Walk to Greenwood & Phinney!!  Beautiful street - close to everything.

CURRENT STATS FOR AREA 705

Area 705:  Ship Canal north to 145th.  I5 East to the sound.

Currently there are 685 Active Listings in this area with an average days on market time of 64 days.  The average size is 3 bedroom/ 2049 sq. ft and the average price is $574,152 with a median price of $495,000.

 As of today there are 158 pending sales.

In the past 6 months, 934 Sales have been recorded:  Avg size 3 bedroom/ 1,893 sq ft, 49 days on market with an average sales price of $505,877 which is roughly $10,000 less than the listing price.  The Median price for the past 6 months was $469,950.

The following is an interesting break down of the sales:

461 properties sold with in 30 days or less (equals 49.36% of all sales) at 99.29% of listing price. 

223 properties sold within 31- 60 days at 97.66% of list price.

Based on the sales in the past 6 months and the current inventory, we have a 4.41 month supply of homes on the market in area 705 which is not too extreme.   Surprisingly enough to a lot of people is the fact that there are some multiple offer situations still occurring.  One agent on our team reported that the last 6 transactions out of 15 where multiple price situations.  So, if you are in the buying wishy washy stage….it is a fabulous time to buy!  We still have decent inventories to choose from and the prices are at about 2006 level.

Written by:  Kerri Sheehan - Realtor, Keller Williams

It is a Great Time to Buy!

Remember back in 2006 when there was no real estate inventory and people were climbing all over each other to buy a house in Seattle?  Most houses had multiple offers, buyers had to pay money and pre-inspect not even knowing if their offer would be accepted and, everyone was run ragged.  My personal home purchase that year won out over at least 10 other offers - it was very stressful, even for an agent.  The interest rates at that time were around 6.25%.  Now, prices are back to the 2006 level, intereste rates have dipped below 6% AND the inventory levels are great.  Some houses are still moving the minute they come on the market and there are a few multiple offers here and there but, if you are a buyer, you have options and great intrest rates. 

Will the prices fall more?  Who knows but the stats so far look like things are leveling off  a bit in Seattle and with so many people relocating here for jobs it is just a matter of time before the inventories tighten up.  The experts still predict a housing shortage in 2010 but recovery could take until late 2009, or not. At this point it is anyones guess.  There are a lot of benefits to home ownership so if you are planning on being in your home for a number of years, now is a great time to buy - you have more options now than ever which means more opportunities to find that home of your dream.

Written by:  Kerri Sheehan, Realtor -Keller Williams, GRSE LLC 

Seattle Ranked Second in Job Growth

NWREporter February 2008

By Phil Pinkstaff
Market Analyst & Valuation Specialist, MCM Group

From April 2007 to April 2008, the Seattle area ranked second in job growth of all metropolitan areas with population of three million or greater. With a growth rate of 2.1% in the last 12 months, Seattle’s job growth is 2.3 times as much as the average growth for cities of our size.

When cities have increases in the number of jobs; this means they need more apartments, condominiums and single family houses. Some of these jobs are taken by local residents, including recent college graduates; while some are taken by people moving into the area. The Seattle area has always been a desirable place for people to relocate to. But since the Seattle area economy is outperforming most other metro areas in the United States; more people than typical will move into the Puget Sound area in the next few years. The increased demand for housing will cause rents to increase and prices for condominiums and houses to increase.

Apartment rents have increased significantly in the last few years in the Seattle area. This was due to fewer apartments being built over the last several years (when rent increases were lower) and lots of apartments taken away as they were converted to condominiums. As such, the cost of waiting to buy has increased and will continue to increase.

All those factors combined lead to a conclusion that demand should continue for condominium properties in our market, despite the gloom and doom national outlook.

About the statistics: There are 369 Metropolitan Statistical Areas within the United States monitored by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Of these 369 MSAs, 16 have a 2007 population of 3 million people or more. The chart above lists these 16 MSAs from highest to lowest in terms of employment growth rate added between April 2007 and April 2008. (The growth rate is determined by jobs added between April 2007 and April 2008 divided by the number of jobs in April 2007.) The Seattle MSA includes King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties.

Seattle Expecting a Housing Shortage by 2010

Channel 2 news broadcasted a story today about the future expected housing shortage in Seattle.  This may come as a surprise to many people but what the locals don’t always pay attention to is what is really  happening locally versus nationally.   The story sited numerous reasons for the pending shortage including a consistent flow of people moving to Seattle.  Jobs are still pretty good here. They also noted that many relocating to Seattle have not been able to buy yet because they can’t sell their home elsewhere but once those homes sell they will likely be buyers here too.   Seattle was also listed as being one of the top 5 cities for graduating college students to get a job and in 3-4 years, those ex college students will be wanting to buy their first condo or home. 

 Another reason is that not only is there less and less land to build on but the process to create a new development such as the Issaquah Highlands etc. is about 4 years and builders are finding it increasingly harder to get loans. In 2006 there were 14,339 project permits, 2007 11,798 and 2008 only 4,268.  The projected demand in 2010 is for 106,814 new homes vs. the inventory of 66,066.  So with the limited land to build, fewer permits being requested and loans harder for builders to get - it doesn’t look like that gap will be filled anytime soon which will result in prices moving up higher and too many people chasing too few properties - yet again.   

written by:  Kerri Sheehan-realtor, Keller Williams

Greenwood & Phinney Neighborhood Real Estate Stats for 9/5/08

 One of the many incredible sunflowers now in bloom around our neighborhood.

 _______________________________________________________

As of today, per the NWMLS, there are 77 Single Family homes and 22 townhomes for sale in our neighborhood and 38 condos.  The single family home prices range from $259,950 - $1,450,000 with a median price of $475, 950 and an average square foot size of 1,880.  The average days on market is 81.

 The 38 condos are priced from $168,000 - $619,990 with a median of $274,750 and avg. square foot of 850.

 Contrasting those figures with sales for the past 6 months: 113 single family homes  have sold since March priced from $265,000 - $1,195,000 with a median of $477,700, average sq. ft of 1806 and an average number days on the market of 58.   This would put the current inventory at 4.09 months for single family homes.

33 Townhomes sold during the same period ranging from $295,000 - $675,000, 1,369 sq. ft and a median price of $345,000 also putting the inventory at about 4 months.

The combined 99 units of Single family homes and townhomes started their launched on the NWMLS with an average price of $550,993 which has now dropped by 3% to $534,429.00

 Just some quick stats.  There is still good inventory to choose from but houses are selling and some are selling very quickly.  The days on market number tends be skewed by homes that came on way over priced and were willing to hang out and or new construction that was listed prior to having the ability to officially close i.e. when completed.  Every day when I jump on the NWMLS there are houses pending that have only been on the market for a couple of days.    If you would like more details on any of this information, please contact me at 206-660-7489 and I’d be more than happy to email you details.

written by:  Kerri Sheehan - realtor, Keller Williams 

It’s An Agents’ Life

Most Real Estate Agent’s have a love hate relationship with their job.  Just like any career no matter how passionate you are…there are those days and moments……. I had one of those last Sunday. 

It started off as a nice morning, a tad questionable whether it was going to sprinkle or not so, fortunately at the last minute, I did grab my rain coat.  Off I went to do an open house.  I don’t mind holding houses open at all but I HATE to do the signs.  It can be hazardous duty especially if you are trying to sign a busy intersection.  I always put my hazard lights on and try to find a parking lot, parking strip or some out of the way place but that doesn’t always work so you do the best you can and hope no one has agent road rage that day.  I tried a new sign vendor and my new wood signs are HEAVY.  I always turn them inside out so they lay flat in my car but then you have to flip them back to put them out.  There have been numerous times when I’ve hit myself in the ankle or whatever schlepping the signs.  So anyway, I got my signs out and commenced with holding the open. After about an hour or so it started raining.  Then, it started pouring.  Then, the lake formed on the street out in front of the house.  Then, it started pouring harder.  You know - Sunday the 24th.  I watched quietly from inside the home hoping it would subside and when that didn’t happen I planned my escape.  The first obstacle was my A-board on the posted sign - you know, the one posted by the lake.  I couldn’t put my briefcase down in the water so holding my briefcase and reaching overhead I jostled my HEAVY  A-board until it finally came down and leaped out of the way before a car strafed me with water.  On to the next sign.  By the 3rd sign my glasses were a mess and alternately they fogged up or were dripping water.  By the 4th sign, my leather shoes and lower legs were soaked.  My raincoat is terrific with a hood and it goes to my knees…..  My 5th sign was standing in a foot of water and there was no way to retrieve it without further soaking at least one of my shoes.  By the 6th sign….I was not a happy camper.   Actually, I was not a happy camper back when I left the open house. but now I was not a happy camper with mascara running down my face and really fuzzy hair.  I got home and decided I would wait until the next day to dry my signs off otherwise I would be packing them from the car to the garage one at a time in the pouring down rain and that didn’t sound like fun either.  I just now realized in writing this that I did not dry my signs off ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.  I hope my new sign vendor got the fact that signs get wet thing right.  

written by:  Kerri Sheehan - realtor, Keller Williams GRSE

What the heck is a Short Sale?

Darn it anyhow - a short sale is the result of an owner owing more on their home than what they can sell it for.   We agents see these sales a lot these days and it is very distressing for everyone involved.  In the Phinney- Greenwood area, as well as other Seattle neighborhoods, prices have dropped a bit but nothing like other parts of the US where folks may have lost 100’s of thousands of dollars in equity in their homes.  Folks who took out almost all of their equity in equity loans prior to the pricing slide and people who bought at the higher price with minimal down can be caught in a short sale situation if they have to sell.  A Short sale does not necessarily mean that the home is heading towards foreclosure or that the owners are in financial distress (most of the time they are) but it makes for a painful transaction neverthelss for everyone involved. 

Because the sale will not result in paying off 100% of the mortgage, the lender must approve the sale and they can say no way or ask for a higher offer. If there is a second loan on the property, that lender could say no way as well all of which adds a considerable amount of time to the closing process.  If you fall in love with a house that happens to be a short sale and it doesn’t have a lender’s prior price approval, you need to take a vicadin and cool your jets for oh….maybe 60ish days and only when you have lender approval should you move forward with inspections etc. otherwise you could be out $4-500 if the bank rejects the offer.  If the home is heading for foreclosure, things could go faster if the bank wants to avoid the foreclosure process.  A lot of short sales come back on the market because the buyer can’t wait.  Financing is also a big issue, if interest rates change while a buyer is in a holding pattern that could make the home all of a sudden unaffordable.

On the selling side, the lenders can hold a seller accountable for some or all of the shortfall by requiring an unsecured note unless they deem a seller unable to pay.  Short Sales must be listed as such on the NWMLS and there is some additional paperwork involved (of course!)  Basically, when it comes down to a short sale… the lender is in charge.

written by:  Kerri Sheehan - Realtor for Keller Williams- Greater Seattle.

OUR AREA REAL ESTATE STATS

Did you know that townhomes are included in all NWMLS stats along with single family homes? Townhomes and Single Family Homes are very different types of properties so combining them doesn’t really give a clear picture of what is going on or maybe what is happening in your target property type.  Our area as previously defined:  area 705 which runs south to the canal, North to 145th and east to I5, currently has 168 townhomes on the market and 489 single family homes.  The current Townhome price range is a low of $248,000 to a high of $669,000.  As of today, there are 34 pending but most importantly, 309 townhomes have sold since 2/16/08  which means there is a little over a 3 month inventory - Not a huge inventory.

Out of the 489 Single Family Homes currently on the market in our area, 141 are under $450,000, 252 range in price from $451 - 750,000 and the other 96 are over $751,000.  In the past 6 months 632 single family homes have sold in our area which gives us about a 4.64 month inventory - Not so doom and gloom eh?

If you want details for any price ranges you might be interested in, you can either visit my website at www.kerriproperties.com or just drop me an email with your questions to kerriproperties@comcast.net and I’d be happy to reply.