Market StatsWindermere Bellevue Commons News March 9, 2017

King & Snohomish County Market Stats – February 2017

What’s Happening in the Market

Home sales continue to be slightly above last year’s totals in the areas tracked in this report.  We are continuing to see double digit price increases spread out from the core of Bellevue and Seattle due to the somewhat exorbitant prices now demanded from the metro area Sellers.

Low Inventory

Inventory hit an all-time low in February which at last count was 3 weeks of inventory if nothing new came on the market.  (That’s weeks, not months!) We do expect to see an increase in listings in March and April, but Sellers are still wary of putting their home on the market with nowhere to go. Buyers and Buyers agents are having to be creative with their offers as we are seeing at least 50% of the sales occurring are done in multiple offer situations. We don’t expect this to change anytime soon!

Market Stats February 1, 2017

How Much Did Residential Home Prices Rise in 2016?

King County Residential Home Price-Increase in 2016

King County Residential home prices increased an average of 12.7%. Here is the list of median home price-increase in different areas.

Shoreline/Richmond Beach $439,725–> $503,393
Lake Forest Park $432,250–> $505,350
Ballard $587,000–> $655,000
North Seattle $575,000–> $679,950
Queen Anne/Magnolia $780,500–> $882,500
Central Seattle $689,999–> $774,995
SODO/Beacon Hill $420,000–> $501,975
West Seattle $450,000–> $511,500
Southeast Seattle $441,500–> $500,000
Kirkland/Rosehill $801,000–> $899,500
Redmond $650,000–> $709,793
West Bellevue $1,751,000–> $1,948,000
East Bellevue $638,950–> $730,000
East Lake Sammamish $645,000–> $736,001
South Bellevue/Newcastle $713,000–> $788,888
Mercer Island $1,195,000–> $1,315,000
Juanita/Woodinville/Bothell/Duvall $525,000–> $610,000

 

All data compiled from information supplied by Northwest Multiple Listing Association on 1/01/2017 Accuracy of information herein is not guaranteed.
This information was only taken of single-family homes, and does not include condominiums or vacant land.

Market Stats January 25, 2017

Western Washington Real Estate Market Update

OVERVIEW of  Western Washington Real Estate Market

Here is a detailed overview of Western Washington Real Estate Market. Washington State finished the year on a high with jobs continuing to be added across the market. Additionally, we are seeing decent growth in the area’s smaller markets, which have not benefited from the same robust growth as the larger metropolitan markets.

Unemployment rates throughout the region continue to drop and the levels in the central Puget Sound region suggest that we are at full employment. In the coming year, I anticipate that we will see substantial income growth as companies look to recruit new talent and keep existing employees happy.

 

HOME SALES ACTIVITY

  • There were 19,745 home sales during the fourth quarter of 2016—up by a very impressive 13.4% from the same period in 2015, but 18.7% below the total number of sales seen in the third quarter of the year. (This is a function of seasonality and no cause for concern.)
  • Sales in Clallam County grew at the fastest rate over the past 12 months, with home sales up by 47%. There were also impressive sales increases in Grays Harbor and Thurston Counties. Jefferson County had a fairly modest decrease in sales.
  • The number of available listings continues to remain well below historic averages. The total number of homes for sale in the fourth quarter was down by 13.7% compared to the same period a year ago.
  • The key takeaway from this data is that 2017 will continue to be a seller’s market. We should see some improvement in listing activity, but it is highly likely that demand will exceed supply for another year.

HOME PRICES

  • Demand continued to exceed supply in the final three months of 2016 and this caused home prices to continue to rise. In the fourth quarter, average prices rose by 7.1% but were 0.4% higher than the third quarter of the year. The region’s average sales price is now $414,110.
  • In most parts of the region, home prices are well above historic highs and continue to trend upward.
  • When compared to the fourth quarter of 2015, price growth was most pronounced in Kittitas County. In total, there were eight counties where annual price growth exceeded 10%. We saw a drop in sales prices in the notoriously volatile San Juan County.
  • The aggressive home price growth that we’ve experienced in recent years should start to taper in 2017, but prices will continue to increase at rates that are higher than historic averages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DAYS ON MARKET

  • The average number of days it took to sell a home in the fourth quarter dropped by 15 days when compared to the fourth quarter of 2015.
  • King County was the only area where it took less than a month to sell a home, but all markets saw decent improvement in the time it took to sell a home when compared to a year ago.
  • In the final quarter of the year, it took an average of 64 days to sell a home. This is down from the 78 days it took in the third quarter of 2015, but up from the 52 days it took in the third quarter of 2016. (This is due to seasonality and not a cause for concern.)
  • We may experience a modest increase in the time it takes to sell a home in 2017, but only if there is a rapid increase in listings, which is certainly not a given.

CONCLUSIONS

This speedometer reflects the state of the region’s housing market using housing inventory, price gains, sales velocities, interest rates, and larger economic factors. For the fourth quarter of 2016, I actually moved the needle a little more in favor of buyers, but this is purely a function of the increase in interest rates that was seen after the election. Higher borrowing costs mean that buyers can afford less, which could ultimately put some modest downward pressure on home prices in 2017. That said, the region will still strongly favor sellers in the coming year.

 

 

 

This article were first Posted on windermere.com by Matthew Gardner, Chief Economist, Windermere Real Estate

Windermere Bellevue Commons News December 16, 2016

Our Brokers Care!

We have the best real estate agents in our office! Thanks to our generous agents, we collected $3,700 to buy new toys and clothes for kids supported by Hopelink.

Each holiday season, Hopelink, the largest non-profit organization in Washington State, transforms its food banks into holiday gift rooms, offering new toys and new clothing to children in need.

Hopelink serves more than 64,000 homeless and low-income families, children, seniors and people with disabilities in north and east King County; providing stability and helping people gain the skills and knowledge they need to exit poverty for good.

Hopelink also provides transportation services throughout King and Snohomish Counties. With service centers in Redmond, Bellevue, Kirkland, Shoreline and Sno-Valley.

Windermere Bellevue Commons News November 3, 2016

Windermere Launches New Ultra-Luxury Brand: W Collection

Anyone who has spent time in the Seattle area in recent years has likely seen for themselves how much the city has changed. Thanks in large part to the booming economy, growing tech sector, and increasing international appeal, Seattle is no longer a sleepy little city tucked away in the far corner of the United States. With this changing landscape has come an infusion of wealth that has seen the area’s high-net-worth population explode. And with it, so too has the ultra-high-end real estate market.

In order to meet the specialized needs of this burgeoning market, Windermere has launched W Collection, a new ultra-luxury brand specifically designed for homes priced at $3 million and above in Western Washington. OB Jacobi, President of Windermere Real Estate, says that Seattle’s population of “global affluent” is on the rise and they greatly value real estate. The proof is in the numbers.

Over the past five years there has been a significant increase in the number of home sales in the $3 million+ market. In 2011 there were only 45 such sales in King County, while in 2015 there were 131. “Windermere agents represent anywhere from 40-60 percent of the $3 million+ sales in the Seattle area, so we felt we were in the ideal position to build a brand that could provide enhanced marketing support to the growing number of ultra-luxury homes,” said Jacobi.

W Collection is its own standalone brand with a separate website, WByWindermere.com, signage, presentation materials, and specialized advertising opportunities. When developing W Collection, Jacobi said that the goal was to create a sophisticated, yet humble, brand that evokes the understated expression of wealth that is unique to the Pacific Northwest. “Our clients are not largely drawn to the shows of excessive wealth that you see at other companies and in other parts of the country. This is reflected in the W Collection brand,” said Jacobi.

The development of W Collection began a little over a year ago, and according to Jacobi, was a highly collaborative process with Windermere agents playing an integral role in every step, “Over the past 44 years some of Windermere’s best ideas have come from our agents who are totally in tune with the needs of their clients and the shifting demands of the market; W Collection was born from this same agent ingenuity.”