Condo price reductions

[Niuska]

I have been watching a few properties via Redfin that I am interested in. These are properties that were already priced reasonabily well (for an overpriced market) when they were initially listed.

Here is a classic example. Posting it because I am not interested even at this price. I actually have visited both of these condos because they are next door to each other and I was interested in the cheaper one. #105 and #106 in the same building. The only difference is #105 needs new carpet and #106 has a nicer paint job.
I am posting this to contrast a realistic seller vs a seller who just doesn't get it.

#105 listed at $310,000 (reduced from $349,999 after 54 days)
http://www.redfin.com/WA/Bellevue/424-1 ... home/32178
Sales History Property Tax
Date Price Appreciation
Nov 20, 1990 $134,000 --
Nov 27, 1996 $119,500 -1.9%/yr
May 20, 2003 $168,000 5.4%/yr
May 31, 2007 $369,000 21.6

This seller clearly understands that the market has changed and they are rapidly dropping their price to sell ASAP.

#106 listed at $389,000
http://www.redfin.com/WA/Bellevue/424-1 ... home/32179
Sales History Property Tax
Date Price Appreciation
Oct 19, 1990 $133,000 --
May 13, 1994 $145,000 2.5%/yr
Aug 22, 2001 $184,950 3.4%/yr

This seller likely knows that the apartment across the hall was priced $40,000 cheaper, yet the seller still was trying to get the peak bubble price for this unit. The only real difference is clean carpet and nice paint.

After #105 dropping his price, the difference in these two units is now $79,000 in asking price. #105 is a full 20% cheaper.

In a realistic market I think these both fall back to the mid $200,000 range with a slightly higher price for #106. I bet #105 would jump at $280,000 if it was offered today. That first price drop of $40,000 hints at desperation.

[The Tim]

This seems like a good place for an update on .


On the market: 84 days
Original asking: $335,000
Current asking: $300,000


On the market: 64 days
Original asking: $339,500
Current asking: $309,000


On the market: 102 days
Original asking: $339,500
Current asking: $339,500

Unit 5
Off the market, failed to sell @ $345,000

The strange thing is that Unit 2 is listed by Redfin. You'd think the listing agent would have more brains than to leave the price at $30,000-$40,000 higher than the identical units in the same 8-unit complex. Of course, unless around the corner goes 100% rental, these guys are still going to have a pretty hard time selling at $300,000.

[Kittitas]

Condo price reductions? Not over here in my neck of the woods. Three brand new units, priced from 199,900 to 213,900. All on Redfin for 467 days and not one price drop. Could this be part of the reason Kittitas county has 75 months of condo supply? In July the NWMLS listed 75 active listings, and one closed sale. And these places even have granite countertops! http://www.redfin.com/WA/Cle-Elum/305-N ... e/16904817

[GetReal]

A townhouse, almost identical to the one I rent, in downtown Bellevue just sold for less than 350K. The address is 369 112th ave SE, Bellevue, WA 98004, and MLS# 28109903. It's a bit more than 1600 sq ft with 2-car garage, built in 1979. Expect Kenmore prices to go down much more, or conversion to rentals.