I thought it might be interesting to take a little look around the market today by comparing some of what’s out there with the peak median-priced home.
As you know if you’ve been following along since 2007, King County’s single-family median sale price peaked at $481,000 in July 2007. After doing a bit of digging through the sale records, I was able to locate the peak median-price home: 124 Martin Luther King Jr. Way East in Seattle sold for $481,000 on July 12, 2007.
According to King County public records, this home has 3 bedrooms, 1.0 bathrooms, and 1,230 square feet of finished space, and sits on a 4,800 square foot lot in Madison Valley. The July 2007 buyer paid $391 per square foot.
Let’s take a look at three questions. First, what can you get today in King County for $481,000? Since list prices are frequently nothing more than a seller’s fantasy, let’s look at homes that have actually sold in the last month for that price (±1%). Here are a few samples…
For $478,800, someone bought 3802 46th Ave SW in West Seattle.
It’s got 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1,390 finished square feet (plus a 670 square foot “partially finished” basement) and sits on an 8,509 square foot lot with views of Puget Sound.
Price per square foot: $344
For $480,000, someone else purchased 6546 27th Ave NE in Ravenna.
This home has 4 bedrooms, 2.75 bathrooms, and 2,950 square feet (includes the finished basement). It sits on a 4,950 square foot lot and has a pool.
Price per square foot: $163
Over on the Eastside, for $480,000, someone bought 16010 SE 31 St in Bellevue’s West Lake Sammamish neighborhood.
This one’s got 4 beds, 2.5 baths, and 2,370 square feet. It sits on an 8,655 square foot corner lot.
Price per square foot: $203
The second question that I thought would be interesting to explore is how much it would cost you if you were to buy a home similar to the peak median-price home today. According to a Redfin search of homes sold in the last month, 48 homes have sold in the last month with 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, and 1,230 (±15%) square feet. The sale prices of these homes range between $90,000 and $485,000, with a median price of $202,500 (58% off the peak!) and an average price of $218,368. if you limit the results to just the City of Seattle, the 14 homes sold in the last month have a median price of $248,599 and an average price of $249,407.
The last question I’d like to answer is what kind of home can you buy for today’s median price ($345,000 as of last month)? Here are a few examples…
For $340,000, a buyer closed on 2715 Mayfair Ave N on the north side of Queen Anne.
It’s got 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 1,030 finished square feet (plus another 1,030 square foot “partially finished” basement) and sits on a 3,760 square foot lot.
Price per square foot: $330
For $344,950, a buyer purchased 4570 36th Ave W in Magnolia.
This home has 3 bedrooms, 1.75 bathrooms, and 1,930 square feet (plus 520 square feet in the partially finished basement). It sits on a 6,000 square foot lot just a short walk from Discovery Park.
Price per square foot: $179
Finally, on the Eastside, for $350,000, someone bought 1903 147th Place SE in Bellevue’s West Lake Hills neighborhood.
This one’s got 5 beds, 1.5 baths, and 2,040 square feet. It sits on a 7,200 square foot lot.
Price per square foot: $172
So what’s the point of all this? Nothing terribly specific. Like I said, I just thought it might be interesting and instructive to take a look at what’s selling these days compared to the insanity at the peak of the market. I definitely found it interesting that homes similar to the peak median-price home are selling for so much less today, and it’s certainly nice to see that even at today’s median price buyers seem to be getting a lot more home and much nicer neighborhoods for their money than they were in 2007.
Does anything especially interesting jump out to you?