Market Conditions
Market Conditions
Seattle, Washington, is a diverse city with a healthy -- maybe even booming -- 2007 real estate market.
Local experts are reporting, "The urban condo market is hot," with condo prices rising faster than single family homes -- a first. "Inventory can not keep up with demand."
The median sales price for King County is $429,000, with the number of pending sales up a whopping 31 percent in February of this year. Median prices are up 9 percent from a year ago.
Will demand continue? Studies indicate that the Seattle area should expect a surge in population of 1.2 million residents in the next 10 to 20 years!
Seattle, Washington, is a diverse city with a healthy -- maybe even booming -- 2007 real estate market.
Local experts are reporting, "The urban condo market is hot," with condo prices rising faster than single family homes -- a first. "Inventory can not keep up with demand."
The median sales price for King County is $429,000, with the number of pending sales up a whopping 31 percent in February of this year. Median prices are up 9 percent from a year ago.
Will demand continue? Studies indicate that the Seattle area should expect a surge in population of 1.2 million residents in the next 10 to 20 years!
Comments
Yet more evidence that the Puget Sound market is heading for the toilet. There is a LONG history of condos heating up right at the end of the real-estate cycle. They also tend to fall the hardest when cycles turn.
Whenever condos start selling like mad, look out below...
"Gosh. I'd like to buy a condo, but I just can't find one."
Condo inventory growth
City of Seattle
Apr 06 - 395
Apr 07 - 616
Growth: - 101%
King County
Apr 06 - 1,082
Apr 07 - 1,464
Growth: - 74%
Honestly, how DO you dig up this sh!t?
April #s show that pending condo sales for Seattle are up YOY 17%! And prices are up YOY 6% for Seattle and a whopping 19% for the whole county. Condos are most defintly Hot, Hot, Hot :!:
I mean, if there are only twice as many available this year as last - there has to be something going on, right?
You're missing opportunity. Maybe in a year, you can fleece me on one of your holdings. I mean, look how great this has turned out everywhere else!
Let me know, I can send you a google map!
"Velto says the county could be the most recession-proof market in the Southland. 'There are 3.5 million people supposed to be moving into Southern California the next 10 years,' he said. 'At this point, at least, San Bernardino County housing is recession-proof.'"
Yes, those people are all moving IN to California. But there are another 3.5 million who are moving OUT and to Seattle. and what he doesn't know is that we are double-dog recession-proof here.
Some of the markets ZipRealty covers suffered far bigger inventory expansions than the total jump. Los Angeles reported a 39.7 percent leap since April of 2006, Miami climbed 53.9 percent and Seattle soared 63.2 percent.
Soared? How'd that happen? I thought this market was bulletproof.
Bottom line: My inside observations are that the Puget Sound is starting to show weakness. We have more and more "listed clients" trying to leverage themselves out of the PNW markets, but fewer and fewer clients "in cash" as listings have sat on the MLS for months and many of our clients are unwilling to reduce their asking price. It's been a scramble. A lot of very rich, very smart folks who have made good money in RE want to stay in RE, but want to take their gains and get the hell out of the PNW.
Interesting inside scoop Jill. Thanks for sharing. It is always helpful to see perspectives from different sides of the transaction.
Are these mostly SFR's, apartments, or commercial that you are dealing with?
My analysis of the DPD permit applications/approvals from 4/1/05 to the present don't bear out the optimism. I saw two applications for MR, or HR zoned permits on the North End (Queen Anne - Magnolia). In fact, at least 80 percent of the permits were L1 to L4 (townhouses). :x
NO WAY I will pay (or can afford) what will likely be a asking price of 300K + for my 1 bedroom, 500 sf. I saw the writing on the wall when the less attractive building across the street got converted on the cheap a few months ago, but the prices were around that mark. I looked at the Fini Condos at their "VIP" pre-sale, and was shocked at the investor feeding frenzy, and the 100K price rise across the board in the month between the listing in Seattle Metropolitan, and their published. All the "prime" units were sold in the first hour! We are talking $375-425K folks, in Phinney Ridge!
Needless to say, I am being gentrified-out, again. Last time was in 2000 in Loyal Hights.
So were are all the supposed apartments being built? A few in West Seattle, and some on the South End. Even so, I don't see the numbers quoted in the PI being borne out by the permit data. Did I miss something?
Currently living in Wallingford, the Phinney Ridge commute to the Eastside is only perhaps 5 mins more, depending on the location. When you are already committed to a 20-30 minute commute from Seattle to Redmond (even if it was Capitol hill or Montlake), the extra 5 minutes doesn't seem killer.
In the evening, 520 sure takes longer than 20-30 minutes. 45 minutes was a "good" day from Redmond to Green Lake.
I can understand these kinds of prices on the Eastside (close to major employers that pay pretty well with loads and loads of employees) but Phinney Ridge? It's pretty far away.
Would be interesting to see where the buyers of the fancy new condos there on Phinney Ridge are employed...are they braving the 520 mess or working downtown? I suspect the former. Some people are just willing to put up with it.
Perhaps they're all self employed? It's not like you need a job to buy a place anymore. I love the location of that building and it's going to have a great view. As far as I can tell it's the only new construction buildings on greenwood/phinney at that elevation.
Does that mean that the people lining up to buy there are going to move in? Hard to say.
I'd guess that the people putting down deposits are split between those that had to buy lesser condos a year or two ago and want to move up, people that are fed up with waiting for a condo in Ballard that's never going to be inhabitable, or they're investors that see this as a "sure fire" win since the number of directly comparable units are low.
51 units? There are 500 units under construction just down the hill. If Fini can actually be ready by early 2008, they'll likely beat most of the ballard buildings and have a superior location.
My only concern is that Ed's Korthaus is going to fall victim to the yuppification and get replaced by a wine bar. As it is, it's a nice little dive but it's right across the street.
Maybe, but that's a hell of a lot of self employed people in 1 spot -- considering they historically make up 7 percent of the workforce (link for support of percentage)
We bought a single family house in the Phinney neighborhood a month ago for the same price as the average unit in fini.
By normal hours, do you mean 9-5? If 45 mins was a "good" day, what was an average day's commute?
I have had this drive take 2hrs on several occasions. Throw in a Mariners game and some rain, or even better yet some high winds or snow.
I can't even begin to imagine what this commute will be like once construction on 520 has started. I will be virtually impossible to travel between the east and west sides of the lake.
When I read comments about living in and around Seattle it is almost as if my community doesn't exist. I live on BI where the bus is close and timed to meet the ferry. At least on the ferry you can access wi-fi, check your voice mail, nap, read, or eat breakfast (or have a glass of wine on the return trip
Thank heavens the traffic mess when they work on 520 or the Alaskan Way won't impact me.
The only minus is that getting to the airport isn't easy