Eastside Real Estate Working-for-you!

March 2012 Month End Real Estate Statistics At-A-Glance - This Is What HOT Looks Like!

By Greg Perry
Eastside Realtor

THIS IS WHAT A HOT REAL ESTATE MARKET LOOKS LIKE: 

We've been using and posting these King County and Snohomish Heat Maps for may years.  In all the years since we've been using these maps, we've never seen one THIS HOT!  I don't recall ever seeing every main land area in King County and Snohomish County  showing less than three months of inventory!  This is even quicker supply and demand movement than the good years of 2004 and 2005.

Here's how March 2012 looks vs. March 2011:
 



As you can see, last year there were just a few core areas that were red.  The rest of the region was solidly what we consider a balanced market.

The NWMLS Eastside Areas 500-600 At-A-Glance

 King County NWMLS Areas 500-600 had only 1,651 Active Listings vs. 2.500 in 2011 for a decline of a whopping 34%.  At the same time Pending Sales were up (963 in 2012 vs. 746 in 2011) up 29%.  Months of inventory slid to 1.7 months in 2012 vs. 3.4 months in 2011.

Median prices for closed sales were down slightly from last year ($495,105 in 2012 vs. $506,405 in 2011).  Prices are showing signs of strengthening with short market times and multiple offers.

 

February 2012 Month End Real Estate Statistics At-A-Glance --The Switch Is ON

By Greg Perry, Eastside Realtor

The switch is ON as Residential Pendings jumped 18% from last year (735 in 2012 vs. 624 in 2011) in King County's Eastside NWMLS zones 500-600.  At the same time, we saw a WHOPPING 29%  decrease in listing inventory (1,710 Active listings in 2012 vs. 2,418 in 2011).  Months of inventory for these Eastside areas slid to it's lowest point since mid 2007 to 2.3 months of inventory.  Last year the Eastside had 3.9 months of inventory.  Pendings were also up month over month from January (735 vs. 577) despite 2 fewer days.

The Closed Sale median price was down slightly from last year ($489,251 in 2012 vs. $500,000 in 2011) for a 2% drop.  

Remember that price trends follow supply and demand.  If this trend continues, I would expect median prices to start rising.  Anecdotally, multiple offers are being reported throughout the region, and prices are starting to escalate.

Here are the Feb. 2012 Statistics At-A-Glance:

The year over year HEAT MAP shows a stunning difference in the changing of the colors from last year:

All areas that are RED on the HEAT MAP indicate less than 3 months of inventory (Seller's Advantage).

Give me call if you want to know how this market relates to you and your home!  425-829-7012

 

January 2012 Month End Real Estate Statistics -- At A Glance

By Greg Perry, Kirkland Realtor

For King County's Eastside, residential real estate inventory tightened considerably in January.  Last January (2011) we had 2,361 Active residential listings.  This year (2012) that number dropped to 1,729 active listings.  Yet, at the same time, Pending listings increased from 510 in 2011, to 577 this year!  Months of supply came in at 3.0 months of inventory, which nudges the region into a mild "sellers market".

Median prices dropped 3% from 2011.  However, if this trend of tightening inventory continues, LOOK FOR THE MEDIAN PRICES TO START RISING!

Here are the important Eastside (NWMLS 500-600)  residential inventory numbers at a glance:

Here is a residential heat map of King and Snohomish Counties.  You will notice that the colors have turned dramatically to RED throughout the region improving from last year.

It is still too early to declare that the market has corrected, but if this trend continues, it's looking good for 2012!

The Coming Housing Shortage

Here is an interesting piece on the coming housing shortage.

 

May 2011 Eastside Real Estate Statistics -- At A Glance (With King/Snohomish County Heat Maps)

By Greg Perry, Eastside Realtor
425Realty.com

For the Eastside NWMLS areas 500-600, RESIDENTIAL (not condos) Pending sales were up an incredible 33% from last year (805 in 2010 vs. 607 in 2011).  However, the available inventory (Active listings to sell) was down 14% ( 3,163 in 2010 vs. 2721 in 2011).  The Eastside Months Of Inventory dropped to 3.4 months at the current rate of sale this year from 5.2 months of inventory last year.

Median prices on the Eastside slipped 2 % from last year coming in at $507,653, vs. $519,581  last year.

Overall, an outstanding performance.   The nice inventory continues selling quickly.  Doggy inventory and high priced inventory is just sitting.  There are plenty of forecloused homes and short sales properties to sell.  

Here are the Eastside numbers AT-A-GLANCE:

 

 

April 2011 Eastside Real Estate Statistics -- At A Glance (With King/Snohomish County Heat Maps)

By Greg Perry, Eastside Realtor

KING AND SNOHOMISH COUNTY HEAT MAPS:

For the Eastside NWMLS areas 500-600, RESIDENTIAL (not condos) Pending sales were down 16% from last year (865 in 2010 vs. 730 in 2011).  However, the available inventory (Active listings to sell) was also down 13% (3023 in 2010 vs. 2625 in 2011).  The Eastside Months Of Inventory  remained about even with  3.5 months at the current rate of sale last year to 3.6 months of inventory this year.

Median prices on the Eastside slipped 1 % from last year coming in at $512,148, vs. $514,774  last year.

Overall, not a bad performance, as last year's numbers were fueled by the government Home Buyer Tax Credits.  The nice inventory continues selling quickly.  Doggy inventory and high priced inventory is just sitting.  There are plenty of forecloused homes and short sales properties to sell.  

Here are the Eastside numbers AT-A-GLANCE:

 

March Month End: Housing Inventory Tightens In Core Areas

By Greg Perry, 
Eastside Realtor

The core areas of King County saw a tightening of Residential (not condos) inventory in March.  Overall, core area markets kept pace with last year's market that was fueled by the government First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit.  Both 2010 and 2011 had 10 NWMLS areas in King Count with less than 3 months of inventory at the current rate of sale.
 

For the Eastside NWMLS areas 500-600, RESIDENTIAL (not condos) Pending sales were down 8% from last year (807 in 2010 vs. 746 in 2011).  However, the available inventory (Active listings to sell) was also down 13% (2874 in 2010 vs. 2500 in 2011).  The Eastside Months Of Inventory  dropped to 3.6 months at the current rate of sale last year to 3.4 months of inventory this year.

Median prices on the Eastside slipped 2 % from last year coming in at $506,405, vs. $515,989 last year.

The nice inventory is selling quickly.  Doggy inventory and high priced inventory is just sitting.  There are plenty of forecloused homes and short sales properties to sell.  

 

The Condo market remains very soft.  Months of inventory came in the same as last year, however, the median Eastside condo prices fell a whopping 14% from last year coming in at $243,988 (vs. $284,736 in 2010).  Market time for condos is soaring.

 

Is it Time to Buy?

Mike Castleman, CEO of Metrostudy, sees a HOUSING SHORTAGE looming.  Here are a few excerts from a CNN Money Article:

Castleman is in a unique position to know. As the founder and CEO of a company called Metrostudy, he's spent more than three decades tracking real-time data on the country's inventory of new homes. Each quarter he dispatches 500 inspectors to literally drive through 45,000 subdivisions from Baltimore to Sacramento. The inspectors examine 5 million finished lots, one at a time, and record whether they contain a house that's under construction, one that's finished and for sale, or a home that's sold. Metrostudy covers 19 states, or around 65% of the U.S. housing market, including all the ones hardest hit by the crash: Florida, California, Arizona, and Nevada. The company's client list includes virtually every major homebuilder and bank -- from Pulte (PHM) and KB Home (KBH) to Bank of America (BAC) and Wells Fargo (WFC). 

And

Today Castleman is witnessing an extraordinary reversal of the new-home glut that helped sink prices just a few years ago. In the 41 cities Metrostudy covers, a total of 78,000 houses are now either vacant and for sale, or under construction. That's less than one-fourth of the 343,000 units in those two categories at the peak of the frenzy in mid-2006, and well below the level of a decade ago. "If we had anything like normal levels of buying, those houses would sell in 2½ months," says Castleman. "We'd see an incredible shortage. And that's where we're heading."

To see the entire article click:

http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2011/03/28/real-estate-its-time-to-buy-again/?section=money_realestate&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_realestate+%28Real+Estate%29

What Should I Do In 2011? A Real Estate, Investment, Tax and Mortgage Workshop

By Greg Perry
Eastside Realtor

We are having a free workshop on Saturday morning, February 5th at 10 a.m in Redmond.  This will be a fun, quick and informative opportunity to talk with experts in stocks, tax changes, real estate and mortgage lending.   At this workshop we will answer questions regarding:

           REAL ESTATE FORECASTS FOR THE GREATER SEATTLE  AREA

            2011 INVESTMENT FORECASTS FOR FINANCIAL PRODUCTS

            CHANGES TO THE TAX CODES AND HOW TO PLAN AHEAD

            MORTGAGE OPPORTUNITIES AND RATES

 Saturday, February 5

 Time:  10:00am to 12:30pm

 8201 164^th Ave NE, Suite 100
Redmond, WA 98052

RSVP to Greg Perry gregperry@working-for-you.com

The Eastside's Most Expensive Home Sales in 2010

Did ever you wonder?  How much those Eastside waterfront mansions sell for?  Even though we're in a recession, it seems people still have the money to step up to purchase the mega-money mansions that pop up all over King County's Eastside.

Estately.com, a local search and informational web destination put together this fascinating Top Ten most expensive homes sold list for 2010.  This is well done and fun to read.  

BELLEVUE

Number one in Bellevue (and for all of the Eastside), located on Lake Washington for $5,574,400, was this charming 5 Bedroom, 7.5 bath, 11,750 square foot bungalow.   The mortgage calculator shows that the loan payments come in at $23,235/ month.  YIKES!  Something told me that a lot cash traded hands on this one!
Click on the links below to see detail on this house and the rest of the Bellevue's Top Ten. 

The 10 most expensive homes SOLD in Bellevue for 2010

REDMOND

Redmond is Microsoft Country and has Lake Sammamish waterfront properties.  Coming in number one for Redmond was this 6 bedroom, 5 3/4 bath, 7500 square foot beach house for a mere $2,300,000. 

For the remainder of The Redmond Top Ten most expensive homes sold in 2010 click the links below:

Redmond Top Ten most expensive homes sold in 2010

SAMMAMMISH

The City of Sammamish also has plenty of pricey homes that sold in 2010.  The east shore of Lake Sammamish produced it's number one entry with a 3 bedroom, 3 3/4 bath 4183 s/f waterfront shack that came in with a price tag of $2,305,000.  This home had the Eastside's highest price per square foot coming in at a whopping $562/ sq. ft.!

Click on below links to see the rest of the Top Ten most expensive homes sold in 2010 in Sammamish:

The top 10 most expensive homes sold in 2010 in Sammamish.

If you, or anyone you know is interested in purchasing an Eastside mega mansion, give me call or an email!  gregperry@working-for-you.com