Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Home Vallue Appreciation is Slowing Nationally and Locally


housing*Synced from Seattle and Real Estate Blog
Zillow is reporting that markets across the country, including Seattle’s, are seeing a sustained slowdown in home price appreciation that will likely continue into 2015. At the end of the third quarter this year, annual appreciation for homes in Seattle stood at 6.9 percent, whereas the change in the third quarter of 2013 from the previous year was 12.9 percent. Zillow is forecasting that in the third quarter of 2015 appreciation in Seattle will be down to 5 percent.
Nationally, home values grew by 6.5 percent over the past year, which is down from the peak annual appreciation of 8.1 percent in April of this year. To give some context, U.S. home values are still 10.1 percent below their peak in April 2007 at the height of the bubble. In further evidence of a softening national market, there are 18.6 percent more homes on the market in the U.S. than there were a year ago, though Seattle is still seeing very low inventory.
If you are interested in real estate in the Seattle area, contact your local real estate agent today.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Seattle Condo Prices Still Below Market Peak

pioneer square*Synced from Seattle and Real Estate Blog
Seattle condo prices are taking their time to bounce back from the housing bubble in comparison to single family home prices. With condo prices down, the market has presented a unique opportunity for renters who haven’t been able to save for a down-payment to purchase a single family home. In some of the suburbs around Seattle, condo listing prices are still well below recovery prices, and low prices paired with low interest rates means more and more renters have the opportunity to be new homeowners.
According to the Seattle Times, out of the 30 suburbs throughout King County listed by the NWMLS, all but 3 (Bellevue, Kirkland, and downtown Seattle) have not seen the median home price surpass the 2007 market peak. In 19 of the 36 markets listed in King and Snohomish County, median home prices are still 20% below the market peak. Seattle has seen the cost in rent and single family homes continuously rise, while condo prices have stayed consistent, or even dropped in some areas. While there are a number of reasons that a condo market can suffer during a market recession, many singles, small families and people looking to downsize are turning to condos for an affordable option towards homeownership. If you’re interested in learning more about the Seattle condo market, contact your local real estate agent today.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Downtown Seattle New Condo Prices Down 8% Since May


Downtown condo*Synced from Seattle and Real Estate
One look at the glut of new towers rising in downtown Seattle and one could think condos are having their heyday. But it turns out most of those cranes on the horizon are giving rise to office towers and apartment buildings, with only one condo tower, Insignia, currently under construction downtown. Among new (never before sold) condo units that are on the market, prices have also fallen 8 percent from their peak in May, according to the Daily Journal of Commerce.
Prices did rise slightly from August to September (2 percent), and year over year (up 3 percent from September 2013), but are still falling short of the May peak, when the average price per square foot was $775. In September, the average sold price per square foot for a new condo was $716.
According to the Puget Sound Business Journal, condo construction is expected to pick up in 2015, in part due to the fact that 170 of the first 350 units at Insignia have already sold, giving condo developers confidence that the demand will keep up with supply. It remains to be seen what effect an increased number of units will have on prices.
If you are interested in purchasing a condo in the Seattle area, contact your local real estate agent today.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

King Co. Home Prices Showed Best September In At Least 10 Years


*Synced from Seattle and Real Estate Blog

After a sluggish summer for home price gains in King County, the median price for a single-family home rose to $460,000 in September, almost 10 percent higher than a year ago and 5.3 percent higher than August’s median price, according to an article in Tuesday’s Seattle Times. The Times says that those numbers, pulled from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, point to the best September for home prices in at least 10 years.
The city of Seattle performed the best of all the sub-markets in King County in September, with the median price having risen to $517,000, 12 percent higher than September 2013. While the median price on the Eastside was higher than Seattle’s at $605,000, yearly appreciation was slower at only 6.3 percent. Southwest King County, which includes Burien, Tukwila, Des Moines, Normandy Park, SeaTac, Federal Way, and West Kent, continues to be the most affordable sub-market with a median price of $267,250, though that is still up 6.7 percent from September 2013.
Despite the price increase over the past year, the number of closed sales has actually decreased in every sub-market in King County except Seattle, which still only saw one more sale in September 2014 (643) than in September 2013 (642). North King County saw the biggest decrease in closed sales, having dropped 17 percent from September 2013. Agents quoted in the article say this could be the result of buyers’ fatigue after months of low inventory sparking bidding wars and extreme price increases.
For more information on Seattle-area real estate, contact your local real estate agent today.

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Seattle Home Price Growth Slowdown Continues

housing*Synced from Seattle and Real Estate Blog
Home prices in the Seattle area (King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties) rose by 0.6 percent from June to July, but for the fifth straight month year-over-year appreciation slowed, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Index released yesterday.
Annual appreciation of existing single-family homes in July was 7.1 percent (its lowest since October 2012), down from 8 percent from June. The Case-Shiller report called this part of a “broad-based easing of home price gains” nationally, as 19 of the 20 cities in the index recorded slower gains than they recorded in June. As a comparison, between June 2013 and July  2013 prices grew by almost 2 percent, and annual appreciation was at 12.5 percent. Despite this slowdown, MyNorthwest is reporting that data from housing tracker RealtyTrac shows that Seattle was ranked fifth in the nation for home appreciation in August, behind only Cincinnati, Cleveland, Miami, and Pittsburgh.
If you would like more information on Seattle real estate, contact your local real estate agent today.