Market still strong in Seattle

Even the high-end homes get snatched up quickly

By Elizabeth Rhodes

When million-dollar homes, traditionally the slowest to sell, start flying out the door, it’s a strong signal that the market is sizzling. And that’s exactly what happened in King County last month. Look at three homes in North Seattle, one of the area’s hottest markets:

• A $2.5 million home drew two offers and sold in four days.

• A waterfront manse for just under $3 million quickly drew three offers.

• A home priced at $1.35 million was claimed in less than a week by a buyer who had the house inspected before making an offer — and then waived all contingencies, buying the house unconditionally. That’s common in lower price ranges, but above a million?

“The upper end is crazy; it’s wild,” said Barbara Shikiar, a Windermere agent who handled one of the sales. The million-dollar market heated up about a month ago, Shikiar says, and now “there are so many people waiting for the right thing.

“We haven’t had any inventory, so when something comes on, and it’s considered well-priced and has a fairly well-thought-out floor plan, it goes,” she said. “Prices have ratcheted up, too.”

That’s basically the story for all home sales in King and parts of surrounding counties, says the April sales report released Friday by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. The report showed that scant inventory is taking a bite out of sales and helping pump up prices. In the central Puget Sound area — King, Snohomish and Pierce counties — prices have jumped 17 to 21 percent in the past year.

In King County, the median sale price of a single-family home hit $419,500 in April, up from $405,000 in March. Median means half sell for more, half for less. The median April sales price of King County’s condominiums was $247,900. That’s a 1 percent drop from the previous month, but compared with April 2005, condo prices are up 21 percent.

Local real-estate experts say the market is being driven by various economic factors. First, mortgage-interest rates have climbed for six weeks straight and are now at their highest rate in four years — 6.67 percent for a 30-year fixed-rate loan, according to Bankrate.com. “Higher interest rates and price appreciation continue to put pressure on affordability,” said Chris Pauling, a Prudential Northwest Realty owner.

Buyers often react to this pressure by stepping up their efforts because they fear being priced out. Pauling also cited the area’s growing employment base. “Ultimately, what drives the housing market more than anything is jobs, and we have a continued robust economy,” he said. “We’re poised for more job growth.”

Also important is consumer confidence. John Brian Losh, chairman and CEO of Ewing & Clark, a real-estate brokerage, considers it “the most important factor in luxury sales” and says wealthy buyers are “feeling good about the economy.”

How good? A Windermere analysis revealed that 47 percent of all homes sold in west Bellevue this year cost at least $1 million. The same is true of 38 percent of Mercer Island’s transactions. The one significant negative for most buyers is rising gas prices. That’s increasing the demand for homes near major job centers, which will continue to push prices up.

“I don’t think there’s a question in Seattle anymore about a bubble market,” Pauling said. “We’ll continue to have good, strong demand.”

Are you being steered? You’re not alone.

This recent article is a painful reminder of the housing inequalities still prevalent today.

Study finds steering still far too common
-By Kenneth R. Harney, Seattle Times

Are minority home buyers treated differently from whites by real-estate agents? Ask that question to most agents, and you’ll almost certainly get indignant denials. But a new two-year study, funded in part by the federal government, suggests that at least for some agents, discriminatory practices are routine.

The study, from 2003 through mid-2005 in 12 metropolitan areas, used teams of “paired testers” — individuals or couples posing as home seekers to compare how agents treat African Americans, Latinos and whites. The 73 unidentified real-estate firms tested were in the Washington, D.C.; New York; Chicago; Philadelphia; San Antonio; Detroit; Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Birmingham and Mobile, Ala.; Dayton, Ohio; and Pittsburgh areas. The nonprofit National Fair Housing Alliance conducted the tests with financial support from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The methodology involved sending testers of different racial backgrounds to the same firms looking to buy a home. Each firm was visited by white testers and by either African-American or Latino testers. The African-American and Latino testers were assigned financial qualifications slightly superior to those of white testers. They had higher incomes, could make larger down payments, had longer employment tenures and could afford costlier houses than the white testers.

The results were sobering: White shoppers routinely were steered away from houses in predominantly minority or racially mixed neighborhoods, even when they expressed interest in those areas. African-Americans and Latinos routinely were steered to minority neighborhoods and away from more affluent, white neighborhoods, even when they wanted to see houses there.

Steve Cook, a spokesman for the National Association of Realtors, said, “We agree there is still work to be done in fair housing.” He noted that the 1.3 million-member association actively offers training programs to agents and member companies across the country.

Neighborhood highlight: Rainier Vista

Rainier Vista is an exciting new development in the Columbia City community that is being built right along the exciting light rail corridor with direct access to both downtown and the airport. As a large planned community, over a thousand homes are being built with shared neighborhood resources in mind. Great parks, community centers, and even abundant porch space is all designed to give the development a real neighborhood feel.

Additionally, all the builders are part of the built green network, a non-profit master builders association that only uses sustainable construction practices to build energy efficient and environmentally-friendly homes. Seattle is widely considered the national leader in building green, a growing trend that will be important for homes in the coming years.

If you’re looking for a great community, it’s definitely worth a look! New construction is being released almost every month- townhomes and single family homes in a variety of shapes, sizes, and prices.

Real Estate with a Conscience

There are so many headlines about the real estate market in Seattle. Is it a bubble? Or are we five years behind California’s Bay Area? Is there still affordable housing in the city? Where and how should I invest? Perhaps even more overwhelming than these questions is the amount of money that changes hands in this business. People assume that in a strong market that is appreciating, real estate agents are getting rich quick, but that is only partially true. There are certainly a small number of successful realtors making a fortune, but most are not. In fact, a competitive market like Seattle is more difficult than other areas because of the limited housing and multitude of agents.

My point is this: I am not merely about the bottom line- I did not get into this business with hopes of striking it rich. I believe that there is so much more to real estate than just financial transactions and contractual paperwork. I believe in real estate with a conscience- that home buying and selling is done best when the broader community is taken into consideration. Real estate can only be done with integrity when there is more than just profits at stake- and that is why I believe in giving back to the buyer and the community.

Whether it’s by cultivating neighborhood connections or merely providing the type of service that makes a house a home, I want to give back. Your business is not just my paycheck- it is an opportunity to better our communities and make the places we live more than just a space to occupy. Let’s get connected!

Visit Columbia City!

Geraldine’s Counter is just one of many great spots in Columbia City, quickly becoming one of Seattle’s most charming neighborhoods . The Beatwalk, the farmer’s market, and Columbia City Theatre are just a few other highlights worth checking out on a long list of things to see and do!

I have loved the diversity here- so many people from different backgrounds and nations reside in this multi-cultural area, making the neighborhood rich with life and color. Another great thing about living here is that housing is still relatively “affordable” (which of course is relative) considering its proximity to downtown Seattle- only 4-5 miles or a 10-15 minute drive.

If you’d like more information on this growing community, please let me know! I’d love to sit down over coffee, walk the Columbia City strip on Rainier Ave, and show you the neighborhood!

Sales show older homes are gaining value faster

By Elizabeth Rhodes and Justin Mayo, Seattle Times

This two-story, 3,369-square-foot Sammamish Plateau home was built in 1999 and sold for $389,144. It resold in 2004 for $450,000. The square-foot price in 1999 was $116; in 2004, it was $134. Annual appreciation: 3 percent.

Surrounded by luxurious neighborhoods of large new homes, Stuart and Lisa Carson’s 30-year-old rambler was nowhere near the handsomest home in its Sammamish neighborhood.

Still, there were frequent hints that the three-bedroom house, all of 1,560 square feet, might not be the wallflower it seemed.

“We had a note, probably every three months, on our door saying, ‘Call me if you’re interested in selling,’ ” Lisa Carson recalled. When that time came early last year, it sold immediately, delivering 9 percent annual appreciation on the home the couple had owned five years.

Meanwhile, 5-year-old homes nearby — bigger homes with fancy new amenities that the Carsons’ home didn’t have, on streets with sidewalks, which the Carsons’ street lacked — also were selling. And predictably, they were going for many thousands more than Stuart and Lisa Carson got.

But the profit their owners realized told a different story. In case after case, these newer homes dotting the Sammamish Plateau realized significantly less annual appreciation — usually 2 to 4 percent — than the Carsons’ nearby rambler did.

Read more here…

Experts say Seattle-area Home Prices will Remain High

By Elizabeth Rhodes and Justin Mayo

Seattle Times staff reporters

After a year of blistering home sales that saw appreciation climb to highs not seen since 1999, Charles Swanson can only shake his head.

“House prices are so expensive now that it really does not make sense,” said Swanson, a North Seattle homeowner. “I keep saying the bubble is going to burst when there is too much inventory, and prices will get back to realistic. But it never seems to happen.”

And it won’t any time soon, predicts Lawrence Yun, senior economist with the National Association of Realtors.

“It’s my view that Seattle is an underpriced West Coast city,” said Yun, pointing out that “people have been saying San Francisco is overpriced for the last 20 years, and it still keeps going up.”

A Seattle Times analysis of 2004 single-family home prices shows that the Seattle area certainly is trying to catch up.

The analysis breaks down annual sales by neighborhood on a price-per-square-foot basis, a more accurate gauge of home values than is median neighborhood prices. Some 86 King County areas are included, as are 22 in South Snohomish County. They follow boundaries selected by county assessors.

According to this formula, King County’s 2004 appreciation — 9.8 percent — was more than double the year before, and just behind the 10.1 percent posted in 1999.

Neighborhoods in the southern half of Snohomish County showed their strongest appreciation of the decade: 7.7 percent on a price-per-square-foot basis.

“So far this year, it feels like we’ll have a continuation,” said Joe Spencer, president of John L. Scott Real Estate. “We’ve all been surprised year after year after year that the market keeps moving forward the way that it has, but our best guess is we could see another 10 percent increase in price appreciation this year.”

Spencer says a host of factors make that possible. Among them are low mortgage-interest rates, high buyer demand, and a shortage of for-sale homes caused by two factors.

The first, Spencer says, is state-mandated growth management, which limits the number of houses that can be built.

The second is what he calls the “lockdown effect” that low mortgage rates are having on current owners.

“There are a lot of people who’ve decided they’ve got a nice low interest rate and a big house, and they’re comfortable living there for 10 years or more,” Spencer said.

“That contributes to tight inventory. Until we see a significant change in at least one of these areas, we’ll probably continue to see this kind of market.”

Here are some highlights of the Times analysis of 2004 detached home sales:

• Of King County’s 86 neighborhoods, 53 have median home prices of $300,000 or more. Compare that with just 25 in 2000.

• Five King County neighborhoods have a median price per square foot above $300; last year three did. Madison Park, the most expensive at $367, showed a huge gain from the year before, when it was $308. That means that a 2,000 square-foot house that cost $616,000 in 2003 would have cost $734,000, or 19 percent more, a year later.

• As in years past, the most affordable homes last year were in South King County. It had the only neighborhoods with median prices under $140 a square foot. Just one, Lea Hill, was under $130.

• Slightly more than half of King County neighborhoods enjoyed double-digit per-square-foot appreciation last year. Most were within Seattle, on the Eastside or in North King County.

• For short-term appreciation, Newport Shores/Kennydale was last year’s leader. Its one-year per-square-foot appreciation was 31.6 percent. But that was based on only 109 transactions in a small area where waterfront can skew modest sales numbers upward. A more accurate view of appreciation is gained over time.

• The five areas that showed the highest five-year appreciation (in order) were Rainier Valley, South Central West Seattle, South Park/Georgetown, West Kirkland and West Ballard. Some have been “sleeper areas” whose affordability offered entry to first-time buyers, and that has driven prices up. At least one, West Kirkland, has seen significant remodeling of older homes — certainly a factor driving prices up at resale.

• The five areas that registered the lowest five-year appreciation are all on the Eastside or in South King County. East Renton is the lowest, followed by Lake Youngs, Novelty/Ring/Union Hills, Preston/Fall City and Black Diamond/Maple Valley. Some are far from freeways or major job centers. Another factor is new home construction in those areas, which reduces pressure on housing demand.

• Last year, seven (of 86) King County neighborhoods were affordable to buyers with household incomes between $45,000 and $50,000. All were south of downtown Seattle. They were Auburn, South Park/Georgetown, Enumclaw, Twin Lakes, SeaTac, Boulevard/Riverton and Des Moines. Those earning less than $45,000 couldn’t have afforded a median-priced single-family house anywhere in King County.

• Some 16 areas last year were affordable only to buyers with household incomes in excess of $100,000. The year before, 11 areas fit that category. Not surprisingly, the communities at the top last year all offer Lake Washington waterfront: West Bellevue and Medina, Madison Park, Mercer Island, Laurelhurst/Windermere, North Capitol Hill/Montlake.

• Compared with King County, South Snohomish County’s appreciation was much more “steady as she goes” last year, with no neighborhoods coming close to the top ones in King. Leading the pack was Everett, where price appreciated 14.9 percent a square foot. Everett also was at the top for both three- and five-year appreciation.

• The median price per square foot was $177 or less in all South Snohomish County neighborhoods. In King County, only 38 percent of the areas surveyed have median costs that low.

• South Snohomish County’s most expensive neighborhood on a per-square-foot basis — Woodway/South Edmonds — was still less than half as expensive as Madison Park, King County’s most expensive.

• As for median sales prices, Everett was the only South Snohomish County area below $200,000 last year. Compare that with 2002, when five neighborhoods were below that threshold.

• The most expensive area in South Snohomish County was Mill Creek at $419,000. That’s about the same as North Seattle’s Green Lake neighborhood. But there’s a big difference: A home in Mill Creek averages about 2,500 square feet, about 1,000 square feet larger than Green Lake’s typical house.

Welcome to ChristinaLeong.com!

I am excited to be on the web to help people find so much more than just a house- home buying and choosing a new community can be so overwhelming these days! My hope is to make the experience a bit more accessible and pleasant for you- home ownership can be a real joy when done right.

This site will highlight homes, neighborhoods, and current real estate news relevant to the greater Seattle area. Check back soon for updates, articles, and resources!