2013 Central District Real Estate Recap.

This is my recap of home sales in the Central District and how it compares to the rest of Seattle.

Prices for pre-owned homes in the Central District of Seattle increased 12% in the past year. The number of sales increased 25%.  Over the past 10 years, the number of home sales in the Central District has averaged 242 sales per year whereas we had 228 in 2013 and 192 in 2012.  2012 was the lowest number of home sales since before 2003.  3 of the past 10 years experienced more than 300 sales.  In 2013 Seattle as a whole experienced a 16% increase in the number of sales and a 12.7% increase in prices.

Sales of new construction in the Central District (West of MLK)  increased from 14 sales in 2012 to  25 sales this year.  The median  price is $597k, unchanged from 2012.  I was curious to see how this compared to 2009 when the real estate market was really suffering.  My findings were suprising.   In 2009 there were 68 new home sales at a median price of $472k.   Since 2009 there has been a  63% drop in the number sales and a 26% increase in prices.  (Pre-owned prices are 14% higher than in 2009).  It feels that more new homes are under construction and the average prices are going to be much higher than last year.

What does 2014 have in store?  Home affordability will drop.  Zillow is predicting a 6.7% increase in home prices over the year 2014.  Regarding interest rates, Kiplinger is predicting 5%-5.5%,  Zillow is predicting 5%, Forbes is predicting 5.5%.  A house costing $500,000 today would require $2280 a month with 10% down. Next year, that house will cost $533k but the payments would be $2725 at a 5.5% interest rate.

I hope this has been useful, contact me with any questions.  I have a lot more information that I couldn’t squeeze into this article.  www.DanSanchezRealtor.com

Local Housing already affected by Budget Impass

I have been publishing a real estate newsletter in the CD for the past couple of years.  The median days on market for a house in 98122 (less than $800k) has been around 7-9 days for the past year and half.  This means that half of all houses sell in less than 7-9 days.  In the last 30 days, the number has jumped to 17 days!  Rising interest rates in July caused a 2-3 day increase in market time in August, but it seems that the budget impass has added another week.  On a side note, interest rates have stabilized at 4.25% -4.30% for a 30yr fixed rate mortgage.  I expect that rates will fall through the floor after the Budget Impass is resolved, although they might rise first.  The drop in rates would be as a result of the slowdown in the economy caused by the government shutdown.  Dan Sanchez

Real Estate Trends in the 98122

This is an update to my posting from last January.  In the last 30 days, 35 listings came online in the 98122 (for prices less than $800k) That is the most since October of 2010.  19 monthly listings is the median during the past 12 months.  Of the 35 listings that came oneline last month only 10 are currently for sale.

Prices in the Central Area are outpacing Greater Seattle. Median prices are up 13.9% in the past 60 days as compared to a year ago.  This compares to a 10.6% increase for Seattle that was recently reported by Case/Schiller.  Median price per foot is up 19.1% in 98122.  The price per foot is up higher because the smaller nicely-kept  entry level house in the Central District is pretty much at least $400k.  I remember turning down a listing a year ago that I knew I couldn’t sell for $350k but comps-out now over $400k.

I have been telling people to expect more inventory to come online as more people realize that they can sell their home for a profit.  Historically people only stay in their homes for around 5 years.  The current average is 9 years.  Only recently have people been able to sell at a profit if they bought 7 or 8 years ago.  I believe that more of these homeowners will sell their homes as they come to realize this.  I think that inventory will go up, price appreciation will continue upwards but not as steeply, and market times will increase in the areas close to Downtown.

The above information is for homes priced under $800k in the 98122 and is from sources I deemed reliable as well as from my own opinion.  Don’t rely on the accuracy of any of this information without independently verifying it yourself.  You can see my blog at www.DanSanchezRealtor.com

 

Home prices up 12-15% since last year in 98122

For single family homes in 98122 priced below $800,000:  2 years ago there were 70 homes for sale.  1 year ago there were 40.  Today there are 16.

Prices are up 15% (12% based on price per square foot) in the 98122 zipcode for houses priced less than $800,000.  This also happens to be approximately 15-20% more than homes were worth in 2005.

Two years ago there were 70 houses for sale in our area.  One year ago there were 40.  Today there are 16.  The number of sales has remained steady in a range of 15-20 sales per month for the past two years.  I believe that we are on the verge of a severe supply and demand imbalance which will result in dramatic price increases in the next few months.

If you have any questions at all call Dan Sanchez at John L Scott Real Estate at 206-499-9025

The above information is based on my own opinion of the statistics that I gathered and should not be used for any purpose unless independently verified by the reader.