Pent-up demand triggering record pace of home sales around Western Washington

Northwest Multiple Listing Service members notched a record high level of pending sales during April, surpassing the year-ago volume by nearly 1,800 transactions. Both closed sales and prices also surged last month as the spring market kicked into high gear.

Buyer confidence and buyer ability to purchase are fueling activity, suggested Ken Anderson, the managing broker and owner of Coldwell Banker Evergreen Olympia Realty. “Long building pent-up demand is being unleashed,” he commented.

MLS members reported an 18.7 percent year-over-year increase in pending sales, with the volume of mutually accepted offers rising from 9,590 transactions to 11,384. For the four-county Puget Sound region members logged 8,671 pending sales to top the 8,000 mark for only the second time in the past 16 years.

Closed sales and prices also accelerated, according to Northwest MLS statistics. Across the 23 counties covered by the report there were 7,696 closed sales. That total represents a 24.3 percent increase from the year-ago volume of 6,190 closings. Within the four county region, Pierce County experienced a jump of nearly 38 percent in closed sales compared to a year ago, followed by Snohomish County with a 35 percent increase, prompting one MLS director to comment, “That is super amazing.”

“We are still very clearly in the midst of a seller’s market and unless we see a significant increase in listings, it will remain that way for the foreseeable future,” remarked OB Jacobi, president of Windermere Real Estate. Jacobi and other brokers reiterated the dire need for listings.

Members added 11,495 new listings to inventory during April, but brisk sales kept supply tight and well below the level of a year ago. At the end of April, the MLS reported 18,132 listings of single family homes and condominiums in its database, a drop of more than 15 percent from the year-ago total of 21,390.

Compared to March, inventory at the end of April improved by 6.6 percent, but pending sales jumped 13.7 percent from the previous month.

“We’re in desperate need of inventory so I hope to see an increase in listings as we move further into the late spring/early summer,” stated Jacobi.

Northwest MLS figures show less than 2.4 months of supply at the end of April, down from the March figure of 2.5 months and down from a year ago when there was about 3.5 months of supply. Inventory is especially tight in King County, with 1.3 months of supply, and Snohomish County, with about 1.5 months. Many industry analysts use a range of four-to-six months as an indicator of a balanced market.

Prices on last month’s closed sales were up 12.4 percent. The median price for April’s sales of single family homes and condos was $309,000, which compares to the year-ago price of $275,000. For single family homes only (excluding condos), the median price rose from $287,500 to $320,000 for a gain of 11.3 percent. Condo prices jumped nearly 13.8 percent system-wide.

In King County, where homes fetch the highest prices, the median price of last month’s sales of single family homes was $480,000. That reflects a gain of 11.5 percent from the year ago price of $430,500. King County condo prices increased about 8.8 percent from a year ago, rising from $250,000 to $272,000.

“What’s available and that looks at least ‘pretty good’ is selling,” according to MLS director Dick Beeson, principal managing broker at RE/MAX Professionals in Tacoma. Commenting on the latest MLS statistics, he said, “What we have in the Greater Puget Sound real estate market is too many buyers chasing too few homes.”

Beeson cautioned buyers against “playing games” with sellers. “The new normal for buyers is that the quest for the perfect home may have to wait,” suggested Beeson. “You should buy now, get in the mix, buy a home and build equity for a future decision,” he advised. “Don’t wait to pay more for the same home next year.”

Brokers do not appear to be worried about a housing bubble.

“Some are talking about the potential for another housing bubble given the lack of homes for sale and the bullishness of buyers in bidding up properties,” acknowledged Jacobi. “For now,” he said, “I believe there are sufficient safeguards in place to keep this from happening.”

Anderson agreed. “With pending home sales in Thurston County at record levels I am often asked if we are repeating the problems the last run-up caused,” he stated, adding, “There are two important differences in this market. There is not the overbuilding we saw before, and the buyers are truly qualified for today’s mortgages. Both facts suggest we won’t have a problem with the oversupply that contributed to the recent downturn. This time the market improvement is built on solid footings.”

Northwest Multiple Listing Service, owned by its member real estate firms, is the largest full-service MLS in the Northwest. Its membership includes more than 23,000 real estate brokers. The organization, based in Kirkland, Wash., currently serves 23 counties in Washington state.

Bellevue Condo Report: Inventory Extremely Low

This is the Bellevue Condo report from A New Day Real Estate for January 27, 2015.

As of today, there are currently 130 condos in Bellevue that are listed for sale on the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS).  That number is definitely a low number, but when you examine the list and realize that approximately half of those condos that are listed are located at Washington Square, it really shows how tight the condo market is here in Bellevue.


Then you add in the fact that 7 of the 10 least expensive Bellevue condos are located at the Silver Glen 55+ community and realize that at least a few of the remaining 58 condos are really not sellable because of huge and unreasonable HOA assessments.  When it all comes down to it - there are really only around 55 condos on the market in Bellevue (that are not located at Washington Square, Silver Glen or burdened with debt that make them unlikely to sell).  That means that inventory is LOW!  If you are looking to buy a condo in Bellevue right now, there is not a lot of selection available.  If you are thinking about selling your condo in Bellevue, this is GREAT news - it's a great time to list and sell your condo without a lot of competition.  Get it priced right and it should easily sell in 30-60 days.

The highest priced condo currently for sale in Bellevue is a $3.35 million dollar unit on the 41st floor of Bellevue Towers.  Besides some amazing views, this unit in Bellevue Towers features 3,403 square feet, 2 bedrooms, 2.5 baths and has been on the market for 122 days.

The lowest priced condo currently listed for sale in Bellevue is at Silver Glen 55+ community listed at $109,950.  Outside of Silver Glen, the lowest price condo listed for sale in Bellevue is located in The Highlands condos across the street from Microsoft's Redmond campus.  The 1/1 unit is listed at $135k, but the complex has recently taken out a huge amount of trees from the property and has been discussing a future 'special' assessment against each unit owner.

As of today, there are only 41 condos in all of Bellevue that are listed at less than $500,000 asking price - and that is including at least 7 units at Silver Glen, but not including a boat slip at Newport Shores that is still listed as a condo.

A New Day Real Estate: Bellevue Homes Report December 29, 2014

This information was first posted at ANewDayRealEstate.com, but shared here on the Bellevue Business Journal news site, as our readers have said that they are very interested in the current state of real estate in Bellevue and on the Eastside.

 
This is the Bellevue Homes Report for December 29, 2014 by Joe Kennedy of A New Day Real Estate and the Bellevue Real Estate Investors .



As of today there are 109 single family residences in Bellevue listed for sale on the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

The homes currently listed for sale in Bellevue range in price from $419,900 for a 1,490 square foot house in Lake Hills to $32.8 million for a 11,520 square foot estate on Meydenbauer Bay / Lake Washington.

In all of Bellevue, there are currently only 11 houses listed for sale at less than $500,000. There are only 57 homes in Bellevue listed for sale at less than one million dollars and there are 52 houses in Bellevue that are listed for sale at over $1 million.

If you are interested in buying, selling, investing or are just curious as to where your currently property fits in, please feel free to call me at 425-429.8590 or email Joe(at)ANewDayRealEstate.com.

If you live, work and/or play in Bellevue, it's important that you know about Renewal Food Bank in Bellevue. They do great work helping to feed over 250 families in Bellevue each week. Renewal Food Bank is located at the Highland Covenant Church at 15022 Bel-Red Road, Bellevue, WA 98007 and online at http://RenewalFoodBank.com.

A New Day Real Estate and the Bellevue Real Estate Investors networking group will be working to help support Renewal Food Bank during 2015. Please contact me if you would like to help.