Seattle Condos and Downtown Condos | Reviews by Wendy & Marco

Insignia: First New Seattle Condo to Break Ground in 5 Years

Well, after years of no new Seattle condo developments, we now have a $200M investment breaking ground.  

As you may recall, Insignia was put on hold in 2008 due to the dampening market conditions at the time.  However, this month, work has started in the Denny Triangle for up to two 41-story residential towers.  The project would be blocks from Amazon's recently proposed new office towers.  The first phase of the project should be done in late 2014 and if they end up going with both towers, may ultimately produce over 650 units.

For more info, check out this great article in the Seattle Times.


By Wendy Leung with Seattle Condo Review: A guide to Seattle condos exclusively for buyers and sellers. 

What are the market conditions for Seattle condos?

May 2012 data is in and here are some key highlights!

Sales continue to climb; in fact, they've improved around 20% month over month since February.

 

Median prices on the other hand have inched up but seem pretty stable since March 2012.

To Sell or Not to Sell...That is the Seattle Condo Question.

As the market is showing a little bit more buying activity and inventory is reaching new lows, many owners can't help but wonder if now is finally a good time to unload their properties.  This is especially true for those who have been renting out their condo where the current tenant is moving out in a few months.  

To sell or not to sell...  

Recently, a client of mine who owns an one bedroom, 850 square foot condo in Belltown in a fairly new building was contemplating this very same decision. He is an out-of-state owner with a tenant moving out in the summer. Unlike some sellers who bought during the peak and are carrying two mortgages on their condo, he only has one mortgage.  So even if the value still has not returned to his original purchasing price, if he sells it, he doesn't need to bring any cash to the closing table. 

So, it comes down whether he should continue renting it or selling it and moving onto something else. Let's look at some hypothetical numbers for his case.