Wendy Leung's Seattle Condo Blog

Downtown Seattle Condo Blog Update

Well, we are nearing the end of the first quarter, if you are wondering what is going on with Escala and Olive 8, here is a quick update.

Sales have been pretty consistent at Escala. Ever since the new sales team took over the project a year ago with some realistic price reductions, they have closed about 80 homes with an additional 15 pending for closing. Not bad for a year's effort.

What's interesting is that during my last tour, I had the chance to revisit their E floor plan. This home is facing west with really nice city and water views but it has a huge supporting column with a double sided fireplace in the middle of the living room. The sales team came up with a way to reduce the size of the column. What an improvement! The living space is more open and gives you better views. I thought that was a great idea giving buyer that option to reduce the column size. Check out the before and after pics below. 

Escala E floor plan before
Escala E floor plan after
(The drawings are for illustrative purposes only.) 

 E plans start at $1,089,000 on the east side of the building and $1,249,000 on the west side.

 

 

Olive 8 announced  they have closed 17 sales since the new year.  They have also launched their spring event offering special financing from 1.5% (for a conforming 5 year ARMs, 2.8% APR). In addition, the developer will be covering the closing costs and credit the first year's home-owner dues and health-club membership fees if the purchase closes before May 31st.

Related posts:

Escala's New Pricing
Escala Scaling Prices Soon
Escala Update Dec 2009
Escala Hard Hat Tour 
Escala Update
Escala Update February 2007
Escala priority presale event
Escala: Cristalla's biggest competition

Olive 8 Reset Pricing?
Olive 8's Video & Reset Pricing
Olive 8's New Pricing 
Olive 8 Auction Results
Olive 8 & 5th and Madison Update
Olive 8 going Auction

2010 Seattle Condo Market in Review

The Seattle condo market has definitely gone through a lot in the last few years.  Looking at 2010 as a whole, it did not preform as well as 2009 but it wasn't too far behind.

During the first 6 months of 2010, we saw a higher number of closed sales compared to first half of 2009.  This may have been due to the extension of the tax credit from October 2009 to April 30, 2010 which gave the market a boost in activity.  In addition to the original $8,000 first time home buyers' credit, a $6,500 tax credit was passed for repeat buyers as well.  Buyers had to be under contract by end of April, 2010 and closed by June 30 (the closing date was later extended to September 30, 2010) in order to qualify for this tax credit.

The strongest month was April; probably due to many buyers trying to meet the tax credit deadline closing date.  

Olive 8's Video & New Reset Pricing

Olive 8 announced reset pricing for their remaining homes.  According to their latest email, the reset pricing is 15-25% off the most recent list price and 30-40% off presale pricing.  More than 10 new sales have occurred in the past week.  

The website recently posted a video  hosted by Tom Kelly, a nationally syndicated real estate columnist and author discussing about the reset of Olive 8 and the downtown condo market.

The video pointed out that we are not going to see a new condo coming up in Downtown over the the next few years and Olive 8 represents 25% of the new inventory for all condominiums in downtown Seattle.  I agree that Olive 8 is one of the few newer projects available in downtown Seattle.  We have in fact seen several new condos in the city selling most of their inventory like Enso, Gallery, Marselle and 1521 and the condo market has lost some projects which were converted to apartments (it wasn't that long ago when all the apartments were planning to convert to condos!).

No new condos pouring into the market is a good news for sellers.  On the other hand, buyers have definitely taken their time coming back and bank lending remains pretty tight in general.  We should also keep in mind the new wave of apartments coming onto the market.  This will have an impact on the first-time buyer condo market who will have lots of apartments competing for their business as well as investor condos who will need to offer more competitive rents. That's just my take.  Any thoughts?

Related posts:

Olive 8's New Pricing 
Olive 8 Auction Results
Olive 8 & 5th and Madison Update
Olive 8 going Auction

Olive 8's New Pricing

Just saw an ad on Seattle Magazine that Olive 8 is rolling out their new pricing in the new year.  Following their auction event last September , 30 out of their 32 homes had closed successfully.  Matt has more details.  The building is now ~50% sold and remaining homes will start on the 27th floor. The developer will be reseting their prices on January 1st, 2011.  They have a new website launched to announce their new pricing.

Olive 8 and Fifth & Madison Update

The Seattle Times covered the Olive 8 auction last weekend.  According to  David Thyer, president of developer R.C. Hedreen,  all but 4 homes (out of the 32 auction homes) were accepted by the seller last Sunday.  

"Before Sunday, Olive 8 closed deals for 74 of its 227 units, mostly on the building's lower portion between floors 18 and 26.  The 32 units auctioned off Sunday represent nearly all of the unsold inventory on that lower portion, so "we'll no longer have prospective buyers going through those floors," Thyer said last week.  Olive 8 still has a little more than 100 unsold units on the top floors, with price tags from $500,000 to $6.9 million."

This made me wonder if all the Fifth and Madison auctioned homes actually reached the closing table.  I managed to pull some information and put together this updated sheet.  Out of the 16 auction homes, 13 closed within 60 days.  The three homes (#1102, #1200 & #1805) that went back on the market after the auction were subsequently closed within the next five months (presumably, not to bidders).  Out of the 13 homes  that closed within 60 days, a few of them were sold at a higher price.  They are #1803, #2200, and #2202.  The average closed price is still about 66% of the original listing price.  So, in Fifth and Madison's case, they managed to close ~81% of their auction homes, not a bad way to unload a big chunk of unsold inventory in a day.  

Related posts: 

Seattle Condo Auction Roundup
Seattle Condo Auctions: Equivalent of the Nordstrom Anniversary Sales?
5th and Madison and Trace Lofts Update
Queen Anne Auction- By the numbers
Lumen Auction Results
Brix and Gallery Auction Results
Press Auction: Going once, Going twice, Gone!

 -Wendy 

Downtown Seattle Condos Update

 
Four Seasons Hotel/Condo has reduced their prices on 13 of their remaining homes.  I just received the latest price sheet.  The price reduction ranges from 8%-47% with average price per square foot ranging from $1,097-$1,960.

5th and Madison is auctioning off 18 of their remaining homes on Sunday, March 28, 2010. Kennedy Wilson Auction, Inc will be conducting the auction.  Kennedy Wilson successfully auctioned two other projects in Seattle: the Press and Queen Anne High School.  Matt @ urbnlivn has more details.

Related posts:

Four Seasons Hotel/Condo New Prices

-Wendy

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Top Seattle Condo Market Developments and Trends

Before we focus too much on 2010, here's a quick look back at some of the most notable elements of the 2009 Seattle condo story.

1. Auctions 
2009 was the year for auctions. Queen Anne High School, Lumen, Brix and Gallery successfully sold most of their auctioned homes with closed price per square foot ranging from $334 to $439.  Brix and Gallery subsequently adjusted prices for their remaining homes and sales picked up swiftly.  Brix got approved by the FHA.  Meanwhile, Sunrise on the Lake, The Summit, and Avaview sold 19 of their 38 homes last December.

Four Seasons Hotel/Condo New Prices

Four Seasons Private Residences announced this week that they are extending some special pricing on selected remaining homes.  22 out of the 25 sales have closed so far with 11 remaining.  The price drop for some of these homes varies from 15%-25%.   

Madison Tower / Hotel 1000

Madison Tower/ Hotel 1000 was Seattle's first hotel/condo project completed in 2006.  Fourty-seven homes sit above the Hotel from the 15th level to 24th floors.  The building is located between Pioneer Square and Pike Place Market on the corner of 1st Ave and Madison St and occupies a quarter block.

There are five homes on each floor with the exception of the penthouse.  The 00 and 01 floor plans are west facing and offer the most optimum water views. 

00 Floor plan         Two bedroom 1980-3,010 sqft.       NW 

01 Floor Plan         Two bedroom 1,562-3,740 sqf.       SW   

02 Floor plan         Two bedroom 1,444 sqft.               SE 

03 Floor Plan         One bedroom 805 sqft.                   E

04 floor plan          One bedroom  877 sqft.                 NE

Click here for the floor plans.

Feb 1 Seattle Condo Update

Well, it has only been a week since I was gone for my vacation but it seems like a number of condo projects have some news for us.

• Fifteen Twenty-One kicked off their grand opening event with a light show and tour of their model home. There are 11 homes remaining with the lowest price starting at $975,000.     

• Alex in Belltown announced that they are moving ahead in full speed as a condomium project. They will be selling their homes sometime in May. Completion for this condo building is going to be in late spring.  

• Market Street Landing, the condo project replacing the Denny's in Ballard is still under going design review. The 5 and 8 story buildings will house 330 homes. The design review board thinks that the design still needs a little bit of work. Read more here.  

• Equinox has updated their website. The construction progress is on track with windows installed and sheet rock started in the North Building. A model unit will be available for viewing in late March. Homeowners can be expected to move in in June.  

• Trace North is featuring 5 homes under $300k.    

• Ruby will be holding their grand opening on February 7th and 8th (Saturday & Sunday). Prices for their lake view homes start at $329,990 and bridge view homes start from $259,990. The project is also FHA approved. Read more on the hard hat tour.

Related Posts:

Alex Update
Equinox Update
Fifteen Twenty-One Opening Ceremony
Trace North Update
Ruby Condos Update

Olive 8- Green Roof

       

Last week, the Olive 8 hotel / condo installed one of downtown Seattle's largest green roofs. The 8,355 square foot green roof is on the fourth floor podium of the Hyatt at Olive 8 and is comprised of two parts. The first part of the installation was on top  of the roof's mechanical system. The second installation was on the podium. Judging from the pictures, it's definitely a nice addition for the building and visually more pleasant than looking at the mechanical systems. I would imagine residents will get more enjoyment out of it if it is accessible from the building and they could pull out some chairs and relax on the roof. Read more on the green roof.

Related posts:

Olive 8 and 5th & Madison Update
Olive 8 Auction Results
Olive 8 Going Auction
Olive 8 Price Guarantee
Olive 8 Update
Olive 8 Hard Hat Tour
Hotel Condo Shoot Out 
Olive 8 

My thoughts on Four Seasons

(Photos from Nyhus Communications, LLC.)

Four Seasons's open house took place on last Thursday. I was curious if the completed project would really live up to the Four Seasons brand and whopping price tags so I decided to check out their open house. I drove up to the entrance and was greeted by courteous hotel staff dressed in finely pressed Four Seasons attire ready to park the car, open the front doors, and provide you with the courtesy they would any hotel guest. 

AVA Update

AVA, a downtown hotel/condo project, has received their Master Use Development Permit and is anticipating construction to commerce this fall. The sales center, located at the corner of Olive Way and 8th Ave, will be open to homebuyers by appointment only beginning next month. A large scale model of the tower, interior model vignettes of the kitchen and bathroom, final floor plans, views, finishes and other exhibits will be available for homebuyers to preview as well. To make a reservation, a $10,000 refundable deposit will be required. The reservations provide homebuyers the first right of opportunity to purchase the home within a provided price range. If you are interested in my opinion on this project, check out my previous review here.

Related posts:

Seattle Condo Construction Update
AVA Sneak Preview
AVA Condos
8th and Pine

-Wendy

1 Hotel Residences Redesign

Several projects in the Belltown and downtown area are either on hold or converted to apartments. 1 Hotel Residences on the other hand is undergoing a redesign. The proposed redesign will eliminate 132 of the project's 176 individually owned condo-hotel suites. They will be replaced with 192 smaller, conventional hotel rooms (level 9th-14th). The heavily marketed City suites units will be located on the 15th and 16th level. The residential condominium units on the higher floors will not be affected. Read more.

-Wendy

Olive 8 update- Price Guarantee

Olive 8, one of the Seattle hotel/condos combos has recently announced that they will be offering new buyers a price guarantee.  The developer feels so confident that their project is offering high quality and outstanding value in the market place, that they are prepared to back it up with a price guarantee to new buyers.  The agreement says that if the same floor plan within Olive 8's remaining inventory sells for less than the current price prior to closing, the buyers who contracted for a higher price home will benefit at closing with the equivalent discount to their price.  According to the developer, the low price guarantee assurance is offerred to help shore the confidence of those who are on-the-fence.

Seems like a great marketing strategy -- will be interesting to see whether other projects follow suit.

 

Construction for Olive 8 has been progressing nicely. The hotel floors have been poured and condominiums floors are being poured at the rate of one every seven days. 

Related posts:

Olive 8 and 5th & Madison Update
Olive 8 Auction Results
Olive 8 Going Auction
Olive 8 Update
Olive 8 Hard Hat Tour
Hotel Condo Shoot Out 
Olive 8

-Wendy