Downtown Seattle Condos | Blog & Reviews by Wendy & Marco

It's a Seller's Market: Seattle Condo March 2013 Update

I took a look at March 2013 data and pretty much every neighborhood has the same story.  Sales up. Median prices up.  Inventory flat.  

If you were one of those condo investors waiting for the market to pick up to avoid having to have a unit sit on the market too long, your time may have come.  You'll not reap huge windfalls from a pricing point of view but you'll certainly see some action and at a price that's considerably more than you would have gotten a year ago.

In terms of neighborhoods, Belltown/Downtown and Queen Anne/Magnolia both had almost double the units sold in March as they did in Feb but number of listings available was either flat or down versus February.  

 

Trio Condominiums in Belltown

The Trio Condominiums were built during the new construction boom of 06/07 by Triad Development and was completed in 2008. It is located in Belltown on Western Ave between Denny Way and Bay Street.  The building offers a mid-range level of finishes and building features, which
makes it popular for the mid-price range buyers seeking newer constructed condos with modern touches and amenities.  

A Cool Seattle Map for Income and Rent

Whether you are asprired to move into downtown Seattle from another city or thinking of renting out your own property, this is one cool map you may want to check out. Chris Persaud, a data journalist, has consaolidated the Amercian Community Survey data on his website Rich Blocks, Poor Blocks on rent and income into a map of U.S. census tracts. The color coded map allows you to have a quick easy look on the different neighborhoods' median income and rent. 

How Will the New Seattle Tunnel and Removal of the Viaduct Affect Condo Views and Values?

 The Seattle waterfront is undergoing an epic change that will forever change the face of the city from the water’s edge.  That change is the replacement of the aging Alaskan Way Viaduct.  After nearly a decade of debate, deliberation, public comment and vote, as well as even legislative action, the decision was made last year in 2012 to move ahead with the deep bore tunnel option as the replacement method for the two level elevated viaduct that currently runs along the Seattle waterfront.

I am going to do a blog series talking about the good, the bad, and the ugly from the condominium owner and buyer’s perspective with regards to this project.  I’ll hold my opinions until the end of the series, but I want to take you on a photo and map journey through the neighborhoods around the current viaduct that will be most impacted. Hopefully, this series will help bring some clarity and help folks make decisions about where they might want to live if they are looking into buying. Or if you currently own a Seattle condo in the affected areas, if and when you might want to consider selling and moving up to something different, or even staying put and enjoying what is to come.

We will start with where the tunnel is starting and where the viaduct has already partially been removed, which is Pioneer Square and the Stadium District (also called the south portal). This is the area where you see most of the construction going on currently.  What’s happening here?  They have basically temporarily rerouted highway 99 around an area where they are actively digging and constructing the south portal of the tunnel (aka, the Pit). This is where the big boring machine will be starting its dig to the north deep beneath the city.  You can consider this ground zero, where it all starts.

Building Most Likely Affected In:
PIONEER SQUARE & STADIUM DISTRICT

Seattle Bank Owned and Short Sales Update

Thanks Marco on the great wrap up for 2012 Seattle Condo Market!

For those of you who are still curious about distressed properties and their impact on the market (bank owned and short sale inventory), this is for you. More than 6 months ago, we pulled some data from NWMLS on bank owned and short sale condos. At that time, bank owned and short sale condos made up about 19% of the total listings. Last month's data shows that it was almost the same. However, if you compare that to almost 2 years ago, distressed assets as a percent of all on the market went down significantly.

In the first half of 2012, we had a total of 315 distressed condos, during the 2nd half, it went down to 259 sales. Interestingly, bank owned properties sales dropped from 186 to 93  in the 2nd half of last year while short sale condos went up by almost 30% from 129 to 166 sales perhaps an indication of banks starting to work with owners when a short sale is proposed.

In summary, we had fewer distressed condos coming on the market in 2012 than in 2011; so far we are not seeing any influx of bank owned properties coming on the market. I agree with Marco's prediction that we are not likely to see an increase in them in 2013; this will be a good news for sellers.  

( Data extracted from NWMLS on 01/29/2013 and are deemed reliable but not guaranteed. 

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

Related posts:

Seattle Bank Owned and Short Sale Properties July 2012

Seattle Bank Owned and Short Sales Properties April 2011

2012 Seattle Condo Market in Review - The Year of Dwindling Inventory

As we start off 2013, every year in January we like to take a quick pause to take a look back and recap the major events, trends, and milestone from the previous year and for the heck of it, make some forecasts and predictions for the upcoming year.

Trends of 2012 and Events Worth Noting

We saw our condo market absorption rates increase and inventory dwindle to the point nearly all segments of our Seattle condo market were leaning toward a seller’s market with less than three months of inventory. 

Multiple offers returned but interestingly enough we did not see a sharp incline in pricing. This is likely due to buyers who were much more conservative and resistant to overpaying in light of the recent market crash. This could also be due to more stringent appraisal review practices by lenders, which many applaud.

2200 Condominiums in South Lake Union reached the largest construction defect settlement in state history with its developer for $26 million dollars.

We saw the return of investor buyers. An increase in all cash purchases seemed to indicate investors gained confidence in spending again.

Many newer condominium buildings entered litigation with their developers in accordance with the Washington State Condominium Act’s construction warranty time frames. This further limited available condo units on the market because units that are for sale in buildings with pending litigation have a very hard time obtaining buyer financing.

Client Question of the Week: I want to sell, but don’t know if I’ll find anything to buy

This email directly from a new client of ours speaks to a very common question and concern we are hearing regarding the Seattle condo market.

“Hey Marco, I'm still on the fence, but am leaning towards staying put until later this year. The lack of inventory is a concern, as I don't want to be 'homeless' for an extended period.”

Great question and valid concern “Mr. If I sell, will I find a new place?”

It’s no secret we don’t have a lot of inventory in Seattle condos right now.  This presents an opportunity and a challenge to those condo owners who would like to move up and sell their current condo and purchase something different.  In this client’s situation, he is a young professional that has some equity in his condo and would like to take advantage of lower mortgage rates and buy while prices are still affordable (compared to pre-recession prices). However, the concern is that with hardly any options on the market, can he find something he likes.

In general, my advice is have some confidence in the fact that new inventory will be coming on the market.  Many people are in the same situation, and if we can in affect, break the log jam of on the fence sellers, we will in turn, see more options for buyers to choose from.

We turn to a couple graphics from the stats and data team at Windermere to illustrate the inventory levels here in the area month over month from 2008-2009 and 2011-2012  (click on the images below to make them larger).
                                                                     (Click to see larger image)

Fifteen Twenty-One - Downtown

Fifteen Twenty-One Condominiums released a press release on Friday to announce that they are 97% sold with only 4 developer units left to sell. According to the press release, 139 of the 143 developer owned units in the high rise have sold. They also indicate that 222 condos sold above $1 million in downtown Seattle since November of 2008, and that 122 of those have been in Fifteen Twenty-One. Those sales averaged $1.7 million or approximately $900 per square foot.

On the heels of this press release, we thought it would be a great time to update our Condo Review on this building.

The stats:

• 143 units
• 38 stories
• Built in 2008
• All units have 2 bedrooms and most have den spaces as well with 2 or 2.5 bathrooms
• Range in size from 1644 to 2999 square feet
• All have 1 or 2 parking spaces and some have more
• 27 units sold in the last year ranging in price from $825,000 to $4,250,000
• 4 developer owned units and 1 resale are available at the time of this article
• Designed to LEED Silver standards
• Amenities: Rooftop deck with outdoor kitchens and fireplaces, 24 hour concierge, building manager, business conference space, fitness center, yoga/pilates studio, playroom for children, bike storage, pet area, and optional wine room and work studios
• HOA dues include: water, sewer, garbage, central hot water, earthquake insurance, cable TV, 24 hour concierge, master insurance policy, building manager

The pros:

• Expansive water and/or city views from every unit
• High-quality building amenities
• Ultra luxury finishes
• AC in every unit (important for high floor west facing units especially)
• High speed elevators
• Being on 2^nd Avenue you are close to Pike Place Market, the retail and financial districts as well as Belltown’s amenities
• Private Decks/Outdoor spaces are an innovative open and closable solarium sliding window

The cons:

• 2^nd Avenue is a busy street and can be noisy
• Close by bars and night clubs can be an annoyance
• Nothing available under $800,000 price mark
• As it may be a pro above to some buyers, it’s also a con to others that the private decks/outdoor spaces on the units are not fully open like most traditional decks. They were designed more as solariums which can be opened and closed.   

By Marco Kronen with Seattle Condo Review: A guide to Seattle Condos and Downtown Seattle Condos exclusively for buyers and sellers.

Client Question of the Week: Long Market Times for Condos in Newer Buildings?

Client Question of the Week: “I'm considering selling in the new year but I am seeing long market times in some newer buildings and that concerns me, I thought things were picking up and getting better for condo sellers in Seattle?”

Dear Scared To Sell:

This is a common question these days, and it comes down to a condo unit's ability to be purchased and the risks associated with its purchase.  Condo ownership is a wonderful thing, but like any real estate purchase (house, townhome, land, floating home, etc.) there are risks to that investment. The newer buildings you are seeing with long market times likely are those in the middle of their warranty investigations or those in the various phases of litigation with their developers.

Unfortunately, this is common with new construction condominiums.  Due to the Washington Condominium Act, which was intended, I think, to protect the condo buyer in new construction, developers of new condo buildings have to provide a warranty for certain aspects of a building's construction against defects. Sounds like a great thing right? Well, since our condo buildings are built by humans, none of them are built perfectly. So things do come up that need to be repaired, replaced, fixed etc.  There are limits to how long an HOA can hold a builder/developer accountable for certain construction defects.  I'm not an attorney so my specific knowledge is limited to the exact terms of the state statute, but basically what this results in with nearly every new condo building in our city, is that something in a building will result in a dispute on whose role or responsibility it is to fix it.  If the HOA and the developer do not agree, a motion is filed by the HOA to protect their right to sue if they can't come to agreement.

Seattle Condo Market Update: Soft Landing for the Winter

November 2012 data are in.  Here's some key takeaways and of course, the charts.

• After several year-over-year thumpings of monthly 2011 sales, November 2012 was higher than November 2011...but only by ~15% (versus the ~30% advantages we saw in September and October year-over-year comparisons).  Perhaps the we're finally settling in for our winter hibernation.
• Median prices for Seattle overall saw a soft landing, slightly higher than November 2011 but considerably lower than the banner October 2012 numbers ($245K versus $275K).
• At the neighborhood level Belltown/Downtown remains the most solid overall with sales almost as high as October 2012, median prices up 10% month over month, and inventory still tight.