Hello Friend–
More of the Same
I would love to have something new to tell you, but you’ve heard it all before about how hot the real estate market is. The Northwest Multiple Listing Service made a shocking statement in this month’s market update – inventory levels are down to around two weeks in some areas! That means that if we stopped listing homes,we’d run out of homes to sell in a little over two weeks. And, not just our area – inventory levels have continued to tighten up around the country— in fact around the world! The Seattle Times claimed recently that our market heat index is second only to Phoenix. If you Google “real estate bidding wars” you’ll see zillions of articles on hot real estate markets across the country, like the home in Washington DC fixer upper that received 76 cash offers. If you’re like me, you wish that you had purchased 5-10 extra homes 10 years ago. But, not to worry. It’s never too late – we don’t see anything but forward momentum. Demand and migration to the Eastside especially remain strong, and many of our largest local employers are looking forward to welcoming people back to the office soon. Amazon has announced their new building design in Bellevue and Google in Kirkland has announced expansions as well.
There are still opportunities
We have found that there’s a huge difference in price and demand between the super popular homes and the homes that people might overlook. There are still good homes available for sane prices – homes that need some updating or vision, homes that are outside of the heavily contested locations, homes where schools are maybe not as popular, homes that are priced on the high side and some condos and townhomes are opportunities right now. So, if you are pursuing the most popular homes you’ll need to be prepared to take some risks and pay a huge premium, but if you are willing to compromise a bit, we can still help you get a home without having to lose your mind.
Want to get an insane price for your home?
The homes that sell crazy high are the homes that have been updated and tricked out. It seems like all of the buyers for the weekend gravitate to the “best” home of the week, and those are the homes that gets a zillion offers and price goes sky high. So, let me know if you are curious about what that might look like for you if/when you sell in the future. I can also advise you on simple, inexpensive things you can do to improve your market appeal.
Interesting Trends
When I started selling real estate in 1994 Bellevue was the little sister to Seattle, and prices were considerably higher in Seattle than they were in Bellevue. We most often work on the Eastside, but did some work comparing markets for one of our Amazon buyers looking at both sides of the lake last month. Over the last 60 days, Seattle addresses between 2000 and 3000 square feet sold in an average of 6 days at 105.43% of List Price and closed at a median price of $950K. Bellevue addresses between 2000 and 3000 square feet sold in an average of 5 days at an insane 116.85% of List Price and closed at a median price of $1,125,000! (Yes, I checked it twice to make sure that was right).
Want to know what the market and inventory look like around your home? Call me. Every home is different.
Warmest Regards,
Rhonda
(425) 503-0300
Real Estate Service for Bellevue and the Eastside
Keller Williams Eastside
Inspiring Movie of the Month – 7 Yards on Netflix. I’d love to hear your picks, and especially love stories on ordinary people living extraordinary sacrificial lives serving others in this world.