Each month we ask Magnolia Voice real estate expert Whitney Mason from Coldwell Banker Bain Associates to bring us the latest on the real estate market in our area. Here is Mason?s assessment from statistics compiled from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NMLS).
Looking back at the first month of 2011 and the last month of 2010, and then looking at how 2010 compared to 2009, market improvement in Magnolia appears to be occurring, with an increased number of sales and overall inventory down.
Since January 1 through the first 2 weeks in February, there have been 21 closed sales (combining single family residences (SFRs & condos) ranging in sales prices of $155,000 to $1,400,000, and 27 new pending sales.
As of Feb. 14, there were a total of 80 SFRs and 19 condos available for sale in Magnolia as listed in the NWMLS, ranging in price from $107,500 to $6,970,000, with 14 of these properties with asking prices of more than $1 million.
Looking at closed sales for Magnolia in 2010 as compared to 2009 as compiled by Rainier Title, there was a 22% increase in the number of sales of SFRs, with the median sales price up by 10% from $537,000 in 2009 to $590,500. Looking at condo sales, there was a 9% increase in the number of sales, with the median sales price up 12% from $320,000 to $357,475.
During 2010, a total of 33 sales in the $1-million-plus market occurred, with the most expensive sale being $3,275,000.
Magnolia appears to have fared fairly well in 2010 as compared to other Seattle neighborhoods. When looking at the number of closed sales and median sales prices for SFRs in 2010 as compared to 2009 for the 29 different Seattle neighborhoods by zip code, the total percentage of change for closed sales was a decrease of 1%, and the total percentage of change for median sales price was an increase of 1%.
Looking at Queen Anne SFRs by zip code, 98109 saw an 18% increase in the number of closed sales and a 12% increase in median sales price, while 98119 saw a 1% decrease in the number of closed sales and a 4% increase in median sales price. To offer some additional context using this same statistical report, the 98148 area in Burien saw a 67% decrease in the number of closed sales and a 24% decrease in median sales price, while the 98155 area in Shoreline saw 75% decrease in the number of closed sales, but a 56% increase in median sales price.
With different statistics for each neighborhood, it’s important to look at each specific area, and easy to understand why "bigger picture" analyses don’t necessarily apply in their totality to the individual neighborhoods in Seattle/King County. With the number of variables that come into play in analyzing the real estate market and making forecasts, it’s important to drill down to specifics when analyzing the market for individual purposes.
Another “cherry picked” set of statistics from people who have a conflict of interest when it comes to telling the truth about the state of RE…..
The median price “increase” was temporally relative and skewed by high end sales.
Bottom line is that prices continue to decrease, and will do so for some time.
Another “cherry picked” set of statistics from people who have a conflict of interest when it comes to telling the truth about the state of RE…..
The median price “increase” was temporally relative and skewed by high end sales.
Bottom line is that prices continue to decrease, and will do so for some time.
You don’t know that prices will decrease for some time. Stating your opinion as fact is no better than cherry picking stats.
We live near Fatima and just had our house appraised after a significant renovation (added a bedroom, bathroom, patio, 2ft more head space in the basement + finished basement, etc). Even after all of that our house lost 10% – after just one year! It’s only one data point but more real than these cherry-picked stats.
Have some integrity. Tell the truth. Headlines in the paper this week reveal values in this area continue to trend down. Why can’t you shed some insider’s prospective with some truth, and not hype the environment for obvious self sustaining need. Your credibility is zero.
“Magnolia appears to have fared fairly well in 2010 as compared to other Seattle neighborhoods. ”
That comment is completely false and doesn’t tell the true story of what’s happening.
Tell the person trying to sell their waterfront home for $1.5M that they bought in 2006 for $2.7M that the market in Magnolia is doing better than other Seattle neighborhoods.
There are many homes I’ve been watching on Magnolia that have sold for much less than the seller paid or are listed for significantly less than what the seller paid for it.
If the home is priced more than 2004 level pricing the home won’t sell. Prices will continue to roll back to pre-bubble levels.
I’ve never met a real estate agent who said it was a bad time to buy or or a bad time to sell. It’s always a great time to do either! The conflict of interest if obvious and for objective analysis you must go elsewhere. Consider the depressed state of our real estate market now with such low interest rates; now, think what will happen when rates go up. The amount buyers will be able to afford will go down as monthly payments go up. We haven’t seen the bottom yet, I’m afraid.