Home Girls: Local real estate market is hot

Everything You Wanted to Know about the Local Real Estate Market (But Were Afraid to Ask)

By Nan Skinner

Residential Homes Market

The residential category includes single family properties and townhomes.

In May 2014, there were 56 homes for sale in Lake Forest Park and Shoreline. The average current list price was $657,514 and the original list price was $667,112. This shows that some homes were priced too high for this market resulting in price reductions on 20 homes. The median list price was $429,700; the high was $5,850,000 and the low for May was $199,950. The average number of days on market was 41; the shortest was 10 and the longest was 491 days. Two of these 56 homes are new construction and the rest (54) are resale. The average price per square foot of these 56 homes is $237.62.

Sales in May 2014

In the same month, 80 homes were sold following the trend of lower inventory (more homes sold than available to purchase). The average current list price (LP) of these homes that sold in May 2014 was $401,501 which was a little less than the average original list price (OLP) of $403,652. The average sale price was above both the LP and the OLP at $406,178 which is 101.88% of list price. Fifty-one homes sold for asking price or over asking price (more sold for over asking price). 

The median list price was $370,000; high was $930,000 and low was $179,900. The average number of days on the market was 23; the shortest was 1 day and there were 4 at 2 days. What does that mean? It means that as soon as the property came on the market, buyer(s) made offers and those offers were accepted right away and the listing status was changed to pending. Buyers and sellers still had to wait for the closing process to be completed. The highest priced sale was $930,000 (OLP was $1.1M) and the lowest priced sale was $179,900 (OLP was $190,000). Two of the homes sold were new construction and they both sold for their original list price (OLP – in the $500K-560K range). Seventy-eight sales were resale homes. The average price per square foot of these 80 sales was $214.62.

Active residential listings

Condominium Market

In May of 2014, there were 12 condominiums for sale in Shoreline and Lake Forest Park. The average OLP for these condos was $248,842; the current average LP is $245,925, price reductions have taken place. The median price of these condos is $201,950; with a high price of $565,000 and a low price of $89,900. The average number of days on the market was 20; shortest 8 days; longest 40 (also the lowest price). These are all resale property and the average price per square foot is $208.45.

Again, the number of sales was more than the number of active listings showing that the condo market is pretty good. There were 16 condos sold with an OLP of $256,671 and an LP of $253,339 indicating price reductions in the condo market as well. The average sale price was $250,493, 99% of list price. Median sale price was $228,500. The highest sale price was $630,000 and the lowest sale price was $91,500. The average number of days on the market was 36 with the shortest time being 1 day and the longest at 127 days. Three condos were new construction and 13 were resale. The average price per square foot was $179.28.

Hottest Market Neighborhoods

These are the neighborhoods with the most activity for current listings and sold listings. For May, the most sales took place West of I-5 in Richmond Highlands, Meridian Park, and Parkwood. Out of all the current listings, most of them are located in Richmond Beach, Richmond Highlands, and Lake Forest Park.

206-734-9289     rayn@kw.com   

 www.northseattlehomesforsale.com