Debra Sinick

Archive for 2009|Yearly archive page

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Weekly Real Estate Buzz in Redmond, Near Microsoft, 12-28-09

In For Buyers, For Sellers, Market Statistics, Microsoft, Real Estate news, Redmond, Weekly real estate updates on December 28, 2009 at 10:20 pm

The number of homes for sale on Seattle’s eastside, 2943, is the lowest we’ve seen since the spring of 2007.  March, 2007 was the last time the number of homes for sale on the eastside was under 3000!  The number of homes for sale in Redmond right now mirrors this trend.  With the extension of the home buyer tax credit and the lower numbers of homes for sale, if you’re going to sell your home, get started now, rather than later in 2010.

However, Redmond home sales were slow the past week couple of weeks.

For this week’s full report see below:


View Larger Map

In real estate terms, we call this area 530. The area of Redmond called Education Hill is north of Redmond Town Center and is not part of this report.  The area represented by the statistics posted below is Redmond, 98052, south of highway 908 and east of 140th Ave NE. The neighborhoods are all within shouting distance of Microsoft. In real estate terms, we call this area 530. The area of Redmond called Education Hill is north of Redmond Town Center and is not part of this report. The numbers in parentheses show last week’s totals. All numbers are gathered on Monday morning from NWMLS (Northwest Multiple Listing )information.

Number of homes for sale: 49 (52)

New listings: 1 (1)

Pending inspection:2 (1)

Pending: 2 (1)

Closed Sales: 2 (1)

Price Reductions: 3 (2)

Price Increases:0 (0)

Off The Market (not sold)  2 (2)

———————————

$0-$349,999: 1 (1)

$350,000-$499,999: 20 (23)

$500,000-$749,999: 13 (15)

$750,000-$999,999: 7 (6 )

$1,000,000- $1,499,999: 5 (4)

$1,500,000- $2,999,999: 2 (2)

$3,000,000+ 1 (1)
———————————–
Average Asking Price of Homes for Sale: $729,388 ($701,273)

Median Asking Price of Homes for Sale: $579,000 ($545,000)

Average Days on Market: 152 (140)

Highest Priced Listing: $4,280,000 ($4,280,000)

Lowest Priced Listing: $279,950 ($279,950)

New listings: one this week. 

Pending inspections and pending: Redmond home sales continue to be slow. Two homes received an offer and two home sales went to a pending sale after a building inspection was agreed upon between the buyer and seller.

Price reductions: Just a couple this week, because there are less homes for sale now.

Homes off the market (homes that did not sell): two

Home sales: Two home sales closed this week which means the new owner has taken ownership.

Days on Market: are increasing each week and now stand at an average of 147 days to sell a Redmond home near Microsoft.

Closed Sales Of The Week:

$390,000, last asking price: $424,950, original asking price: $439,000, sold in 142 days,  12% below the original price.

$565,000, last asking price: $574,950, original asking price: $574,950, sold in 9 days,  2% below the original price.

Peak of homes for sale so far for 2009:

7-27-09   13,861

Now:

12-21-09  10,825

****Now the lowest weekly number of properties for sale in King County in all of 2009. the number keeps dropping.****  This is huge news.  If you’re thinking of making a move in 2010.  Move sooner, rather than later.  Take advantage of the lower number of homes on the market and the 2010 tax incentive.

Happy New Year and the best in 2010!


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What Was The Hot Price For Bellevue and Redmond Real Estate, 12-17-09?

In Bellevue real estate, For Buyers, For Sellers, Market Statistics, Real Estate news, Redmond on December 18, 2009 at 6:27 am

What was the hot price range of the week in East Bellevue (east of 405)  and West Redmond?

  • Most number of home sales: $300-399,999 3 homes sold.
  • Most number of homes for sale: $400-499,999     59 homes for sale.  The time it takes to sell a home in this price range has increased in the last few week to 4.7 months.
  • Best week to sell your home in the last 7 weeks?      Week of November 4th, with 18 sales
  • Most homes for sale in the last 7 weeks?       11-11-09, when 251 homes were for sale.
  • Most of the Bellevue and Redmond homes sales were priced under $499,999. One sale was priced between $1,000,000-1,499,999.
  • There were 239 homes for sale and 7 homes sold in East Bellevue and Redmond, near Microsoft, last week.  The number of Redmond and Bellevue home sales has dropped by over 32% since the end of August.
  • Surprisingly, the East Bellevue and Redmond real estate market is slower than most of the other areas on the eastside.  My guess is the location has been so strong for so long, there’s now a period of some adjustment. Also, with the extreme cold of last week, it could be people chose to stay home and not venture out to buy. Because of all the wonderful location factors with good jobs in the neighborhood, an easy commute, good schools, shopping, and parks, I expect this to be only a temporary thing.  I expect the Redmond and East Bellevue real estate market to pick up again.
  • Peak of the number of homes for sale in King County so far this year?
  • July 27th- a high of 13,861 homes for sale.
  • Week of 12-14-09  11,335 the lowest number of homes and condos for sale in King County in all of 2009.

With inventory down, shouldn’t you think about selling your home now, rather than in the spring?  There’s much less competition to get a home sold and, usually, more people will decide to sell as the year progresses.

Redmond, Near Microsoft, and East Bellevue Real Estate - 12-16-09

This chart is updated weekly by (Windermere Real Estate/East Inc., using MLS data to show the price ranges of the homes sold each week.

Here’s how it’s set up:

The colors show who has the advantage in a particular price range.

  • Green means the buyer has the advantage with many homes to choose from and not that many selling.
  • Yellow means the number of homes for sale and the number of sales in the price range is balanced between the buyer and the seller.
  • Red indicates a sellers’ market where the seller may have the advantage as more homes are selling when compared to what’s available.

Down the side of the chart, the home sales activity is broken down into a price bracket of $99,999. All the homes priced between $400,000-499,999, as an example, are put together in one price category in the chart.

Across the top, the chart is broken down into real estate activity by the week.

If you take the $400-499,999 line and follow it across the chart, you’ll see what has happened each of the last seven weeks.  There are three columns under each week. On the left side of the column is the number of homes for sale in East Bellevue and Redmond, near Microsoft.  The middle column shows how many homes sold that week, and the final column under the date shows the months supply of homes for sale.  In other words, if no other homes came up for sale, it would take 4.7 months to sell all of the homes in the $400-499,999 price range.

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Help People in Need in Redmond

In Local information, Redmond, Things to do in Redmond on December 17, 2009 at 9:12 pm

Redmond's Soul Food Books

Hear music and help a great cause. Redmond’s Soul Food Books is sponsoring a free concert to help Hopelink’s Redmond Food Bank. Donate food and toys to the food bank and enjoy the free music of “Railyard” (a local folk music group).

Railyard w/ special guest: Stacy Unck

Where: Soul Food Books 15748 Redmond Way Redmond, WA 98052

(425) 881-5309

http://www.soulfoodbooks.com

When: Friday, December 18, 2009

Time: 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM Free admission Free parking

More people on the eastside are in need of help this year.  Please do what you can to help them out.

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What Were The Odds of Selling Your Redmond/East Bellevue Home in November, 2009?

In Bellevue real estate, For Buyers, For Sellers, Microsoft, Real Estate news, Redmond on December 17, 2009 at 10:32 am

Redmond, East Bellevue Real Estate Sales, Nov 2009

Sellers had 17% odds of getting a home sold in West Redmond and East Bellevue, both neighborhoods near Microsoft, in November, 2009.  (The NWMLS, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, puts the data together from East Bellevue and the Redmond area around Microsoft.)

If you check the link above, it shows the 5 year trend in real estate.  The numbers for the Trendgraphix chart may vary slightly from the MLS statistics posted in the above link, but the variation is slight.  The overall trend in the market is the same.

November, 2009      243 homes for sale    41 homes sold             17 % odds of selling.

October, 2009          253 homes for sale      47 ( now 39)  homes sold       18.5% (now 15%) odds of selling*

November 2008       287  homes for sale      27 homes sold             9% odds of selling.

*Adjusted sales numbers reflect sales that failed and did not close.

The odds of selling a home is determined by the absorption rate, which is the percentage of homes that sell each month compared to the number of  homes for sale.  If there’s a 10% chance a home sells, then 10 out of 100 home sellers accepted an offer on their home during that month.  Ninety out of 100 home sellers would not have a mutually accepted offer.  Seventeen out of 100 homes received and accepted offers in November.

What’s happening with real estate prices in Redmond and East Bellevue?

The median sales price remained the same at $479,000.  The number of homes for sale declined by 18% from last November, and the number of homes sold in Redmond increased by 9%.

Home sales in Redmond and East Bellevue have slowed considerably.  The other cities on the eastside have shown an increase in the percentage of home sales, while this area has slowed.  It could be  Redmond and East Bellevue will now have home sales  more in line with the rest of the Seattle-Eastside real estate market.

However, with the passage of a bill giving more widely available tax credits to home buyers, I am expecting the real estate market to be strong during the first part of 2010.  The number of homes on the market is down considerably and is at the lowest on Seattle’s eastside since March 2007.

Less homes for sale combined with low interest rates and the tax incentive ought to keep the real estate market humming.

For the full picture of Seattle-Eastside real estate, check out my eastside real estate blog.


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Thanks to Councilwoman Nancy McCormick

In Uncategorized on December 16, 2009 at 11:27 am

This month will be Councilwoman Nancy McCormick’s last on the Redmond City Council after years of dedicated service on the council.

I wish Councilwoman McCormick all the best with her future endeavors and her continued work for the city on the Code Rewrite Commission. I thank her for her all she has contributed to the quality of life and responsible growth in Redmond.

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Weekly Real Estate Buzz In Redmond, Near Microsoft, 12-14-09

In For Buyers, For Sellers, Local information, Market Statistics, Microsoft, Real Estate news, Redmond, Weekly real estate updates on December 15, 2009 at 9:31 am

The number of homes for sale on Seattle’s eastside, 2943, is the lowest we’ve seen since the spring of 2007.  March, 2007 was the last time the number of homes for sale on the eastside was under 3000!  The number of homes for sale in Redmond right now mirrors this trend.  With the extension of the home buyer tax credit and the lower numbers of homes for sale, if you’re going to sell your home, get started now, rather than later in 2010.

However, Redmond home sales were slow this past week.  Perhaps the week’s slowdown was due to the freezing temperatures.  Brrh!

For this week’s full report see below:


View Larger Map

In real estate terms, we call this area 530. The area of Redmond called Education Hill is north of Redmond Town Center and is not part of this report.  The area represented by the statistics posted below is Redmond, 98052, south of highway 908 and east of 140th Ave NE. The neighborhoods are all within shouting distance of Microsoft. In real estate terms, we call this area 530. The area of Redmond called Education Hill is north of Redmond Town Center and is not part of this report. The numbers in parentheses show last week’s totals. All numbers are gathered on Monday morning from NWMLS (Northwest Multiple Listing )information.

Number of homes for sale: 52 (53)

New listings: 1 (0)

Pending inspection:1 (2)

Pending: 1 (1)

Closed Sales: 1 (4)

Price Reductions: 2 (2)

Price Increases:0 (0)

Off The Market (not sold)  2 (2)

———————————

$0-$349,999: 1 (1)

$350,000-$499,999: 23 (22)

$500,000-$749,999: 15 (16)

$750,000-$999,999: 6 (7 )

$1,000,000- $1,499,999: 4 (4)

$1,500,000- $2,999,999: 2 (2)

$3,000,000+ 1 (1)
———————————–
Average Asking Price of Homes for Sale: $701,273 ($705,041)

Median Asking Price of Homes for Sale: $545,000 ($550,000)

Average Days on Market: 147 (140)

Highest Priced Listing: $4,280,000 ($4,280,000)

Lowest Priced Listing: $279,950 ($279,950)

New listings: one this week. 

Pending inspections and pending: Redmond home sales continue to be slow. One home received an offer and one sale went to a pending sale after a building inspection was agreed upon between the buyer and seller.

Price reductions: Just a couple this week because there are less homes for sale now.

Homes off the market (homes that did not sell): two

Home sales: One home sale closed this week which means the new owner has taken ownership.

Days on Market: are increasing each week and now stand at an average of 147 days to sell a Redmond home near Microsoft.

Closed Sales Of The Week:

$534,000, last asking price: $548,880, original asking price: $569,950, sold in 97 days,  7% below the original price.

Peak of homes for sale so far for 2009:

7-27-09   13,861

Now:

12-14-09  11,335

****The lowest weekly number of properties for sale in King County in all of 2009.****


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Will Redmond Buy The BNSF Rail Line Spur?

In Exploring Redmond, For Buyers, For Sellers, Local information, Redmond on December 9, 2009 at 1:21 pm

What may happen with the Redmond Spur of the BNSF rail line?

Photo of BNSF Rail line taken in Kirkland

Keith Ervin of The Seattle Times gave the latest, but not necessarily the final, plan for the BNSF rail line plans, and most particularly, the Redmond spur.

Most importantly for Redmond:

The Redmond City Council, eager to gain control of a corridor that has long split its utility system and downtown roads, last week authorized Mayor John Marchione to negotiate purchase of a 3 ½-mile segment for up to $9 million.

Redmond’s acquisition, running from the southeastern to the northwestern boundaries of the city, could become a trail connecting with King County’s existing East Lake Sammamish Trail and a trail the county wants to build eventually to reach Woodinville, Kirkland, Bellevue and Renton.

Redmond Parks and Recreation Director Craig Larsen said:

acquiring the BNSF line has been a high city priority not only because the corridor offers rail and trail potential but also because some roads and sewer and water lines do not cross the corridor.

When Redmond gains control of the rail corridor, he said, it will be able to knit together its utilities and roads, starting with an extension of 161st Avenue Northeast.

“It’s the key for us becoming an urban center in the way that growth management envisioned it. It’s to help us build the downtown that we’ve long planned. It’s a real critical piece for that,” Larsen said.

From the Frequently Asked Questions on The City of Redmond website:

Question: What other uses are being considered for the Downtown
Redmond BNSF corridor?

Answer: The corridor is planned to be developed as a regional trail and a
downtown park, with a variety of passive uses such as open lawn
areas, park-like landscaping and some public plazas/seating areas. We
anticipate it will be a significant amenity for Redmond residents.

What is proposed for the rest of the eastside rail line?

There are a number of alliances with Puget Sound Energy, The Cascade Water Alliance, and King County that are planned for the rail line.  King County Conservation Futures are proposed to help pay for the acquisition of the southern portion of eastside BNSF line.

• The Metropolitan King County Council is reviewing a request by Executive Dow Constantine for $26.5 million to buy most of the corridor south of Woodinville.

• The Cascade Water Alliance is negotiating to buy an easement, possibly for around $8 million, that would eventually allow it to bring water from Lake Tapps to homes in Bellevue, Kirkland and other Eastside cities, alliance spokeswoman Elaine Kraft said Monday.

• Puget Sound Energy wants to obtain permanent easements for more than 180 existing crossings of the rail corridor by natural-gas and electric lines and for future easements, said Sue McLain, the company’s vice president of operations. She declined to discuss the price.

• Sound Transit is considering buying rights to use parts of the old rail line in Bellevue for its Eastside light-rail extension and the right to operate commuter trains on a longer segment sometime in the future, spokesman Geoff Patrick said.

I’ve always admired Redmond’s focus on trails in the community and am excited to hear about the possible addition to the network.

Redmond's Sammamish River Trail

What do you think of Redmond’s plan to acquire the BNSF rail line spur?

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Weekly Real Estate Buzz in Redmond, Near Microsoft, 12-07-09

In For Buyers, For Sellers, Market Statistics, Microsoft, Real Estate news, Redmond, Weekly real estate updates on December 7, 2009 at 6:31 pm

With the 2010 home buyer tax credit expansion and extension, the low interest rates, and the lower number of homes for sale in Redmond, I’m repeating my message from last week:

“if you’re thinking of making a move next year, earlier in the year would be better.  The number of homes for sale, the competition, seems to creep up in the spring and summer.”

For this week’s full report see below:


View Larger Map

In real estate terms, we call this area 530. The area of Redmond called Education Hill is north of Redmond Town Center and is not part of this report.  The area represented by the statistics posted below is Redmond, 98052, south of highway 908 and east of 140th Ave NE. The neighborhoods are all within shouting distance of Microsoft. In real estate terms, we call this area 530. The area of Redmond called Education Hill is north of Redmond Town Center and is not part of this report. The numbers in parentheses show last week’s totals. All numbers are gathered on Monday morning from NWMLS (Northwest Multiple Listing )information.

Number of homes for sale: 53 (54)

New listings: 0 (1)

Pending inspection:2 (1)

Pending: 1 (0)

Closed Sales: 4 (4)

Price Reductions: 4 (2)

Price Increases:0 (0)

Off The Market (not sold)  2 (1)

———————————

$0-$349,999: 1 (1)

$350,000-$499,999: 22 (23)

$500,000-$749,999: 16 (17)

$750,000-$999,999: 7 (6 )

$1,000,000- $1,499,999: 4 (4)

$1,500,000- $2,999,999: 2 (2)

$3,000,000+ 1 (1)
———————————–
Average Asking Price of Homes for Sale: $705,041 ($697,200)

Median Asking Price of Homes for Sale: $550,000 ($539,925)

Average Days on Market: 140 (132)

Highest Priced Listing: $4,280,000 ($4,280,000)

Lowest Priced Listing: $279,950 ($279,950)

New listings: none this week. 

Pending inspections and pending: Redmond home sales were slow this week with only two new home sales and one sale moving to pending after a building inspection.

Price reductions: Price reductions were not as many as we’ve seen recently, which is a reflection of the lower number of homes for sale.

Homes off the market (homes that did not sell): two

Home sales: Four home sales closed this week.

Days on Market: are increasing over the last few weeks with about a week of time to sell a home added to each week’s average number of days on the market.

Closed Sales Of The Week:

$395,000, last asking price: $420,000, original asking price: $486,950, sold in 217 days, 19% below the original price.

$428,000, last asking price: $425,000, original asking price: $425,000, sold in 2 days, 1.5% ABOVE the original price.

$450,000, last asking price: $499,000, original asking price: $675,000, sold in 336 days, 33% below the original price.

$480,000, last asking price: $489,000, original asking price: $489,000, sold in 16 days, 2% below the original price.

Peak of homes for sale so far for 2009:

7-27-09   13,861

Now:

11-23-09  11,797

The second lowest weekly number of properties for sale in King County in all of 2009.  The week with the lowest number of homes on the market was January 5th, the first week of the year.


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What Was The Hot Sales Price for Bellevue & Redmond Home Sales, 12-2-09?

In Bellevue real estate, For Buyers, For Sellers, Real Estate news, Redmond on December 4, 2009 at 2:53 pm

What was the hot price range of the week in East Bellevue (east of 405)  and West Redmond?

  • Most number of home sales: $400-499,999 and $500-599,999 4 homes sold in each price range.
  • Most number of homes for sale: $400-499,999     64 homes for sale.  The time it takes to sell a home in this price range has increased in the last few week to 3.7 months.
  • There’s a huge discrepancy between the number of homes for sale between $400k-499k and $500-599k.  Now there are only 36 homes for sale in the $500-599,999 range, when it was the price range with the most homes for the most of the past several years.
  • Best week to sell your home in the last 7 weeks?      Week of November 4th, with 18 sales
  • Most homes for sale in the last 7 weeks?       10-28-09, when 253 homes were for sale.
  • All the Bellevue and Redmond homes sales were priced under $599,999.
  • There were 237 homes for sale and 9 homes sold in East Bellevue and Redmond near Microsoft last week.  The number of Redmond and Bellevue home sales has dropped by 32% since the end of August.
  • Peak of the number of homes for sale in King County so far this year?
  • July 27th- a high of 13,861 homes for sale.
  • Week of 11-30-09  11,797 homes and condos for sale in King County, the smallest number of homes and condos for sale since January of this year.

With inventory down, shouldn’t you think about selling your home now, rather than in the spring?  There’s much less competition to get a home sold and more people will decide to sell as the year progresses.

Redmond Real Estate Sales- 12-02-09

This chart is updated weekly by (Windermere Real Estate/East Inc., using MLS data to show the price ranges of the homes sold each week.

Here’s how it’s set up:

The colors show who has the advantage in a particular price range.

  • Green means the buyer has the advantage with many homes to choose from and not that many selling.
  • Yellow means the number of homes for sale and the number of sales in the price range is balanced between the buyer and the seller.
  • Red indicates a sellers’ market where the seller may have the advantage as more homes are selling when compared to what’s available.

Down the side of the chart, the home sales activity is broken down into a price bracket of $99,999. All the homes priced between $400,000-499,999, as an example, are put together in one price category in the chart.

Across the top, the chart is broken down into real estate activity by the week.

If you take the $400-499,999 line and follow it across the chart, you’ll see what has happened each of the last seven weeks.  There are three columns under each week. On the left side of the column is the number of homes for sale in East Bellevue and Redmond, near Microsoft.  The middle column shows how many homes sold that week, and the final column under the date shows the months supply of homes for sale.  In other words, if no other homes came up for sale, it would take 3.7 months to sell all of the homes in the $400-499,999 price range.

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Arson in Redmond’s Grasslawn Park

In Exploring Redmond, Local information, Redmond on December 3, 2009 at 2:31 pm

I’m truly disappointed to hear vandals set fire to different things in Redmond’s Grasslawn Park over the last couple of weeks.  Grasslawn Park underwent a major re-do  over the last year or so and it’s a jewel of a park enjoyed by many. Reviews of Grasslawn Park on Yelp give it a five star rating. Every time I go there, it’s filled with people from all over enjoying themselves. There are beautiful ball fields,

fountains, sport courts, and lawns for relaxing or picnicking.  Many local teams use the ball fields all year round.


View Larger Map

The full name for the park is Grasslawn Community Park.  It’s a place for the entire community to use and enjoy. It’s a shame some people can’t be more respectful of beautiful places like Grasslawn that are a benefit to all.

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