Seattle Waterfront Real Estate Sales Up 3% in 2011

Sales of waterfront homes in Seattle were up 2.91 percent in 2011, according to statistics from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. While waterfront sales have been steadily increasing for the past couple of years, the continued resurgence of this market is another strong driver of confidence for real estate investors in the Seattle area.

2011 statistics showed 672 sales of Seattle waterfront homes during the full year of 2011. This is in comparison to 653 waterfront homes sold in the city in 2010. Sales of houseboats and waterfront houses of every size and category continued to surprise real estate investors throughout 2011, even as the economy as a whole maintained its flat course.

Some analysts point to a loosening of jumbo and super-jumbo mortgage lending as helping the higher-end real estate market recover in recent months. Luxury home financing has certainly played a part, but even the large number of all-cash transactions on the waterfront have increased, leading many to believe that investors have “called the bottom” and are finding that real estate is one of the safest bets for their money in the current economic environment.

Source: NWMLS Data - This information was not compiled or published by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service