Richard Willard

Celebrate the good things in our Seattle housing market! Most likely you have heard of the Federal Housing Finance Agency that publishes the Case Schiller Index statistical reports on a quarterly basis. I get this delivered to my email inbox once a quarter, and the reports are useful in helping to see the big picture. The good news is that home values were up over the previous month by 0.8% in July, adding to a new emerging upward trendline that now encompasses 5 months. This has coupled with the previous four months to produce a beautiful statistical smile that matches horizontally to the upswing in housing values back in March, 2004 three years before the housing correction took hold (the national market actually topped out in April 2007).

This is confirming data that we are seeing here locally as our housing inventory has dropped to around a 4-month supply. I remind everyone I speak to that housing is very localized and can still be dropping in certain zip codes when the broader market is achieving consistent improvement. The Pacific Northwest housing market for instance, was still rising into 2008 when the rest of the nation was experiencing decliniing housing values. Similarly so, we usually follow California when their market is experiencing recovery. For the twelve months preceding this August, our housing actually dropped 6.7%, while areas in California were gaining on us.

Now with record low interest rates, which would have been there without Operation Twist I dare say, we now have the convergence of the lowest pricing coupled with the lowest interest rates. What more could a buyer want? JOBS, you say? Well, yes, that is the critical thing, having a job and healthy enough income to qualify and a down payment in the bank. For those of you who are reading this, this is the opportunity of a lifetime to get the real estate thing right in your life, if you are lucky enough to be able to do it.

We are happy to provide buyer's agency services to those interested, and look forward to having the chance to exercise our knowledge on your behalf. Call now and I will see that you have the best stats in your hand when you need them, and a property you can't live without.

Clyde Hill is the largest community in West Bellevue, on a prominent but gradual hill overlooking Lake Washington and the Seattle skyline to the west and downtown Bellevue and the Cascade mountain range to the east. People like living on Clyde Hill because is is minutes on surface streets to downtown Bellevue, or to the on-ramp to Seattle via the SR 520 on-ramp to Seattle. Many of the home here have been upgraded to include modern finishes and the character of the neighborhood is very upscale.

Clyde Hill is one of the most prestigious addresses in West Bellevue, as reflected by the median home price which is holding steady the last two years at $1,210,000. Recent home sales range from the low 400,000's for a distressed property to $2,400,000 for a stately view residence on a quiet street. The recent boom construction years saw a lot of new construction where the typical 1960 era homes were yielding to demonlition at staggering lot values. Many of those homes were purchased at or below the builder's cost as the effects of the recession took hold. That inventory has all been absorbed, and the general health of the market is quite good.

The current market of Clyde Hill homes for sale consists now of only resale homes, there is virtually no spec building. Average time on market is running about 60 days, and inventory is about 4 months overall. Depending on the price point, certain price ranges are oversupplied--take for example homes ranging from $1.4 to $2.5 million. When one is buying a home, it is important to dissect the market statistically to identify price points that are oversupplied, to position the offer accordingly.

The views from some of the homes in Clyde Hill can encompass a panorama of the snow capped Olympic Mountains as a backdrop the Seattle skyline, featuring Lake Washington views, all the way south to Mount Rainier, and from certain locations one even has views of the ever changing Bellevue skyline, which has become far more interesting these last few years. The lot sizes are large, averaging over 17,000 square feet, with an average dwelling unit density of 2.5 units per acre.

The City of Clyde Hill was first incorporated as a town in 1953, but became a non charter city in 1998 with a Mayor and City Council. They have their own Police and Fire Departments, and City Hall situated on the major east west spine of Clyde Hill, NE 24th Street. The City limits can be measured in terms of size at one square mile or 632 acres. There are approximately 1075 households, with an average occupancy of 2.7 persons, with 40% of the population being between the ages of 35-59. The average household income is just over $190,000 according to census statistics.

One of the crown jewels of the Bellevue Park's Department is Clyde Beach Park, at the foot of 92nd Avenue NE, where it meets Meydenbauer Bay. This is Clyde Hill's pride and joy, where residents turn out during the best months of the year to enjoy the waterfront, with safe sandy beaches for the little ones, good open swimming areas, and a lifeguard is on duty during the peak months of summer. All in all, the lifestyle of living in Clyde Hill is hard to beat, and the home values are affordable for many of the income earners this area attracts.

This year we decided to stay home and enjoy what Bellevue has to offer over the July 4th weekend, heading into a promising forecast. It was sunny, but not warm enough to leave the blankets in the car when we walked the last way into Bellevue Downtown Park with our four foldable camping chairs. It didn't surprise me to find the sidewalks full of people doing exactly the same thing, heading into the huge park where the Fireworks display was going to start promptly at 10:09 pm. Bellevue really comes together on weekends like this, and the Bellevue Arts and Crafts Fair. You discover just how multi-cultural Bellevue has become, truly we have become an international city.

Characteristically the Bellevue Family Fourth celebration is accompanied by the Bellevue Philharmonic Orchestra playing their repertoire, all of which evoked pride in Bellevue's grand style, but further in our country and the freedoms we enjoy here. Right to the last minute, they played until the appointed time arrived, and we were led in a countdown by the emcee 10, 9, 8... until the last second when the skies literally exploded with fireworks.

This year the fireworks display was sponsored by Symmetra and the Bellevue Club--we THANK YOU for doing us proud. As a Belleuve Club member, I can say they have really set a tough act to follow, with the Bellevue Club Hotel underpinning the financial health of the Club itself. Symmetra has also been a big support in the community for years.

Everywhere around us in Bellevue Downtown Parkwere shrieks of joy as the sky lit up time after time with colorful sprays of red, green, yellow, and white fireworks, punctuated by the loud booms if not each time because it was mezmerizing to say the least. My wife brought along our Canon Powershot 790 camera to provide these photos.

Sometimes in large crowds there are instances of somebody or some group of people getting roudy or obnoxious. In all the years of coming here, I have only been surrounded by people who are respectful, kind, and there's nobody showboating, just enjoying. This year was no exception, and I think it says something about who Bellevue attracts. You will like it here!

Attenders at this year's Bellevue Strawberry Festival were blessed with one of the most perfect days we've had so far this summer, and the Crossroads Park couldn't have been more beautiful. Bellevue does such a terrific job of keeping their parks clean and well maintained.

The playground is as nice as any I've ever seen, complete with a large scale reproduction of a Killer Whale for kids to crawl on and over. The water spout ran a steady stream of cool water that made for more excitement of the kids sliding over it back to the ground.

One of our highlights was stopping by the Reading with Rover booth with our dog Gracie, an Anatolian Shepherd. Reading with Rover is a community-based volunteer organization that provides a unique literacy program to schools to support those children who have difficulties with reading. Kids are able to increase their reading skills through time spent in the classroom with the dogs and their handlers who have been carefully selected for this purpose.

They also bring "Rover" to the local libraries and bookstores around Puget Sound. The goal is simple, to increase literacy at all levels, using a unique approach of being near a pet who can calm a child's anxiety in a non-judgmental way. Children gain additional time with the pet by accomplishing the assignments and reading to the pet.

Interested pet owners who have the desire to qualify their pet can visit the website for Reading with Rover.

The organization would like more dogs whose termperment is calm and submissive, gentle is best when working with small children.

Our dog Gracie fits the bill perfectly, loves kids, is well trained, and loves the interaction. We've been looking for the right opportunity and this looks like a great fit. There were so many attractions at this year's Strawberry Festival it was a really fun time to experience the joy of being a Bellevue resident in our richly cultural diverse neighborhoods.

I am preparing for my next buyer's tour here after barely being nudged out on a multiple offers bid last week on a bank-owned home, only 3 miles from downtown Bellevue. We had our offer written and signed on Saturday, didn't submit it until Sunday evening. I knew there were two offers already, and more were expected. It was unknown if the bank would accept or counter, so we submitted our best offer with the pre-approval letter at the offering price.

Monday we learned we were in the top rung but not the highest offer, and yet my buyer had a strong profile and a sold home through their relocation company. Their move was certain, the Seattle job had already commenced. By Tuesday we learned the bank had countered the highest offer, and we didn't get the deal. The counter-offer was accepted on Wednesday, and the property went to pending status.

Multiple offers make for a sobering situation. We are down to barely three months of housing inventory in the areas where we are looking, but in the price range of newer homes, the absorption rate of what is left is less than 2 months of supply. With a sharpened focus and new pre-approval letter in hand, we are determined not to miss our again, the buyer knows it is a tight market and having lost one already, we must manage the search and offer process carefully, with precise communications with the listing agents.

Our housing inventory has tightened here, the most notable class being homes built during 2007 or later, in what I hope is a phase that accompanies a rise in our home valuations. With builders having been slammed in their businesses these last four years, the small builders aren't able to spec homes anymore, banks aren't going to lend to them. They are still hurting after the recession squeezed them out. The larger builders are building and yet their plats are futher out, not in the close in high demand areas or best neighborhoods. There are very few new construction homes where a lot of these buyers want to be, only isolated opportunities.

My preview tour of the most likely homes has set us up for a good outing, and we'll be prepared to tender another offer right away. This is the time when having a ready and educated buyer is everything. There is a Chinese proverb that goes something like this: Good luck is the intersection of Preparedness meeting Opportunity. I am prepared, and have the right opportunity with the buyers being here and motivated. We are going to secure success. I know it.