Sam DeBord - Seattle Real Estate Broker

Waterfront home sales in Seattle began with an affordable waterfront abode on Lake Union and a luxury waterfront estate on Lake Washington. With sales in Wallingford and Matthews Beach starting the year off, the outlook is rosy for a continuation of the strengthening market for Seattle waterfront homes that we've been seeing for the past few years.

The houseboat sold on Lake Union in January was actually a two-story housebarge, with views of the Seattle skyline from nearly anywhere onboard. Based in Gasworks Marina just east of the park, the 2 bed, 1 bath floating residence was on the market for two months before selling for $350,000. Listed at $369,000 originally, the 5% reduction in price was fairly minimal for this market.

In Matthews Beach on Lake Washington, a classic Seattle lakefront home with plenty of modern updates sold for $1.5 million after just one month on the market. Listed for $1.585 million, this was again a fairly strong purchase price for the sellers at a 5% discount.

This house is situated far off the street and has terraced grounds making their way down to the lake, The upper level has a swimming pool and viewing area, while the no-bank lot reaches a sandy beach at the lakeside. The home has 5 beds, 3.5 baths, and 3,240 square feet of living space. Built originally in 1937, it has been updated throughout but still retains some of its classic character.

Seattle waterfront homes sold, January 2012

2143 N Northlake Wy #58, Seattle WA 98103

8920 Sand Point Wy NE, Seattle WA 98115

Medina's sole waterfront home sale in February was a late 1960's home near the tip of Evergreen Point. The 3,180 square foot home is small for Medina's standards, but a fairly good-sized home in general with three bedrooms, three baths, and two floors. The majority of Medina waterfront homes are 4,000 square feet or larger.

The 118 feet of Lake Washington waterfront are the real value feature, with some of Medina's most-sought after properties near this location. The home had been on the market for around 1.5 years.

Originally listed for $4.38 million in August of 2010, the home was reduced to $3.68 million in March of 2011 and then relisted at $3.495 million with a new real estate broker in August of last year. The final sale price represents a 14% discount on the final list price, or a 32% reduction from the time it was originally listed.

Medina Waterfront Homes Sold, February 2012

3516 Evergreen Point Rd, Medina WA 98039

The total number of new homes for sale in the U.S. hit its lowest point on record in January, creating a stronger seller's market for home builders and rising new construction prices. The lack of construction for the past few years has created a dearth of available new homes in many parts of the country, and most undeveloped and partially-developed land sits stagnant as lending for new construction remains tight.

The inventory of new homes fell to a 5.6 month supply. At the same time, new home prices increased by 0.3% and new home sales rose 3.5%, as compared to the previous year at this time. While new households have been created at a consistent rate during the past five years, there has been little construction to compensate, and the market is likely to continue tightening in terms of inventory and rising in terms of prices.

From Realtor Magazine:

"Inventory of new homes on the market shrank to its lowest point on record in January, marking a 5.6-month supply at the current sales pace, the Commerce Department reports.

With fewer homes available, the price of new homes increased slightly last month. The median price for a new home ticked up slightly at 0.3 percent to $217,100, which is the highest level since October.

However, January sales of single-family homes mostly stayed falt in January, falling less than 1 percent last month compared to the previous month. New-home sales reached a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 321,000 units.

New-home sales were up 3.5 percent compared to the same time last year, the Commerce Department reported.

"This is indicative of the incremental, steady progress that the market is making toward recovery in conjunction with modest economic and job growth,” said David Crowe, the National Association of Home Builders’ chief economist. “Increasingly, potential buyers are feeling better about their financial situation and their ability to buy a home, but the challenges posed by tight credit conditions and appraisal issues continue to slow that process."

Regionally, the Midwest saw the biggest decline in new home sales in January, a 24.5 percent drop in sales followed by a 10.6 percent drop in sales in the West. On the other hand, the Northeast posted an 11.1 percent gain in new home sales in January, and the South saw a 9.3 percent increase."

Sales of existing homes in the U.S. showed a gain for the third time in four months, according to an N.A.R. report.

As housing inventories continue to drop, the increase in home sales has real estate analysts, investors, and home buyers all seeing positive signs for the market. Total real estate inventory of homes for sale is down 20.6% from one year ago, creating around 6 months of inventory. This is a level that most analysts believe is a healthy number of homes for sale in a even buyer-and-seller market.

From the report:

"Increased demand from investors and first-time homebuyers helped boost existing-home sales in January -- the third increase in the past four months, the National Association of REALTORS® reported.

NAR said total existing-home sales -- including single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops -- were up 4.3 percent from December to January, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.57 million.

While that's essentially unchanged from the same time a year ago, for-sale inventory was down 20.6 percent from a year ago, to 2.31 million homes, a 6.1-month supply of homes at the current pace of sales.

Many housing analysts view a six-month inventory of homes as a good balance between supply and demand -- a larger inventory of homes can indicate an oversupply of homes for sale, which can undermine prices. When inventories drop below six months, the shortage of homes for sale can drive up prices.

"The broad inventory condition can be described as moving into a rough balance, not favoring buyers or sellers," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement.

Yun cited the statistics as evidence that a government proposal to convert bank-owned properties into rentals on a large scale "does not appear to be needed at this time."

"Foreclosure sales are moving swiftly with ready homebuyers and investors competing in nearly all markets," he said.

Merrill Lynch analysts Michelle Meyer and Ethan Harris think part of the drop in inventory is due to delays in the foreclosure process in the aftermath of the so-called "robo-signing" scandal.

With top banks nearing a final settlement with state attorneys general, they expect the foreclosure process to accelerate, and for inventory to swell to eight months later this year.

The first REO-to-rental transactions are weeks away, but the property pools offered this year may be smaller and more manageable for groups of qualified local investors than previously assumed, Ken Harney reports.

NAR said foreclosures and short sales accounted for 35 percent of sales in January, and that the national median existing-home price for all housing types was down 2 percent from a year ago, to $154,700.

Investors purchased 23 percent of homes in January, up from 21 percent in December, while the percentage of first-time homebuyers increased from 31 percent in December to 33 percent in January.

Nearly one in every three January home sales was an all-cash transaction. A survey of NAR members showed more than half had at least one contract canceled or delayed in January, often as a result of a mortgage application being turned down or because appraisals come in below the negotiated price.

Single-family home sales were up 3.8 percent from December to January, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.05 million. That's a 2.3 percent increase from a year ago. The median existing single-family home price was $154,400 in January, down 2.6 percent from the same time a year ago.

Existing condominium and co-op sales increased 8.3 percent from December to January, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 520,000. That's a 10.3 percent decline from a year ago. The median existing condo price was $156,600 in January, up 2 percent from January 2011.

At the regional level, the West saw the biggest jump in sales, an 8.8 percent increase from December to January. Sales were down 3.1 percent from a year ago, however, and the median price was also down 1.8 percent from January 2011, to $187,100.

The Midwest saw the smallest jump in sales, with sales up 1 percent from December to January. Although that was a 3.2 percent increase from a year ago, the median home price fell 3.9 percent from January 2011, to $122,000.

In the South, existing-home sales rose 3.5 percent from December to January but were unchanged from a year ago. The median price in the South was $134,800, down 0.3 percent from a year ago.

Existing home sales were up 3.4 percent from December to January in the Northeast, and up 7.1 percent from a year ago. At $225,700, the median price in the Northeast dropped 4.2 percent from January 2011."