About Bellevue's Lochleven

Lochleven is one of Bellevue's best neighborhoods, unpretentious, and overlooking Meydenbauer Bay.

• 2010 Lochleven Bellevue, WA neighborhood home values mirror the 2009 market…there are positive signs that home values are holding robustly steady going into 2011.
  

• The transaction count in Bellevue's Lochleven neighborhood increased to 10 closed sales (with a backlog of 4 pending sales) with a median sale price of $993,250 compared to 2009’s total of 9 closed sales with a median sale price of $1,125,000. The median price doesn't tell the story...read on!
  

• The Lochleven Bellevue neighborhood home price average price per square foot increased 14.4% from $405 to $453 in 2010. Excluding the two closed waterfront sales (1 pending waterfront sale in backlog), the average price per square foot adjusts to $357 from $453. Taking out the (1) 2009 waterfront sale adjusts the 2009 average price per square foot to $348 from $405, reducing the 2010 increase in per square foot values to 2.6%.

• The Lochleven Bellevue neighborhood average list price of these 10 sold homes was $1,992,780. Average market time was 211 days, compared to 153 days in 2009. The list price to sales price ratio was 96.6% of the last published list price.

• In 2010 the average sale price of all Lochleven Bellevue neighborhood homes including two waterfront sales was $1,869,500 with 5 sales under $1 million and 5 sales over $1.0 million ranging from $1.042 to $4.9 million.

• In 2009 the average sale price of a Lochleven Bellevue neighborhood home including the highest waterfront sale of $5.46 million was $1,860,556.

• Only 1 bank owned property (also referred to as REO) actually closed in 2010, down from 4 bank owned and one short sale that closed in 2009. In backlog at year-end are 3 pending distressed property sales of which 2 are bank owned and 1 is a short sale. The trend of distressed property sales is improving--the excesses of the hyper-lending market are being 'worked off'.

The MLS doesn't give agents a neighborhood default choice to select Lochleven as one of the neighborhoods, so doing a map search and crunching the numbers is necessary to get the Lochleven Bellevue home sale statistics.

Rich Willard is a Seattle native and Bellevue Windermere agent whose Lochleven Bellevue listing turned into a 2010 closed sale, after just 14 days on market. It was a 1976 custom rambler in original condition featuring partial views over Meydenbauer Bay, and not previously listed for sale since built.

Area description: Lochleven neighborhood in Bellevue is bounded by VUECREST (NE 8^th Street) on the north, MEYDENBAUER BAY on the south, MEDINA to the west, and DOWNTOWN BELLEVUE (100^th Ave NE) to the east.

For more information on this or other popular west Bellevue neighborhoods, please contact me via my website or my real estate blog.

Lochleven is one of West Bellevue’s distinctly popular neighborhoods due to its proximity to downtown and three of Bellevue’s best parks, starting with the wildly popular Bellevue Downtown Park, Meydenbauer Park, and Clyde Beach Park, all within reasonable walking distance for Lochleven’s homeowners.

Being next to downtown Bellevue and Lake Washington has boosted the value of homes in Lochleven. People are willing to pay a premium to have the convenience of being near all the best of downtown Bellevue and the waterfront.

Lochleven non waterfront home values in 2010 as represented by closed sales ranged from $700,000 to $3.2 million, on lots that ranged from 7,500 square feet to 17,750 square feet.

Homes here are aligned on a non-typical street grid (long blocks) interupted only by the steep ravine which enters into Meydenbauer Park.

People from other major cities are surprised to find that some of West Bellevue’s priciest neighborhoods don’t have sidewalks, and Lochleven is one of them. Cars travel is respectful and the speed limit is 25 miles per hour. It's pretty laid back, the overall feel enjoyed by residents here is unpretentious, casual, with a definite flavor of yesteryear.

Many of the homes in Lochleven have views south and west over Meydenbauer Bay, one of the most protected and scenic bays on all of lake Washington. A few rare homes in Lochleven have both the lake and yacht harbor view, with the City view to the east.

Lochleven’s character can be further defined by the presence of so many tall evergreen trees. This is strikingly different than say Vuecrest, where all the trees were initially taken off the site and there are restrictive view covenants that will keep it that way. Another difference between the two neighborhoods is Vuecrest has all underground utilities, and Lochleven does not. The many trees diminish this impact however. As a result, Lochleven homeowners are less likely to be as involved with landscape perfection; the lots are more private and less formal with the large trees defining difference and lot separation.

Lochleven is a long and narrow neighborhood extending from Downtown Bellevue westward to the neighboring community of Medina. It is sandwiched between Vuecrest just across NE 8th Street to the north, and Meydenbauer Bay along the length of Lake Washington Boulevard to the south.

The age of the homes in Lochleven are a mix of the period homes so typically designed and built in the 50’s, 60’s, and the 70’s. However, in recent years some new luxury homes were added by notable builders such as Steven D. Smith, Lochwood Lozier, Regency West and Worthington Custom Homes.

Of the 9 single family homes that sold in Lochleven during 2010, the average time on market was 227 days, and the average price per square foot was $357. The exceptional home listing was sold in the first two weeks on market, a rambler of 2,700 square feet built in 1976.

It was in original condition when offered, had good bones and a partial lake view. The sold price was $905,000 and the Windermere listing agent was Rich Willard, your Bellevue neighborhood expert and longtime Bellevue resident.