About Bellevue's Vuecrest

• 2010 Vuecrest Bellevue, WA neighborhood home values stayed pretty even with 2009 sales…while Vuecrest home sales (units sold) increased dramatically, indicating a strong emerging trend.
• The transaction count in Bellevue's Vuecrest neighborhood increased 90% to 19 closed sales (with a backlog of 2 pending sales)and a median sale price of $1,207,000 compared to 2009’s total of 9 closed sales with a median sale price of $1,200,000.
• The Vuecrest neighborhood average price per square foot increased 16% from $375 to $435 in 2010. The interesting aspect is that year built has little to do with price per square foot as the homes increase in size so does the price underpinned by big land value.
• 2010 Sales included 3 age groups of properties: Nine homes built between 1949-53 averaged $430 a square foot at an average size of 2337 s.f. Six homes built between 2004-09 averaged $442 a square foot at an average size of 4,712 sf . Four homes built between 1989-01 averaged $393 a square foot at an average size of 3,392 sf.
• Vuecrest’s lowest sale was a non-view 1951 home bringing $650,000 that will yield to a new construction home. The highest sale was a 2009 year built home that sold for $2,809,000 with a view of Bellevue’s downtown. Buyers are increasingly looking for Vuecrest homes for sale.
• The Vuecrest neighborhood average list price of these 19 sold homes was $1,516,368. Average market time was 178 days, compared to 162 days in 2009. The list price to sales price ratio was 91.9% of the last published list price. Original list prices exceeded the last published list price in all but 2 of the 19 sold homes. Vuecrest homes for sale are a hot commodity.
• The 2010 average sale price in Vuecrest increased 3.2% to $1,392,921 from $1,350,000 in 2009. These sales included 7 sales under $1 million, 9 sales ranging from $1.0 million to $1.85 million, and 3 sales between $2.4 million and $2.8 million.
• Distressed inventory in Vuecrest is nearly gone! The good news is the arrival of healthy market times again. In the last two years, there were 11 distressed properties sold in Vuecrest. Only one listing going into 2011 is a short sale, and there are no bank owned properties. There were 5 short sales in 2010, down from 6 distressed properties that closed in 2009, quite an improvement given that in the last two years, Vuecrest homes for sale included nearly 40% distressed property listings.
• At year-end in backlog were 2 pending sales, neither of which was a distressed property.
• Currently there are 7 Vuecrest homes for sale in the neighborhood, and the two pending sales have closed at $915,000 and $1,650,000 indicating a healthy firming trend of Vuecrest home sales.

The MLS officially recognizes Vuecrest as an established neighborhood for agents to organize their listings, with clear boundaries and 204 homes. For more information on this or other West Bellevue properties, please contact the author Rich Willard of Windermere Real Estate from this blog or my website.

Rich Willard is a Seattle native and Bellevue Windermere agent who publishes articles like this for the benefit of consumers interested in specialized market knowledge of West Bellevue neighborhoods.

Vuecrest, one of West Bellevue's hottest neighborhoods, has had a big run in its values over the last ten years. Even with the recent market correction, homes here have easily doubled in value and held onto those gains. The reasons are clear: the views here are among the best in West Bellevue, it is a cohesive well maintained neighborhood, is walking distance to downtown, has a defined border, with entrances from three major streets, all underground utilities, and there are strict deed restrictions protecting the character of the neighborhood, and views to the Seattle skyline, Lake Washington, and the Olympic Mountains to the west, and downtown Bellevue and the sunrise to the east.

This sunset photo was taken November 28th from Hilltop Road at the very top of the neighborhood, and the City photo below was taken from Belfair Road.

When spec new construction has nearly ceased altogether in West Bellevue, after our nation's credit crisis, Vuecrest is the only neighborhood where obsolete homes are still being purchased and torn down to make room for new construction.

The builder that has done more spec building in the luxury class than any other here, with new sites that have recently been cleared, is Lochwood Lozier Custom Homes. They have continued to expand on their theme of custom designed luxury homes of substantial size and enduring character, and they appear to be meeting their objectives. All their homes in Vuecrest have sold, they have presales available now.

Vuecrest has 204 homes in all, developed in 1947 when there was no requirement for sidewalks. Lot sizes average about 12,000 square feet. Encircling the neighborhood are streets with names like Vineyard Crest, Evergreen Drive, Hilltop Road, Belfair Lane, and Sunset Way. taking full advantage of the available views. For those of us who have grown up in this area, the neighborhood still maintains its charm, and the location has only gotten better as downtown has undergone an enormous building boom in recent years. Currently there are 8 homes listed in Vuecrest, ranging in value from $900,000 to over $3.5 million. The 8 most recent sales averaged $1,255,000. Three of those sale were under a million, and the highest sale was $1,850,000.