benkjls' Blog: Seattle real estate

The AVA Condo (website) announced they’ve recently secured a Master Use Development Permit (MUP). The 39-story tower at 8th and Pine will feature traditional condominium homes and a luxury hotel. AVA’s developers anticipate construction to begin by the end of the year.

The AVA presentation center, located at 8th & Olive, is nearing completion and should open shortly. The center will include a scale model of the tower, kitchen and bath vignettes, final floor plans, representative views and finish samples.

Initially, the center will be open to prospective buyers by appointment only. If you’re working with a buyer’s agent, please have them contact AVA to arrange an appointment and private tour. All homes have been released for pre-sale… Read Full Post

The NWMLS just released its Brokers Report on 2007 home sales. Here are some highlights pertaining to condos in the Seattle / King County area:

• The NWMLS reported $32.3 billion in total home sales in its 19 county territory. Just about one-half of that dollar volume, $16.5 billion, was realized in King County. And, of the $16.5 billion, $13.4 billion were single family homes sales and $3.1 billion were condominiums sales.

• Condominium prices jumped 10.6 percent from 2006 to 2007. The 19 county area-wide median price rose from $235,000 to $260,000.

• King County’s condo median price ($285,400) was up 12.35% over the prior year, but the number of units sold (9,420) was down 2.83% from 2006.

• NWMLS members sold more than 15,000…

While "gloom" is the adjective used to describe the country's housing market, Seattle, notably Seattle's condo market has been performing admirably well.  In the 3rd quarter 2007, city-wide results show an increase in unit sales of 4.9% and a very respectable 7.7% increase in median price compared to the same period a year ago.  The median price for a Seattle condo now stands at $323,000.

A closer look will show varying results by neighborhood with the more affordable Northwest Seattle region outperforming the rest of the city with 107% increase in unit sales.

Continue reading for charts and additional information on the Seattle condo market >>> Read Full Post

Downtown Seattle’s 2nd Avenue has been receiving quite a bit of attention lately with several condominium, apartment and office towers under construction or planned. The most notable of these include the 1521 Condominium, 1 Hotel & Residences, 2nd & Pike (hotel & condo) and the Liberty Building (office & apartment) developments.

Now, add three more potential projects to the list. On the horizon are 1915 2nd, 1931 2nd and 2015 2nd.

• The 1915 2nd project is a 24-story 171-unit condominium being developed by Intracorp.
• The 1931 2nd proposal is a 40-story hotel and residential tower with 135 hotel rooms and 182 residential units.
• And, proposed for the 2015 2nd parcel is a 40-story 240 unit…

Soon home buyers will be able to view home search listings right on their computer desktop. John L. Scott Real Estate is launching a Desktop Delivery tool that’ll enable home buyers access to the most up-to-date home search results. Users who download the gadget will receive new listings that meet their home search criteria on their desktop. The tool updates every two hours and works only with Vista.

According to Lennox Scott, John L. Scott’s CEO, “Visitors can download a gadget for any (and every) saved search, enabling them to have the most current, relevant home search information right on their desktop,” said Scott. “It’s like having a miniature slide show of your favorite homes for sale right at your finger tips.”

In the past six months, John L…

John L. Scott Real Estate recently launched a new home search feature called "Neighborhood Wizard".  The new feature allow buyers to use a polygon tool to draw their own home search parameters on a map.  This provide users a unique opportunity and greater flexibility to pinpoint home searches to a specific neighborhood, block or even condo building.

Here's a screen print of the new drawing feature in action:

For more information on this feature, additional screen prints and a step-by-step guide, please see the "New Search Feature" article at Seattle Housing Buzz. 

The new feature utilizes Microsoft's polygon drawing tool and John L. Scott is the first real estate company to utilize this technology.  John L. Scott is among the industry's most…

May continued to exhibit an active condo market with double digit increases in units sold city-wide. Interestingly, NE Seattle and West Seattle showed the greatest increase in unit sales, mostly attributable to a robust resale market.

City-wide, condos appreciated approximately 6% based on average sales price. However, across the board, median prices took a tumble from the prior month. Inventory has increased helping to create a buyers market, particularly with high-end properties, though I believe interest rates play a role as well. As rates continue to creep upwards, buying power decreases which move buyers to a lower price point. And, though the market has softened, sellers are receiving +/- 1% of the asking price.

Continuing reading this article at…

Press Release

Seattle Condos and Lofts (SCL) is pleased to announce that King5.com, the NBC affiliate in Seattle and part of Belo, has selected the SCL blog to provide content for King5.com's new condo section.   King5.com receives over 6-million visitors per month giving Seattle Condos and Lofts tremendous exposure.

SCL is the top-ranked condo blog in the Northwest and among the most visited consumer-focused real estate blogs in Washington (per Alexa).   Additionally, SCL regularly out-paces industry blog such as RSS Pieces, Real Estate Tomato and TransparentRE (per BlogTopSites).