NWMLS Report Summary

The Northwest MLS reports that there are currently 43,646 single family residences and 8,271 condos to choose from. Single family residence sales are declining 3.8% but condo sales rose 8%, as Seattle buyers favor more amenities, shorter commutes and maintenance-free living.

According to the 2008 NWMLS Housing Report, “Interest rates are historically low, there’s a healthy inventory of homes to choose from, and the new, higher conforming loan limits have increased housing affordability.”

April to May saw stabilization and higher prices in some of the areas served by Northwest MLS, including: King County, Snohomish, Pierce, Kitsap, Thurston and Whatcom. These counties largely showcase mega-mansions and luxury estates, where homes average from $293,000 to $494,868, and where buyers are largely unaffected by the economic downturn.

One point the NWMLS Housing Report stressed is that buyers should be prudent but shouldn’t wait for a miracle. Buyers will actually save more money if they take advantage of the low interest rates, rather than try to save a few books whittling down the price.

Perhaps buyer uncertainty is behind the whole market downturn. When the market picks up, it’ll happen fast, experts at Northwest MLS feel. According to NWMLS director Mike Skahen, “It’s a great time to negotiate with sellers.”

Find Seattle Real Estate Through NWMLS

What kind of lifestyle are you looking for on the Northwest MLS site? Studies show that most people browse real estate options for an average of two weeks, zeroing in on 4-5 properties, before they call their local realtor to show them around. Additionally, Street of Dreams luxury home tour representatives say that most people come on the tour to get ideas, to browse, to dream.

Seattle NWMLS listings appeal to an eclectic crowd – from the alternative grunge musician and vegan bikers to the sophisticated high-tech professionals and middle class teacher. The 3.5 million residents work in a variety of places, with top employers including: the University of Washington, Costco, Microsoft, Weyerhaeuser, Washington Mutual, Paccar, Amazon.com, Nordstrom, Starbucks, Safteco and Expeditors International.

You’ll notice a lot of diverse terrain in the properties listed on Northwest MLS – from Puget Sound to Lake Washington, or the Olympic and Cascade Mountains. What rolling green hill do you want to live on: Capitol Hill, First Hill, West Seattle, Beacon Hill, Queen Anne, Magnolia, or Denny Hill? Or would you rather live near a water feature like Lake Union, Salmon Bay, Portage Bay or Union Bay?

Another thing to consider is Seattle’s nickname – “the city of neighborhoods.” Do you want to live in swanky King’s County, where the average home goes for over $450,000? Or do you want to live in the funky Pike Place Market, what some call “the soul of the city?” Will you look for high-rise Bellevue condos in the NWMLS, or will you find historic cottages in Pioneer Square?

While you’re persuing Northwest MLS for housing, keep in mind that schools are high-quality and plentiful here, with over 45,000 students enrolled in public schools and over 300 private schools to choose from. Americans for the Arts rated Seattle in the top five “American cities for arts and arts-related businesses.” It was also rated the third best walking city in the US. Generally speaking, Seattle’s just a great place to live and work, with a rather diverse housing stock.

Love Skyscrapers? Check Seattle MLS For Bellevue Housing

As you may have heard, Bellevue is growing rampantly, as more and more people head into the city to live, work and play. In the 1990s, the downtown lifestyle didn’t appeal to people. Home buyers scoured Seattle MLS for suburban escapes where they could get as far from the work environment as possible. The idea was that they could live in larger homes for less money. However, the cost of suburban housing often exceeds downtown living and trading some space in exchange for a maintenance-free lifestyle and shorter commute is a trade-off many young professionals and aging boomers alike are willing to make.

To give you an idea of the projected growth, downtown Bellevue has 5,000 residents now but is expected to grow to 14,000 by 2020. There are 3,750 housing units that will nearly quadruple over the next decade. There are 8 million square feet of office space, 3.9 million square feet of retail space and 38,100 jobs – all which signal a healthy local economy.

The type of person that scours Seattle MLS looking for Bellevue housing is someone who yearns for city living, without the agitation, the traffic or the crime. You may work in the high-tech industry, since Symetra Financial, Microsoft, Yahoo, Google and Expedia are all headquartered in Bellevue. You may have kids that need a strong Eastside school. Perhaps you’re looking for sophisticated and classy nightlife, rather than Downtown Seattle’s alternative and edgy. You might want to ask your Seattle realtor for a high-rise condo or a loft.

Looking For Luxury: Echo Lake on Seattle MLS

If you miss the Street of Dreams Tour each year, there’s still good news: 1) They’re publishing a magazine that’ll be out each July and January, featuring some of the most luxurious properties from Seattle MLS. And 2) You can still ask your Seattle realtor about properties in Snohomish County, King’s County and Echo Lake, where many of these mega-mansions sit in all their splendor.

You can sometimes find homes with three and four car garages, home theaters and backyard spa oases, but you might need to find a knowledgeable Seattle realtor to find the two-story indoor waterfalls, home theaters and eco-friendly housing.

What kind of trends should you ask your Seattle realtor about? Well, energy efficient homes have reclaimed and sustainable materials, harness natural lighting, incorporate organic landscaping, install Energy Star appliances and avoid things like chemically dyed carpeting, wasteful architecture and pesticides.

“People want to live simpler,” said Seattle developer Curt Pryde, “but they want high-quality materials and they want their homes to very cost efficient, to be healthy.”

After all, if you’re paying close to $2 million for an opulent palatial estate, it’s all about the lifestyle. Another thing you may want to consider is asking your Seattle realtor if there are smaller luxury homes in urban settings, which will cut down your commute and conserve more materials – homes like Ashworth Cottages in Green Lake.

Seattle realtor Heidi Bright explains, “Building smaller luxury homes, particularly in urban areas, is definitely a trend that we see very high demand for.”

Ask Your Seattle Real Estate Agents For Eco-Friendly

What was once a concrete jungle of a parking lot near the Northgate Mall is now being transformed into a stunning, eco-friendly, mixed-use development that’ll include 278 apartments, 109 condos, 52,00 square feet of retail space, a 52-screen movie theater, walking paths, an exposed waterway and public art displays.

Thornton Place, designed by Seattle Washington real estate developers Lorig Associates and Stellar Holdings and set for completion in Spring 2009, was conceived as an exciting response to that innate citizen desire for community dwelling space and natural landscaping.

“Everyone will have a front stoop and all the residences will look out over the channel project and the pedestrian paths,” says Andrew Hoyer, senior associate with Mithun. “The walkways will serve as a good gathering point in an urban setting.”

In addition to creating the layout with “New Urbanism” in mind, the group says they will also pursue LEED certification, which means they will use responsible building practices, install Energy Star appliances, in addition to making use of natural lighting and improved air circulation practices. Seattle real estate agents say this is of utmost importance to area buyers, who pride themselves on being green.

“We’ve been pushing sustainable practices very hard within our company over the past five to ten years,” Hoyer says, adding that the company’s been involved with numerous family-oriented Seattle Washington real estate projects over the years. “We believe that sustainable design is not a trend–it’s a movement, a complete change of life, a paradigm shift. We know that all of this is important for our children.”

To encourage residents and retail employees to use bicycles as the primary mode of transit, Thornton Place is installing showers on the premises for those hot and sweaty summer commutes. They’re also working with Metro Transit and Flexcar to facilitate shared transportation. Seattle real estate agents should have no trouble encouraging interest in the Thornton Place lifestyle!

Seattle Real Estate Agents Say Seattle’s Going Greener

How is Seattle Washington real estate going greener, you might ask? Seattle real estate agents like Courtney Cooper say that, “Seattle neighborhoods have been putting food scraps in the green lawn bin for quite some time and beginning late last year, many Seattle suburbs started offering this great service too!” In addition to lawn clippings, you can put shredded paper, paper plates, napkins, paper towels, Chinese take-out cartons and pizza boxes can all go in your green bin!

But that’s not all, say Seattle real estate agents! In fact, the citizens of Seattle have been incorporating eco-friendly interior design into their prized piece of Seattle Washington real estate. Your neighbor may not believe you when you mention that your green Crate and Barrel sofa is actually made of a sustainable wood frame, soy-based foam, water-based finishes and bamboo trim! You can get your organic sheets, towels and bath mats at West Elm, your organic sofas from One Earth One Design or Crate and Barrel, your eco-friendly home renovation materials from Home Depot and your PBDE-free / legally logged furniture from Ikea. The Forest Stewardship Council approves environmentally-friendly wood, so keep a look out for that label.

Don’t just take the Seattle real estate agents‘ word for it. In April, Seattle was dubbed the nation’s leader in green building development, with 41 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified buildings. Other cities riding our coat tails include: Portland, Chicago, DC and Grand Rapids. Even our very own City Hall and Central Library are sustainable designs!

Ask Your Seattle Real Estate Agents About Historic Housing

The Carpenter Gothic houses from 812-828 Twenty-third Avenue date back to 1892, when the Seattle Washington real estate was slated as low-income Victorian housing. Today the four row houses – designated as Official City of Seattle Landmarks in December 1979 — are owned by private citizens.

Ask your Seattle real estate agents to take you for a stroll along Federal Avenue East, just east of Tenth Avenue East, where you will see some of the most stylish turn-of-the-century architecture the city has to offer. The street is packed with everything from Spanish and Dutch Colonials to English Tudors, Normans, French Provincial manors, English Country Cottages and Mediterranean Villas. Large Craftsman style homes and Classic Box architecture sprouted up in stark contrast to its more ornate neighbors. Federal Avenue East surely has one of the most diverse housing stocks in the nation, Seattle real estate agents say.

Following WWII, industry began leaving the area, which led many buildings to languish in a state of disrepair. Pioneer Square was rescued by the Historic Seattle organization and wealthy philanthropists in the 1960s. Pike Place Market was saved from demolition in the 1970s. The City Landmarks program began in the 1970s to protect valuable Seattle Washington real estate like Pike Place, the International District, Ballard Avenue, Columbia City, the Harvard-Belmont and Fort Lawton.

One Architect Dares to Dream Up New Seattle Real Estate

Tom Kundig of Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects may very well be the future of Seattle real estate. This 53-year-old University of Washington graduate will be traveling to Washington DC this summer to be honored with an architecture design award for the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.

He compares his work to mountain climbing: “It’s not just about getting to the top,” he says, “it’s about the elegance in how you get there.” Likewise, Seattle WA real estate isn’t just about windows, but rather, “a window that opens in such a way that it gives you a little thrill.”

One of Kundig’s Seattle real estate hallmarks is his use of “gizmos.” For example, he once made a 6-ton behemoth window out of steel and glass – and yet, his six-year-old daughter could open it easily. “The idea is that every day we touch these things… Why can’t we re-imagine them?”

He also tries to create an emotional balance in his designs. For example, his personal piece of Seattle WA real estate on Queen Anne offers a formidable view of the Olympic Mountains through floor-to-ceiling windows, yet plush cave-like interiors. “It’s the yin and yang of our experience,” he explains.

Though 40% of his Seattle real estate work is commercial, he admits his real passion lies in residential. Right now his pride and joy will be a 37-story hotel-condo tower.

Daniel Friedman, dean of the College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Washington, said Kundig’s structures “are like wunderkammer – a cabinet of wonders.”

“We’ve lost sight of that in our culture,” Friedman continues. “Tom’s work recovers wonder on a very intimate scale. He enriches the ordinary experience. And no one does it better.”

Seattle’s Growing Strong, Despite US Recession

Seattle WA real estate is thriving. In fact, the city’s growing at such a rapid rate, it’s halfway to reaching its targeted housing growth for 20 years (in just over 3 years’ time!) Some of the neighborhoods – including Ballard, Eastlake, Greenlake, the Central Area, Lower Queen Anne and downtown – have already surpassed their 20-year targets. Ballard has had the fastest growth, adding 287 completed housing units, with 1,452 more under construction.

Councilmember Nick Licata says that the growth has been responsible, but there could be some improvements. “Now’s the time for us to step back and ask ourselves if we are accompanying that growth with improvements to our public services, cultural amenities and open spaces.”

In Eastlake, the second fastest growing neighborhood in Seattle real estate, they’re at 158% of its residential growth target. “While some Eastlake residents might mourn the change of their neighborhood, others appreciate the urban vitality they see growing up around them,” explains Eastlake Community Councilman Matthew Stubbs. “I would not day there is a universal cry to halt development but there are some common desires for our neighborhood that I hear repeatedly.”

He went on to say the people living in fast-growing Seattle WA real estate desire infrastructure to keep pace, reliable mass transit, access to neighborhood schools, well maintained green space and community gathering places.

Seattle Real Estate Housing Values Drop

Prices are dropping for Seattle real estate but how low will they go? Economist Andrew Gledhill predicts that Seattle housing values will drop 11% from July 2007 to the first or second quarter of 2009 before rebounding.”We’re a little over the halfway point,” he estimates. Since June 2006, values have declined 6.5%, he adds.

Matthew Gardner, a Seattle land-use economist, scoffed at the numbers. “I just find it absolutely ridiculous when you hear these kinds of numbers and everybody’s supposed to get excited about it. Do I expect to see double-digit declines? I don’t.” Compared to other markets, which may drop 23% from their peak, Seattle WA real estate isn’t faring so bad, he adds.

Some areas of Seattle real estate aren’t really affected at all, in fact. For example, luxury homes in King County are still selling at a median price of $454,950 and sales were only down 1.1% since last year. Similarly, houses in Seattle and Bellevue are still selling due to high demand, owing in part to the high number of jobs in the area.
With the summer coming up and interest rates low, some predict the Seattle WA real estate market will bounce back quicker than expected. J. Lennox Scott, real estate CEO, explains, “There are such great opportunities for buyers right now to position themselves for the future. Interest rates are historically low, there’s a healthy inventory of homes to choose from, and the new, higher conforming loan limits have increased housing affordability. If you’re a buyer, this is the time to take advantage of these unique market conditions.”

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