Seattle Condo Blog and Community Information

The treasury department extended the tax credit until Sept. 30 to allow buyers to complete their purchases and qualify for tax credits of up to $8,000 for first-time buyers and $6,500 for existing owners who move. Under the original plan, buyers had until April 30 to get a signed sales contract and until June 30 to complete the sale.

The extension only allows people who signed contracts to finish the transaction at the later date. This will help the buyers who are purchasing short sales which can take months or never actually close.

Tags: Condo News

You could hear the sigh of relief among us realtors, as well as from those buyers who hadn’t yet found the right property before the original November deadline expired. As President Obama signed the extension into effect, and added current home-buyers (in their home for at least five years) to the list with a credit of $6,500, everyone from banks to buyers are certain to step up the pace. The new deadline is April 30 for purchase agreements, with closings wrapped up by June 30, 2010.

The Seattle condo, as well as single-family home, market has shown great signs of improvement over the last three months and a leveling out of the inventory. Now, both new homebuyers and current homeowners can step up the search for just the right home in the neighborhood of their liking. With mortgage rates in the low 5s at some institutions, these next few months are likely to make that serious prospective home-owner’s dream come true.

Nationwide, the original tax credit was claimed by nearly 1.4 million homebuyers, about 360,000 of whom would not otherwise have made the purchase, says the National Association of Realtors. Here in the Seattle area, a combination of home and condo sales were up 64 percent over a years ago, and most of those by first-time homebuyers using the credit. With the likely influx of current owners, we should be seeing a rise at all levels of property, from the lower end all the way through the luxury range. With the stabilization of prices over the last few months, we’ll also start seeing an upward swing in pricing. Clearly this is THE time to begin the hunt.

I’ve been watching an interesting chain of events unfold since attending the highly successful Gallery and Brix Auction. In the 10 day since, Brix has sold ten more condo homes and Gallery, eight. The pricing set at the auction remains in place and, with the seller determined to fill the buildings in the next couple of months, patient buyers who have held out for fair deals are being rewarded.

Excited auction buyers came well prepared, most putting down 20 percent – certainly the tax incentive was part of the motivation. And, very few investors bought units, which in other times would be the other way around. As Ken Stevens, CEO of Accelerated Marketing Partners, put it: “The auction added a dimension of transparency to the process and sellers aren’t going to go right back to the original pricing… they are now willing to accept the mandate for this new pricing for the remaining inventory. It’s the only way the trust factor will return.”

For those looking to purchase a condo home at this time, there are two big incentives to consider (not including the $8,000 tax credit due to expire in November): the first is that in my opinion there is no way these buildings can be replaced for the cost at which the condo units sold. Which leads to the second: that buyers can feel really great about making a very secure investment. Gallery currently has about 15 condos left to sell, and Brix, about 20. Going…going….?

Tags: Brix Condo, Gallery Condo, Seattle Condo, Seattle New Condo Construction

The Gallery Auction was held tonight at the Hyatt hotel in Seattle.  I attended with a buyer who was interested in a unit at this condominium.  There was a full room of people, it looked as though there was close to 350 seats and they were all filled.  Some of the bidding seemed to be emotional and the following table shows the results of the auction.   All the units sold and there were multiple bidders on all of the units.  Four units were added just prior to the auction.  Click on chart to enlarge.

Tags: Gallery Auction, Gallery Condo Seattle, New Construction, Seattle Condo

The news is nothing if not interesting these days with regards to real estate. From TIME Magazine to National Public Radio, you can hear the first big sighs of relief when it comes to discussing the real estate market, and especially here in the Northwest.

It’s encouraging to me to see that young people are putting a brave foot into the waters and starting to understand that if they buy young – mid-20s say – and start small, then there’s only one way to go on the ladder, and that’s up. While condo sales are still a bit wobbly in the knees, there is movement, especially in the non-luxury units. In housing we’re actually starting to see a shortage for first-time homebuyers because young families have seized the “buyers’ market” opportunity for smaller single family houses.

Sure, it can be scary that first time, but remember, 3.5 percent down is still very common, and with a good realtor to guide you, there still is no better investment when you’re young. Another plus is that plenty of people are still moving to the Continue Reading »