Green Lake real estate by the numbers, October 2011: More than 4% appreciation since January

What do you think? (1 Comment) October 8, 2011 at 8:03AM

This update on the Green Lake real estate market comes to us via Daniela Dombrowski & Kris Murphy of The Murphy & Dombrowski Real Estate Group.

Zillow reports a clear upward price trend between January and July 2011 in areas of classified as “Green Lake,” “Wallingford” and “Phinney Ridge” in the NWMLS:

• 4.3% appreciation in Green Lake (“Green Lake” as defined in the NWMLS includes properties all the way up to N 100th St.)
• 4.9% appreciation in Wallingford (including Tangletown)
• 5.4% appreciation in Phinney Ridge

Other neighborhoods that posted gains include Ballard, Queen Anne, First Hill, Hawthorne Hills, Madison Park, Magnolia, Mt Baker, Montlake, Olympic Manor, Ravenna, View Ridge and Whittier Heights.

For Seattle overall, Zillow reports a 3.8% decline and 5.1% lower prices nationwide year over year in July 2011.

Specifically, within the MyGreenLake boundaries, here is what we have been seeing over the last six months:

Sales in the MyGreenLake area, April to October 2011 - click to enlarge

Currently, there are 50 homes on the market, 27 are under contract and 93 have sold. 19 out of the 93 sales, or one fifth of these properties, sold for over asking price. The highest bid up property sold for 16% over list price with a sales price of $580,000 and a list price of $500,000. 14 properties sold at list price and on average the sales to list price ratio is at 98.69%. Average market time is at 58 days. Inventory levels (current active listings divided by pending sales) are very low at 1.85 months.

The high number of multiple offers, sales prices coming in almost at list price and the low inventory levels are all indicators of a healthy seller’s market in the MyGreenLake area.

In our own experience in representing sellers in the neighborhood over the last few months, most of our listings received multiple offers, in one case driving the price $40,000 above asking. For the most part in representing buyers, our clients had to compete in multiple offer situations as well. The longest market time for our listings was 12 days, most of them receiving offers within the first week of being on the market.

According to U.S. Cities Where Homes Sell the Fastest, a Zillow analysis posted on CNBC.com, Seattle is tied for second place, after San Francisco. And, Puget Sound Business Journal recently reported that we had the fifth biggest gain in jobs in the past year.

In summary, the Green Lake neighborhood is experiencing extremely low inventory in homes for sale, causing buyers to have to compete for properties which is driving up prices. A healthy job market and historically low interest rates add to this, making it a very healthy seller’s market within our neighborhood at this time.