Home prices spiked sharply last year in some neighborhoods
The median price of single-family homes sold in King County in 2013 hit $415,000, its highest in five years, as the local housing market’s recovery gained steam.
After tumbling to a seven-year low of $340,000 in 2011, the median rose 7 percent in 2012 and grew 14 percent more last year, according to data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. The median price means that half of homes sold for more, half for less.
But some areas in King County saw bigger spikes than others, according to a Seattle Times analysis of MLS data.
The Jovita/West Hill neighborhood in Auburn led all King County areas with a 29 percent increase in the median price, to $273,000.
Close behind, with 24 percent appreciation: Seattle’s Sodo/Beacon Hill area, also with a below-average median price of $320,000, and Bellevue’s neighborhoods west of Interstate 405, with the county’s highest median price: $1.3 million.
The smallest increases, from 3 to 6 percent, were in Central Seattle, Newcastle/Issaquah and North Seattle.
Despite the strong annual gains for homes, the median sales price for 2013 in nearly all areas of King County was still below its peak in 2007, when the housing bubble burst. But some places are close to recovering all the ground they lost.
Overall, the countywide median price of homes sold in 2013 was still 9 percent below its 2007 peak of $455,000.
In South King County, where foreclosures were rampant during the Great Recession, the median prices of homes sold in Skyway, Burien, Des Moines, Federal Way and Kent in 2013 were still below their peak by 25 percent or more.
Areas close to downtown Seattle have bounced back more quickly.
In Seattle, for example, West Seattle’s median price in 2013 was 7 percent below its peak; the Queen Anne/Magnolia area, 4 percent off its last peak; the Ballard/Green Lake/Greenwood area, just 3 percent below.
In Eastside tech hubs like Bellevue, Kirkland and Redmond, the median price has returned to between 7 and 9 percent below its last peak. But the median price in bedroom communities like Kenmore, Renton Highlands and Vashon Island is still between 12 and 22 percent off the peak.
Central Seattle record
Central Seattle, which includes Capitol Hill, Washington Park and Madrona, is the only area where the 2013 median price — $619,000 — surpassed the level set during the 2007 housing bubble and saw a new high.
“My gut tells me that’s on the strength of infill development,” meaning new housing built in established neighborhoods, said Michael Doyle, a managing broker for Windermere in Seattle.
According to the Multiple Listing Service, the median price of new single-family homes in King County was $455,500; for condos, it was $438,303.
There’s been a flurry of homebuilders redeveloping single-family lots in Central Seattle: They buy an old house for $300,000, demolish it and build three high-end town homes priced at $500,000 apiece.
But there were also more than 100 homes sold in that area last year for $1 million or more, according to Redfin.
The luxury-home market is booming across King County. According to the MLS, there were 1,426 sales of $1 million-and-up homes last year, about 50 percent more than in 2012.
The highest price paid for a single-family home last year was $9.75 million for a property in Medina, while a penthouse condo in downtown Seattle sold for $6.2 million.
Among luxury buyers is Frank Loyko, who bought a downtown Seattle condominium last summer for just over $1.3 million.
In an interview last year, Loyko said he’d lived on the Eastside for more than a decade, but once his children had grown up, he and his wife wanted to leave the suburbs. Downtown Seattle’s food, arts and music scene appealed to him, as well as the idea of a high-rise community.
“It seems as though the baby boomers, the downsizers, had their retirement accounts flush again and were able to make moves they were previously unable to do,” Doyle said.
The article continues talking about Condos and their place in the market. Over all 2014 is a new year ready for more growth. As the months go by look to the market for higher listing volume and more activity.
To read the entire article please visit: The Seattle Times
