Kirkland Highlands Real Estate Buzz

Numbers in red reflect last week’s totals. New totals are through mid-afternoon on Friday, the 28th and are collected from NWMLS  data.

(Photo of finished home courtesy of Sherry Vincent) 

The Kirkland Performance Center was hopping on Sunday night the 18th.  People came to support Hopelink and the Chapin family at a presentation of  the Extreme Makeover show of the Chapin residence.  As many Kirklanders know, The Chapins received a new home in October courtesy of  Extreme Makeover Home Edition and many local contractors, such as Doyle Construction.  The construction of the home was a huge community effort that continued with Sunday’s “performance” of the TV show. 

 Volunteers, contractors, and members of the cast of Extreme Makeover worked around the clock in rainy weather during the 8 day build.  The sign above shows  just a few of the many contractors that contributed their time, money, and services.

 The Kirkland Performance Center sold over 300 tickets, netting about $422 in cash donations and a total of 6 crates of food for Hopelink.  Over on Rain City Guide, Ardell wrote a piece about Sunday’s performance.

The Chapin family utilitzed some of Hopelink’s services in the past when they were a bit more down on their luck.  They have been great to always remember Hopelink and this was a fine way to do it!

 If you check out my previous blog postings on The Extreme Makeover home, you can follow the experience from beginning to end.  Photos have been posted which show the original home, the teardown, and the construction.  It was an exciting project and a neighborhood/city bonding experience. 

(Channeling a bit of Burt Bachrach here!)

Running late to work and traffic is backed up? What to do…Perhaps a  ferry will be at The Kirkland City dock to pick you up. A flash from the past may hit Kirkland. Ferry service was the way to cross the lake until the ’state of the art” floating bridges were built in the mid 20th century.  Kirkland has been selected by King County for a new ferry service between the University of Washington and the town dock or Carillon Point. 

 It looks like the ink is dry on the contract between The King County Council and The Port of Seattle.  Last week  it sounded as if there would be a trail alongside the BNSF tracks here in The Highlands, although last evening’s Seattle PI article did not mention any guarantees.  Here is what was reported in The Seattle PI by Neil Modie:

“According to the memorandum, Sims will seek an agreement with the port by June 30 for the county to purchase two segments of the corridor: a six-mile section from Renton northward to the Wilburton tunnel, and a seven-mile spur between Redmond and Woodinville south of Northeast 145th Street.”

Buying those segments outright would cost the county an estimated $42.5 million, Triplett has said.”

  If you follow my posts on the BNSF train tracks, you can see it has been quite a ride and it’s not over just yet.

 The latest version sounds like this:  The tracks are to be ripped up from Bellevue to Renton because of 405 expansion and the removal of the Bellevue trestle.  The tracks are to remain in place from Bellevue to Snohomish. It sounds as if a trail may be under consideration from Bellevue to Redmond, running right by the Highlands, while keeping the existing tracks.    My guess  is there will be tracks, although not in use. The hope is this will be with the addition of a trail. The line from Redmond to the Woodinville will be sold to the county and looks more likely to be a trail. 

 Whew!  An interesting and convoluted compromise.   The important issue for The Highlands is it looks as if there’s still no guarantee we will receive the trail by our neighborhood.  The County and the Port want to reserve the right to keep tracks in place in case they decide to use them in the future. 

“The agreement provides that the corridor will be considered for “dual usage” to allow “trails and rails to be developed” on it.” (Seattle PI’s Neil Modie)

My concern for both the ferry service and a train, if it ever comes to pass many, many years from now, is parking for commuters, ferry stops, train stations, bridges over intersections, etc? 

Where will all the infrastructure be? 

Where is there space for all of this?

Will commuter parking downtown impact spaces for shoppers at the local merchants? 

How and who will pay for all us?

The costs to redo the tracks, redo existing bridges, build new bridges and parking garages is enormous.  I think it could be years, maybe even decades,before all this is sorted out, never mind acted upon.  King County has  had trouble resolving transportation issues for years, most recently with the defeat of Proposition 1. Given this “track” record, my guess is this will be an issue discussed for many years after we are all long gone!

 I have not heard or read anything about how these other issues will all be resolved.  Here is a bicycle enthusiast’s take on the project. If you have heard about plans to deal with these issues, I would love to hear from you. What is your opinion about all this?

 Bottom line for The Highlands, Kirkland, Juanita, and much of Bellevue,  don’t put your jogging shoes on just yet!

Sellers had a 10.8% chance of selling a home in Kirkland in November, 2007.

(See the chart above to show the last four year’s activity.  The chart shows numbers for all of Kirkland, south of NE 116th St)

November 2007   405 homes for sale, 44 sales, 10.8% chance of selling.

October 2007        424 homes for sale,  48 sales, 11% chance of selling.

November 2006   316 homes for sale,   57 sales, 18% chance of selling. 

The chances of selling a home in Kirkland has changed little over the last three months.  Forty-four homes sold in November, 48 in October, and 40 in September.  The dip in Kirkland’s 2007 market is actually less than other areas of the Eastside.  In November of last year, 18% of the homes sold here whereas in other areas 20-40+% of the homes were selling.  Thirteen less homes sold this November than last November. In this sense, Kirkland’s market has been less volatile. 

Inventory has decreased by 19 homes since last month. However, inventory is up by 28% from last year. This is certainly a larger number than last November, however, in other Eastside neighborhoods available inventory has skyrocketed.  West Bellevue has 75% more homes available.  The areas around Microsoft have almost 88% more homes on the market this November.

Despite the slightly tougher market, Kirkland’s  median pricing is still up by about 3% to $689,975.

There are 257 less homes on the market this month, which is a typical seasonal trend.

 Bottom line in Kirkland is the market has not changed as drastically here as it has in other areas.  There are some great properties out there.  The selection of homes is just wonderful.   A new home, what a nice Christmas present!

For a report on the Eastside’s November performance, you can check this post out.

Numbers in red reflect last week’s totals. New totals are through mid-afternoon on Friday, the 14th, and are collected from NWMLS  data.

New listings:  0(2) 

Active Listings:   26(27)

Sold subject to inspection:  1(1)

Pending:  2(1)

Closed Sales:   0(2)

Contingent sale: 0(0)

Number of Price Reductions:  0(1)

Cancelled listings 1(0)

Expired Listings 0 (1)

———————————–
Number of homes available:    26(27)

0-$349,999:   0(0)

$350,000-$499,999:   1(1)

$500,000-$749,999:    6(6)

$750,000-$999,999:   10(11)

$1,000,000- $1,499,999:   6(6)

$1,500,000- $2,999,999:   3(3)
———————————–
Average Price: $1,004,478 ($995,756)
Median Price:   $879,258 ($877,335)

Average Days on Market: 79(74)

Highest Priced Listing: $2,299,950 ($2,299,950)

Lowest Priced Listing: $460,000($460,000)

(data from NWMLS)

My analysis of this week’s real estate buzz:

One home sold this week in the Highlands.  The home had been on the market for almost a year, 337 days!  It was a bank repossession and had dropped in price by almost $75,000 before receiving an offer.  This is one of the longest market times in the area for a home that is not new construction. Average market time has crept up in The Highlands, but still is in the 70+ day range. 

There were no sales that closed this week, but two homes moved past the inspection process and are now pending.  One home was reduced by $25,000, which was about a 5% reduction. The other home was reduced by $50,000, a 7% reduction. 

A home in Highland Creste, priced at $769,000, went off the market this week.  It should be coming back on the market as a new listing soon as a relocation company has taken over the sale of the home.

There have been quite a few changes in the town home/condo listings this week.  A listing in Highland Pointe, which is a planned unit development more like a single family neighborhood, was cancelled after being on the market for over 6 months.  A Michigan Station town home priced at $445,000 was also cancelled.  

Because of a price reduction, there are now two listings in Kirkland Highpointe under $600,000 for the first time in a long time.   The best priced town home in The Highlands is the town home in Moss Bay Crest, which was reduced by 4% to $419,500. 

The buyers who are out now are serious buyers who do understand there are some great choices in all price ranges out there.   There are some of the best values we have seen in a long time out in the marketplace right now.

Friday, December 7th was the deadline for The Port of Seattle to get back to Ron Sims regarding the trail and the rails.  The date has come and gone.  Sims had given The Port an ultimatum: If the rails remain, the county isn’t interested.  Building a trail alongside the BNSF tracks would be far more expensive than building a trail over the existing tracks.  Now there is a new date to hear from The Port of Seattle  regarding their plans,  December 11th. Stay tuned!

Numbers in red reflect last week’s totals. New totals are through mid-afternoon on Friday, the 7th, and are collected from MWMLS data.

New listings:  2(2) 

Active Listings:   27(27)

Sold subject to inspection:  0(2)

Pending:  1(0)

Closed Sales:   2(0)

Contingent sale: 0(0)

Number of Price Reductions:  1(3)

Cancelled listings 0(0)

Expired Listings 1 (0)

———————————–
Number of homes available:    27(28)

0-$349,999:   0(0)

$350,000-$499,999:   1(1)

$500,000-$749,999:    6(8)

$750,000-$999,999:   11(11)

$1,000,000- $1,499,999:   6(5)

$1,500,000- $2,999,999:   3(4)
———————————–
Average Price: $995,756 ($989,756)
Median Price:   $877,335 ($871,050)

Average Days on Market: 74(71)

Highest Priced Listing: $2,299,950 ($2,299,950)

Lowest Priced Listing: $460,000($460,000)

(data from NWMLS)

My analysis of this week’s real estate buzz:

The Highlands is starting to see some sales over the past few weeks.   The good news this week is a sale at the high-end of the market.  This home is one of the new construction homes just off 112th Ave NE.  It was listed for 151 days, about 5 months, at the last asking price of $1,595,000.  For sale since 2005, it had come on the market before it was completed, with a starting price of $1,345,000.  

 One of the closed sales had been on the market for a total of 170 days.  It had previously received an offer before going back on the market and receiving the second offer.  The final sale price was 8% below the final list price, selling at $500,000 from $539,000.

The other closed sale happened in Forbes Creek, Waterwheel Park.  This home, built by Panterra in the late 1980’s, started at $500,000, reduced its price to $475,000 and sold for $460,000, again about 8% below the starting price.

Two new listings came on the market this week in the Highlands, one home, on NE 87th, is only a year old and is priced at $989,000.  The other home is a 3200 square foot home listed at $1,175,000.

A price reduction of $32,000, about 5%, happened on the home listed in Hidden Woods for $675,000, now $643,000.    Another home went off the market, after reducing its price from the low $800’s to the low $700’s.  It was on the market since May and had originally been priced at $824,950.  Its last price was just under $740,000.

The condo/town home market has also been busy this week.  A town home was re-listed in Highland Pointe and remains at just under $600,000.  The original asking price back in May was just under $650,000.  Pricing in this neighborhood is based on square footage, of course, but lake and city views, and proximity to the road all play an important role.  Another home in Highland Pointe, which had been the most expensive listing as of late, priced at $644, 950, went off the market at 170 days.

When looking at many of the homes with activity this week, whether they were sales, relisted properties or cancelled listings, a common thread is long market time.  Many of the properties commented on in this week’s buzz have market times of 5-6 months. 

Hopelink needs you!  The Kirkland Fire Department is collecting both food and toys for Hopelink.  As we all know, this is a difficult time of year for many people.  This year has been especially hard, particularly for those folks who were affected by this week’s heavy rain and snow.  For more information about the food and toy drive check, the news release from Marie Stake, Kirkland’s communications program manager.

This was just sent out from Marie Stake, the communications program manager, at the City of Kirkland:

Safety tips for home and business owners:

Know the difference between “flood watch” and “flood warning.” 

The National Weather Service issues a flood watch when heavy rains are highly likely. 

A flood watch is typically issued 36 to 12 hours before the anticipated event. 

 A flood warning is issued when a flooding event is occurring imminent or has a high probability of occurring within 12 hours.

When a flood watch is issued, furniture and valuables should be moved to higher floors.  Vehicle gas tanks should be filled, in case an evacuation notice is issued. 

When a flood warning is issued, listen to radio and TV stations for information.

 If a flash flood occurs, move immediately to higher ground.

 Be aware that streams, drainage systems and other water ways can overflow.

    Buy sand and sandbags ahead of time.  To learn how to use sandbags, visit the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers website at

http://www.nww.usace.army.mil/html/offices/op/em/HowToBag.htm.  

For more flood safety tips, visit www.rpin.org and select “natural hazards/floods.” This is a great website that will give you all the latest information about road closures, flooding, etc.

 The City of Kirkland has activated its 24 hour information line at 425-587-3767.  Callers will hear a pre-recorded message that provides updates on road closures within the City, safety information and phone numbers for public services. 

  To report drainage issues on private property, call the Public Works Department at 425-587-3800. 

To report road hazards and flooding in public areas, call the City’s Maintenance Center at 425-587-3900.

 Storm drains are overloaded so anything is possible!  Many of us are not in imminent danger, but some roads and intersections are flooded.  My office is located by a creek that runs into Lake Washington and the creek has overflowed its banks and flooded the parking garage!