The real estate statistics below reflect the activity in The Kirkland Highlands for the past two weeks and all data is taken from the NWMLS through Thursday morning each week.  I’m thinking of going to a bi-weekly or monthly real estate update.  The Highlands is just a small portion of Kirkland real estate with less than 1000 homes. In any given week, there’s not a lot of activity. I write a similar post for the area in Redmond around Microsoft and it covers thousands, not hundreds of homes.   Each week, there’s more real estate activity, because I’m writing about a much larger area with many more homes.

The map shows most of the outline of Kirkland’s Highlands neighborhood. The map address is simply for a street corner in the middle of the Kirkland Highlands. For those not familiar with the neighborhood, it’s a pocket of unique homes close to downtown Kirkland. In some ways it feels like an island, because it’s separated on the east by 405, the south by Central Way (the main route to downtown) and the west and north by the BNSF railroad tracks. The neighborhood has the best of both worlds, a little isolation without any through traffic, but just seconds from everything.

Active Listings: 33 (28)

New listings: 2 (2)

Re-listed properties:  2 (0)

Pending inspection: 0 (3)

Pending: 0 (0)

Closed Sales: 0 (1)

Contingent sale: 0 (0)

Number of Price Reductions:  2  (1)

Canceled listings 0 (0)

Expired Listings: 1 (2)

Temporarily Off Market: 0 (0)

Price increase: 0(0)

Back on market: 2 (0)

Rented: 0 (0)

Sale Fail: 0 (0)

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0-$349,999: 3 (0)

$350,000-$499,999: 4 (4)

$500,000-$749,999:  14 (12)

$750,000-$999,999: 9 (9)

$1,000,000- $1,499,999: 2 (2)

$1,500,000- $2,999,999: 1 (1)
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Average Price of homes for sale: $715,926 ($761,184)

Median Price of homes for sale: $694,950 ($737,400)

Average Days on Market: 85 (85)

Highest Priced Listing: $1,675,000 ($1,795,000)

Lowest Priced Listing: $299,000 ($299,000)

Three homes are now on for sale in Kirkland’s Highlands for less than 350k. We’ll be seeing more homes pop up in this price than we’ve seen in a long time.  These new listings dropped the median pricing in the neighborhood to under 700k.  The most expensive home currently for sale in The Highlands was reduced by $125,000, also contributing to the drop in median pricing for the neighborhood.   Average days on market have held below 90 days for the last month, as some homes are selling and others are coming off the market that have not sold.

Two homes came back on the market.  It could be for several reasons.  Possibly the buyer and seller did not come to terms on the building inspection, the buyer backed out over the disclosure form or the buyer’s financing wasn’t going to happen.  These are common reasons for a home sale to fail early in the process and for the house to come back on the market.

Town homes/condos

6  town homes listed

1 new listings

1 pending

2 price reductions

One of the 3 town homes in Highland Creek was reduced by about $50,000 and is now priced at $525,000.  This is a hot price compared to the competition. The other 2 town homes for sale in Highland Creek, which is just off of NE 87th, are still  priced in the $570′s.

The least expensive town home for sale in The Highlands is priced at $430,000 and recently received an offer.  It is a short sale, which means the seller has to get permission from the bank to accept the offer because the sales price is less than what the seller owes the bank. Short sales are more and more common on Seattle’s eastside.  I’m working on a short sale in The Highlands right now.

As a reminder, a current homeowner who has to sell “short”  purchased his/her home with a small down payment. With declining home values, the homeowner owes more to the bank than the house is worth.  Because these offers are subject to bank approval, they can take months to sort out and may or may not be approved.  Ultimately, it’s the bank’s decision, not the decision of the homeowner as to whether the sale goes through.

Closed sales:

None this week.

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All the dog lovers in The Highlands should grab their dog and head on over to Crestwoods Park for the “Go Dog Go” event tomorrow from 10Am-3PM. (For those of you not in The Highlands, Crestwoods Park is on the map above.)  It’s the first ever dog event of its kind in Kirkland and you don’t even have to drive over and worry about parking.  Take the trail in Cotton Hill Park and head west towards the Junior High to Crestwoods Park.  It’s a straight shot.

I may check it out, but my dog may stay home.  I have a silky terrier who is between 10-12 years old and he’s going blind.  All the activity from the other dogs would probably scare him, unfortunately.  He’s a sweetie, but his vision problems make it hard for him to want to join in,