Debra Sinick

Archive for April, 2011|Monthly archive page

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How Many Homes Sold In Kirkland, WA in March, 2011?

In buyers, Kirkland WA, Kirkland, WA Real Estate, market statistics, Real estate, sellers on April 13, 2011 at 11:48 am
Kirkland home sales

Kirkland Real Estate Sales Through March 2011

There still aren’t a lot of homes on the market in Kirkland, which is surprising to me because the number is usually creeping up by this time during the year.  As you can see above, in March of 2010 there were 345 homes for sale, which is more typical of this time of year.  Out of the 277 homes for sale in Kirkland, 69 homes sold in March, 2011.*  One quarter of all the homes for sale in Kirkland got an offer.  These odds were a lot better than we’ve seen in a long time.

The median price in Kirkland increased from $515,000 to $559,000. This is the third month in a row with a very small increase in median pricing.  Still, when pricing a home to sell you have to pay attention to the pricing of the homes for sale that are most like your home.  If there are a lot of other homes for sale in your home’s price range, then the asking price will need to be more aggressive.

Right now in the Highlands, there are 15 homes for sale between $500-$750,000.  This means these home owners will need to be more careful when setting the asking price.  If the home is not a good value, buyers will go buy the homes in the neighborhood that are a good value.   Price your home so it’s a good value when compared to these other homes.

Remember, too, the median price for each month only reflects the home sales for that particular month.  It’s important to track pricing over several months to get a more accurate reading as to whether prices are up or down.

If you click on this link, you’ll see the MLS charts which show the real estate trends, including median price, for the past five years in Kirkland.

Where’s Kirkland WA?


View Larger Map

What’s happening with real estate in your neighborhood?

If you’d like more specific information about your home and neighborhood, please feel free to contact me.

*The numbers may vary slightly from other reports, but the trend is the same.

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Kirkland Highlands Real Estate News, 4-11-11

In Kirkland WA, Kirkland, WA Real Estate, market statistics, Real estate, sellers on April 11, 2011 at 5:11 pm

There are big gaps in the Kirkland Highlands real estate market with homes available only in some price ranges, but not all. Right now the largest number of homes for sale falls in the $500-750,000 price range.  Because there is more for sale in this price range,  the pricing for these homes will need to be more competitive.

If your home is in one of the price ranges where nothing is for sale, think about selling now before more homes come up for sale. When more homes come on the market, there will be more competition.   If you’re not sure of your home’s value, feel free to contact me to find out what your home may be worth in today’s market.

By the way, in case you’re wondering why there’s one more home on the market this week ( 20 instead of 19), but no new listings, it’s because a home came back on the market and is for sale again.  It’s not new to the market.

The real estate statistics below reflect the activity in The Kirkland Highlands for the past two weeks. All data is taken from the NWMLS through Monday of this week.


View Larger Map

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 corridor. The neighborhood has the best of both worlds, a little isolation without any through traffic, but just seconds from everything.

Numbers in parentheses are from the last report:

Active Listings: 20 (19)

New listings: 0 (5)

Pending inspection: 1 (0)

Pending: 0 (1)

Pending Inspection 0 (1)

Number of Price Reductions: 1  (0)

Price increase: 0 (0)

Homes off the market that did not sell: 0 (0)

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0-$349,999: 0 (0)

$350,000-$499,999: 6 (7)

$500,000-$749,999:  12 (10)

$750,000-$999,999: 0 (0)

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

$1,500,000- $2,999,999: 0 (0)
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Most expensive home for sale: $1,299,000

Most affordable home for sale: $385,000

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Closed Sales:

$195,000:  Final sales price $199,900: Last asking price $234,900: Original asking price.  Sold in 195 days for % below the original sales price. If you’re wondering about the price of this home, it’s in a planned unit development.  It’s a town home, but legally can be called a single family home (this may require another blog post to explain), so the information is posted in single family homes by the NWMLS.  The town home was a one bedroom with 1.5 baths.

$294,000:  Final sales price $310,000: Last asking price $439,000: Original asking price.  Sold in 68 days for 33% below the original sales price.

KIRKLAND HIGHLANDS TOWN HOMES:

1 town home for sale

1 sold

Town homes are selling!  Good news!

$395,000:  final sale price $419,000:  Last asking price $449,000: Original asking price.  Sold in 104 days for 12% below the original price.

***The Multiple Listing rules don’t allow comment on other members’ listings and sales besides data such as pricing and days on market.

Feel free to contact me if you have questions about how to position your home so you can get the best price when selling.

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Who Are Burke and Farrar and What Affect Did They Have on Kirkland Real Estate?

In Kirkland WA, Kirkland, WA Real Estate on April 7, 2011 at 6:37 pm
Name of developers of Kirkland, Wa

Burke & Farrars

Matt McCauley posted an article on Kirkland Views about Kirkland’s Heritage Park. In this post, Matt also mentions two people who had a big impact on eastside growth and development, Burke and Farrar.  The names caught my attention.  As a Realtor, I’ve seen the names Burke and Farrar pop up all over the map, literally.  Burke and Farrar owned a development company and platted hundreds of acres of the eastside.   The legal name of many of these neighborhoods is as Matt states:

….the plat name would be ‘Burke & Farrar’s Kirkland Addition to the City of Seattle Division No. XX’

Most people refer to their neighborhoods by the more widely known popular names, such as the Kirkland Highlands or Rose Hill. The legal name of a neighborhood is not something most of us think about or even know. But if you live in the Highlands, the legal name for your property may include the above description.  If your home is in a newer section of the Highlands, the lots were more  likely redrawn and given new legal names and descriptions.  But if your home is on a lot that was platted during the first part of the 20th century, it may have the above  included in the legal description.

Some of the neighborhoods with this legal description are not even in Kirkland, but in cities, such as Redmond.    When I list a home, some of my clients will ask me why their neighborhood, which may not be in Kirkland, has  “Kirkland” in the legal description.  Burke and Farrar had a far reaching impact on the first big wave of eastside growth.

I wrote a post a couple of years ago about some of Kirkland’s history and the two men who had a great impact on it, Burke and Farrar.

If you’re curious about the legal description for your property, you can check it out at the King County assessor’s website or feel free to contact me.

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