Ok. second year in a row with a big, beautiful boat slip, but no boat.  So this year again, we will watch the fireworks in downtown Kirkland from the dock.  We’ll have a front seat for the fireworks show.  It ought to be beautiful and a gorgeous end to a nice day.

Here’s what’s happening in Kirkland on the Fourth of July: Check out the Celebrate Kirkland website to get all the latest about the morning parade, picnics at the beach, and the fireworks display at night.  There’s something for everyone.

Have a great holiday!  Oh by the way, cross your fingers for me.  I may have a boat to put in this boat slip next week.  It’s only taken a year!

This blog was moved from eblogger to wordpress in order to create better tags, links, and an easier platform to work from.  As we all know, most “remodeling” jobs take a bit longer than expected.  I plan to publish articles during this time, however, I’m also working on the finer points of blog presentation, tagging, yada yada yada (thank you, Elaine)

Welcome to Kirkland Highlands Real Estate Buzz on WordPress. I’ve moved my blog from blogger. Over the next few days, I will add in  links that will be helpful to you and organize the previous posts into separate tag headings so you can navigate past posts more easily by topic.

Remarks in red show last week’s activity

New listings: 0 (1)

Active Listings: 18 (20)

Sold subject to inspection: 0 (0)

Pending: 0 (1 at $579,000)

Closed Sales: 1 at $750,000 (1 at $759,000)

Number of Price Reductions: 1 (0)
———————————–
Number of homes available: 18 (20)

0-$349,999: 0 (0)

$350,000-$499,999: 2 (1)

$500,000-$749,999: 7 (9)

$750,000-$999,999: 6 (6)

$1,000,000- $1,499,999: 2 (3)

$1,500,000- $2,999,999: 1 (1)
———————————–
Average Price: $717,808 ($792,087)

Median Price: $639,990 ($750,000)

Average Days on Market: 62 (67)

Highest Priced Listing: $1,895,000 (same)

Lowest Priced Listing: $419,000 (same)

(data from NWMLS)

My analysis of this week’s real estate buzz: There’s been little change in the activity since last week. There are two less listings on the market now. One listing expired and is has been rented. The expired listing was priced at $570,000 and was on the market for 250 days, which is an usually long time in any market. The rental had been priced at $1,149,000. In the last two weeks there has been one sale in the Highlands. A home sale did close last week at $750,000. The home was a newer style two story that had been on the market for two months.

Ler me know if you would like other information or if you have any comments.

At 11 AM this morning stop by Peter Kirk to get your child’s classroom assignment as the new classroom lists will be posted. At the same time, you can meet your child’s teacher. From 11 AM to 12 noon, parents and children can meet the new teachers at Peter Kirk Elementary.

***Don’t forget to provide a family email address to the teacher on the first day of school.

To find out more about Peter Kirk Elementary, check out this link.

Peter Kirk Elementary
1312 6th St.
425-822-7449

The Highlands weekly real estate buzz for the week of August 17-24

New listings: 1

Active Listings: 20

Sold subject to inspection: none

Pending: 1 at $579,000

Closed Sales: 1 sold at $759,000, asking price was $765,000

Price Reductions: none
———————————–
Number of homes available: 20

$350,000-$499,999: 1

$500,000-$749.999: 9

$750,000-$999,999: 6

$1,000,000- $1,499,999: 3

$1,500,000- $2,999,999: 1
———————————–
Average Price: $792,087

Median Price: $694,995

Average Days on Market: 67

Highest Priced Listing: $1,895,000

Lowest Priced Listing: $419,000

The number of homes on the market remained the same as last week’s total with 20 homes for sale. There was one new listing and one home that went pending, keeping the total of active listings to 20. This week’s new listing is the least expensive property in the neighborhood priced at $419,000. Although there is a home on the property, the price is based on the value of the land, not the home. (This report is based on inventory at 10:30 AM, August 24th,2007)

Let me know if you have any questions or comments about the market performance. I am happy to answer them,

Sellers had a 22% chance of selling a home, DOWN slightly from 23% last month and DOWN slightly from 25% last year.
(Information obtained from MLS and Windermere data and are for pending, not closed sales.)

Median price climbed by 15.8% to $757,475 from $654,250. Inventory is up by about 21%.

Kirkland started the year off with 278 homes for sale in January and in July there 366 homes on the market.

January, 278 homes listed
February, 275 homes listed
March 290 homes listed
April, 305 homes listed
May, 341 homes listed
June, 383 homes listed
July, 366 homes listed

Month with most homes on the market? June.

The peak of sales activity, the best month to sell, so far this year? The month of May, when 31% of the homes sold. With the increase in inventory brought on in June, the percentage of sales dropped by 10% to 21% in June and to 22% in July. Competition to get sold increased dramatically with the increase in inventory.

The peak of the inventory, thus far, was in June. Will this be the peak of the inventory for single family homes this year? Stayed tuned!

Everyone wants to know the latest real estate happenings in the neighborhood. Here is the answer. If you follow the numbers listed here each week, it will be easier to understand the market trends specific to The Highlands. There are overall trends in real estate, but not all neighborhoods perform in exactly the same way at the same time. Here is your chance to see only the Highlands activity on a weekly basis.

If you look at the articles every Friday you will find:

total number of homes for sale
Number of homes available in each price range
Most expensive home for sale
Least expensive home for sale
if inventory is up or down from the previous week
Number of homes receiving offers that week (pending or sold subject to inspection, STI)
Number of closed sales

Average days on the market
Number of price reductions
————————————————————————————-
The Highlands weekly real estate buzz for the week of August 10-17th ( 8:30 AM)

Active: 20 homes

0-$499,999: none

$500,000 – $749,999: 10

$750,000 – $999,999: 6

$1,000,000 – $1,499,999: 3

$1,500,000 and above: 1

Least expensive home: $500,000

Most expensive home: $1,895,000

Pending sales: 1- $889,000

Closed sales: 0

Average days on the market: 67

Price reductions this week: 2
one reduction of $2,000 and one of $10,000

My general impressions: For sale signs have sprouted all over the Highlands and market time has increased dramatically since the first quarter. O the 20 homes listed, 11 have had price reductions since being listed, including the above 2 homes. Two homes have been on the market for a few months with no price reduction, 1 home is a new listing. The Highlands “bread and butter” price range is between $500-$1,000,000, but competition amongst homes in this price range is much stiffer than during the first quarter.