The following is a copy of my post on Kirkland Views regarding the most recent information to come to light about the rail corridor that runs through many eastside cities. The big question we are all facing right now:  “Will a private rail group try to buy or take over the line for commuter rail without going through the proper public process?’  Check out the link below to The Seattle Times article which reports on the active effort to put a train on the line in 6 months to a year.

It seemed like a done deal, the news media reported the sale of the BNSF line to The Port of Seattle at the close of 2009 with plans to sell the line to King County in 2010.

Seattle-Eastside BNSF Rail Line

Keith Ervin of the Seattle Times said,

After acquiring the rail line (which the Port has now done), the Port would sell the southern portion to King County and other buyers.

According to the news media, King County had planned to use funds from The Conservation Futures Fund to pay for the purchase. All was well and good on Seattle’s eastside.  The rail line might be developed as a trail with the possibility of future rail, if needed.

The Bellevue Reporter stated in a November, 2009 article:

County Executive-elect Dow Constantine said the agreement will fulfill a promise to the region that the Eastside Rail Corridor will receive long-term protection from development and that it will be made available for recreational uses.

“By keeping this key transportation and recreational corridor in public ownership, we are making a major commitment to our shared future in King County,” Constantine said.

However, a King County official recently said the County Conservation Futures funds slated to purchase the line can only be used for dedicated green space, not if there’s the possibility of a future rail line.

Herein, lies the dilemma.  The line must be rail banked to meet federal requirements.  So the Conservation Futures Fund might not be the source of funds to buy the rail line.

Conservation Futures Tax (CFT) levy funds are collected from property taxes levied throughout King County and its cities for the purchase and permanent protection of open space lands.

Is there a private group working very hard to put a commuter line on the rail line? Most people do not realize there’s an active group out there hard at work, hoping to acquire the rights to put a commuter rail line on the existing tracks.  The talk is to put a commuter line on the tracks that currently exist, even though they are in poor repair.

So here are my questions:

• Will King County close on the deal and buy the rail line?
• How will this acquisition be funded?
• Will the line become a trail, with the line rail banked for possible future motorized travel?
• Will a private concern put Commuter rail, DMU’s, Diesel Motor Units, not light rail on the line?
• Will the line become a dual use trail/train?
• Will the proper public process be followed to determine the best use of the line?

How can you find out about the future of the BNSF rail line?

Join the Eastside Trail Advocates at:

The Houghton Fire Station

6602 108th Ave NE, Kirkland

February 10^th at 7 PM

Join Eastside Trail Advocates on Facebook to be learn about the latest updates.

The hot price range of the week in Kirkland?   $400-499,999

• Most number of home sales in Kirkland: $400-499,999  5 sales.
• Most number of homes for sale  $700-799,999 ( a new price range for this category)  39 homes, $400-499,999 is right behind it with 38 homes for sale.
• There were 310 homes for sale in Kirkland and 20 homes sold last week.  There’s been great real estate sales activity each week of 2010.
  

• Most number of homes for sale in the last 7 weeks:  12-23-09,  334 homes for sale.
• Highest number of homes sold in Kirkland in the last 7 weeks:  1-20-10,  with 24 homes sold.

• Peak  of homes and condos for sale in King County in 2009?
• July 27th marked a high of 13,861 homes and condos for sale in King County.

• Week of 1-18-10   10,735  A few less than last week, but 1000 more homes and condos for sale in King  County than the first week of the year.
  

There are only 84 days left to use the home buyer’s tax credit. If you’re going to sell your home, do it soon, so you can take advantage of more buyer activity.  For Kirkland home sellers, there’s less homes to compete with and more homes are selling.  The buyers benefit from the 2010 home buyer tax credit and great interest rates.  Is the best win-win situation we’ve seen in real estate for years.  Home buyers and sellers both benefit in this real estate market.

Buyers, if you want to buy, start looking soon, so you’re not rushed to buy a home during the last weeks of April.  If you start now, you’ll be able to learn the market and choose the home that works best for you.

Kirkland Real Estate Sales, 2-3-10

This chart is updated weekly by (Windermere Real Estate/East, Inc., using MLS data) to show the price ranges of the homes sold each week.  Here’s how it’s set up:The colors show who has the advantage in a particular price range.

• Green means the buyer has the advantage with many homes to choose from and not that many selling.
• Yellow means the number of homes for sale and the number of sales in the price range is balanced between the buyer and the seller.
• Red indicates a sellers’ market where the seller may have the advantage as more homes are selling when compared to what’s available.

Down the side of the chart, the home sales activity is broken down into a price bracket of $99,999. All the homes priced between $400,000-499,999, as an example, are put together in one price category in the chart.

Across the top, the chart is broken down into real estate activity by the week.If you take the $400-499,999 line and follow it across the chart, you’ll see what has happened each of the last seven weeks.  There are three columns under each week. On the left side of the column is the number of homes for sale in Kirkland.  The middle column shows how many homes sold that week, and the final column under the date shows the months supply of homes for sale.  In other words, if no other homes came up for sale, it would take an average of 2.0 months to sell all the homes in the $400-499,999 price range.The last section shows the 7 week average of each category, the number of homes for sale, the number sold, and the months supply.

US Census

The Kirkland Highlands and the downtown core need residents to work on the 2010 Census.  This is the Decennial census–to count every resident once every 10 years.  Census employees will be hired to work in every neighborhood.  Hopefully, Highlands and other Kirkland residents will apply, because neighbors are the best way to contact neighbors.

These temporary jobs pay $17.50 per hour.  To apply, call 425-749-5110 and choose an Application and Testing Session.  For information go to The U.S. Census Bureau’s job page. There you can see a practice test and application form.  The recruiter for our area is Kirkland resident Gail Gorud.  She can be reached at : gg2010@comcast.net.

Homes are selling in The Kirkland Highlands. There’s been really great real estate activity recently and homes are selling well. Homes received offers this week priced from the $400s to the 800’s.

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 railroad tracks. 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: 21 (21)

New listings: 3 (1)

Pending inspection: 4 (0)

Pending: 1 (2)

Closed Sales: 1 (1)

Number of Price Reductions: 1  (1)

Price increase: 0(0)

Homes off the market that did not sell: 1 (1)

———————————–

0-$349,999: 0 (0)

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

$500,000-$749,999:  8 (7)

$750,000-$999,999: 5 (7)

$1,000,000- $1,499,999: 0 (0)

$1,500,000- $2,999,999: 0 (0)
———————————–
Average Price of homes for sale: $619,410 ($649,351)

Median Price of homes for sale: $679,970 ($699,990)

Average Days on Market:  69  (64)

Highest Priced Listing: $881,550 ($899,950)

Lowest Priced Listing: $359,950 ($369,950)

________________________________

Closed Sales:

$359,950 Last asking price: $359,950, first asking price: $359,950, sold in 72 days for full price.

7-27-09  13,861

Now:

2-1-09  10,735  There’s about 1000 more homes on the market now than on January 1st of this year.  The number will begin increasing as the year goes on as you can see from last year’s activity.  With the home buyer tax credit and lower number of homes for sale, it’s probably the best time of the year to sell a home in Kirkland.

Number of King County Properties for Sale, 2-01-10

————————–

5 Town homes on the market

1 town home new on the market

I town home is now pending with an offer

Sadly, two young girls were hit by a car in Kirkland up on 100th Ave NE this past week. It is unfortunate to hear such news and I wish the two girls a speeding recovery from their injuries.

It seems as if there are more pedestrian/car accidents in the darkness of winter, which makes it even more important for walkers to remember to use the “Take it To Make It” yellow crossing flags where they are available.

Kirkland-pedestrian safety signs

They can be found all over downtown Kirkland.  There are also many other intersections around the city where flags are available.  I don’t know if anyone has done a survey, but whenever I’ve been walking around downtown, I’d say probably 50% of the pedestrians use them when crossing the street.

The program’s success and pedestrian safety depends on people using the flags.  They really don’t work well if they are left in the buckets.

Yellow Pedestrian safety flags

I’m curious.  Do you use the flags when crossing Kirkland streets?  Why or Why not?

The hot price range of the week in Kirkland?   $400-499,999 and $500-599,999

• Most number of home sales in Kirkland: $400-499,999 and $500-599,999 4 sales each.
• Most number of homes for sale  $1000-1,499,999 with 40 homes for sale.
• Exciting news $1,500,000-$1,999,999-3 homes sold.
• There were 315 homes for sale in Kirkland and 19 homes sold last week.  There’s been good sales activity each week of 2010.
  

• Most number of homes for sale in the last 7 weeks:  12-16-09,  342 homes for sale.
• Highest number of homes sold in Kirkland in the last 7 weeks:   last week, 1-20-10,  with 24 homes sold.

• Peak  of homes and condos for sale in King County in 2009?
• July 27th marked a high of 13,861 homes and condos for sale in King County.

• Week of 1-18-10   10,743  There are now almost 1000 more homes and condos for sale in King  County than the first week of the year.
  

There are less than 100 days to use the home buyer’s tax credit. If you’re going to sell your home, do it soon, so you can take advantage of more buyer activity.  Even with the increase in the number of properties for sale, the number is still on the low side.  There’s a good number of Kirkland homes sales and with the 2010 home buyer tax credit and great interest rates to attract home buyers, this may very well be the best time in 2010 to sell your Kirkland home.  I’m calling this the real estate trifecta, something every home seller and buyer can benefit from as the odds are more in favor of a stronger real estate market than we’ve seen in years.

Buyers, if you want to buy, start looking soon so you’re not rushed to buy a home during the last weeks of April.  If you start now, you’ll be able to learn the market and choose the home that works best for you.

Kirkland Home Sales 1-28-10

This chart is updated weekly by (Windermere Real Estate/East, Inc., using MLS data) to show the price ranges of the homes sold each week.  Here’s how it’s set up:The colors show who has the advantage in a particular price range.

• Green means the buyer has the advantage with many homes to choose from and not that many selling.
• Yellow means the number of homes for sale and the number of sales in the price range is balanced between the buyer and the seller.
• Red indicates a sellers’ market where the seller may have the advantage as more homes are selling when compared to what’s available.

Down the side of the chart, the home sales activity is broken down into a price bracket of $99,999. All the homes priced between $400,000-499,999, as an example, are put together in one price category in the chart.

Across the top, the chart is broken down into real estate activity by the week.If you take the $400-499,999 line and follow it across the chart, you’ll see what has happened each of the last seven weeks.  There are three columns under each week. On the left side of the column is the number of homes for sale in Kirkland.  The middle column shows how many homes sold that week, and the final column under the date shows the months supply of homes for sale.  In other words, if no other homes came up for sale, it would take an average of 2.4 months to sell all the homes in the $400-499,999 price range.The last section shows the 7 week average of each category, the number of homes for sale, the number sold, and the months supply.

What was the hot price range of the week in Kirkland?   $300-399,999

• Most number of home sales in Kirkland: $300-399,999 7 sales.
• Most number of homes for sale  $1000-1,499,999 with 41 homes for sale.
• There were 303 homes for sale in Kirkland and 24 homes sold last week.  More home sales are happening.
  

• Most number of homes for sale in the last 7 weeks:  12-9-09,  356 homes for sale.
• Highest number of homes sold in Kirkland in the last 7 weeks:   this week with 24 homes sold.

• Peak  of homes and condos for sale in King County in 2009?
• July 27th marked a high of 13,861 homes and condos for sale in King County.

• Week of 1-18-10   10,549  homes and condos for sale in King  County.  The numbers are creeping up bit by bit from the historic low of the first week of the year.
  

There are less than 100 days to use the home buyer’s tax credit. If you’re going to sell, do it soon, so you can take advantage of more buyer activity.  With the overall drop in the number of properties for sale, the increase in sales, and the 2010 home buyer tax credit, this is a good time to think about selling your home.  If you’re thinking of making a move in the spring, there’s likely to be more homes and condos for sale on the eastside, meaning more competition to sell.  Each week, there are more properties for sale.  Since the first of the year, we’ve add over 700 properties to the market.

Buyers, if you want to buy, start looking soon so you’re not rushed to buy a home in the last weeks of April.  If you start now, you’ll be able to learn the market and choose wisely.

Kirkland Real Estate Sales, 1-20-10

This chart is updated weekly by (Windermere Real Estate/East, Inc., using MLS data) to show the price ranges of the homes sold each week.  Here’s how it’s set up:The colors show who has the advantage in a particular price range.

• Green means the buyer has the advantage with many homes to choose from and not that many selling.
• Yellow means the number of homes for sale and the number of sales in the price range is balanced between the buyer and the seller.
• Red indicates a sellers’ market where the seller may have the advantage as more homes are selling when compared to what’s available.

Down the side of the chart, the home sales activity is broken down into a price bracket of $99,999. All the homes priced between $400,000-499,999, as an example, are put together in one price category in the chart.

Across the top, the chart is broken down into real estate activity by the week.If you take the $400-499,999 line and follow it across the chart, you’ll see what has happened each of the last seven weeks.  There are three columns under each week. On the left side of the column is the number of homes for sale in Kirkland.  The middle column shows how many homes sold that week, and the final column under the date shows the months supply of homes for sale.  In other words, if no other homes came up for sale, it would take an average of 2.8 months to sell all the homes in the $400-499,999 price range.The last section shows the 7 week average of each category, the number of homes for sale, the number sold, and the months supply.

Cow Poop into electricity?  Find out about at the Kirkland Highlands neighborhood meeting.

Wednesday, January 20, 7 pm

Maintenance Center, 915 8th St.

THREE interesting items on the agenda:

Puget Sound Energy’s Green Power Program This program stimulates demand for renewable energy by allowing residents and businesses to support local renewable projects including wind, biomass, and solar. Hear about:

• How PSE’s voluntary program works
• The impact of this voluntary market on renewable energy development
• Spotlight on Washington dairy digesters: turning cow poop into electricity

The 116th Sidewalk Project (between 94th and 100th) will start soon!

The project engineer will present the design and the construction
schedule.

Sue Keller, Parks Board member and Highlands resident, will talk
about what’s going on in our city parks, how budget cutbacks will
affect parks, and what’s in the future for Kirkland’s parks system.

With the extension of the home buyer tax credit and the lower numbers of homes for sale, if you’re going to sell your home, get started now, rather than later in 2010. I’m getting a lot of calls from potential sellers and I know other Realtors are experiencing the same thing.

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 railroad tracks. 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: 21 (20)

New listings: 1 (2)

Pending inspection: 0 (4)

Pending: 2 (3)

Closed Sales: 1 (0)

Number of Price Reductions: 1  (1)

Price increase: 0(0)

Homes off the market that did not sell: 1 (8)

———————————–

0-$349,999: 0 (0)

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

$500,000-$749,999:  7 (7)

$750,000-$999,999: 7 (7)

$1,000,000- $1,499,999: 0 (1)

$1,500,000- $2,999,999: 0 (0)
———————————–
Average Price of homes for sale: $649,351 ($662,819)

Median Price of homes for sale: $699,990 ($709,470)

Average Days on Market:  64  (65)

Highest Priced Listing: $899,950 ($899,950)

Lowest Priced Listing: $359,950 ($369,950)

________________________________

Closed Sales:

$634,500 Last asking price: $689,500, first asking price: $775,000, sold in 193 days for 19% below the first asking price.

The number of homes for sale starts off at a lower point as there are about one third less homes for sale in The Kirkland Highlands than the peak of 2009.  This is good news.

Eight home sellers took their homes off the market in the last three weeks helping market time to drop in half.  Many of these homes had been on the market for a long time, so with the homes off the market, the time to sell a home dropped by 50%.  This trend continues and market time remains half of what was seen at the end of 2009.

7-27-09  13,861

Now:

1-18-09  10,549

————————–

5 Town homes on the market

1 town home new on the market

The weather cooperated as it was the only sunny day we’ve seen in 2010.  Okay, maybe there’s been some sun, but this was one of this year’s better days out of the 18 we’ve had so far.  It was a great day to help clean up the park.  The park is really looking good.  Thanks to all of those who worked hard today.  Thanks to Karen Story for organizing the event.

Working In Cotton Hill Park