Kirkland Real Estate Sales Through July, 2011

Since March, the number of homes for sale in Kirkland hasn’t changed much, varying between 276-289 homes for sale. Sales numbers, however, have bounced around a bit with April looking like it’s the high for Kirkland real estate sales so far this year.  In July, 67 homes sold, which meant 23% or almost 1 in 4 homes got offers.

When I first reported June home sales, there were 57 homes that had sold.  Seven of these home sales failed, which means 13% of the offers did not go through.  This is not all that unusual on the eastside and in many areas these days.  In some areas of King County the failure rate for sales is much higher.   Sales can fall apart over the inspection, financing or simply because a buyer has cold feet.

On the flip side, interest rates are just fabulous, which should help spur some people to buy.

Conventional FNMA
30 yr fixed: 3.95%
15 yr fixed: 3.25%
10 yr fixed: 3.0%
5 yr ARM: 2.875%

Real estate is very location specific, so take the national news with a grain of salt.  Look more at local reports, and even city specific reports, such as this to find out what’s really happening with real estate.

How are real estate sales in your neighborhood?

Kirkland Real Estate Sales Through June 11

The number of Kirkland real estate sales has dropped from the high of 79 sales in April.  In June, 57 homes sold, which meant 20% or 1 in 5 homes  got offers.  Homes are selling, but it’s clear that with so many homes not selling, it’s only the best homes that are selling.  As I say every month, the home that is the best value against the competition is the one that wins the buyer.

As a reminder, national real estate statistics are exactly that.  They’re general statistics which give an overview of real estate in the country. An accurate measure of the market in Kirkland is to look at what’s happening in Kirkland.  The Seattle real estate market and even the Redmond real estate market, are not necessarily the same.  So looking at California or Spokane, as an example, doesn’t fit our local Kirkland market.

In June the median price of Kirkland homes dropped from $624,950 to  $535,000.

Since “one size real estate” does not fit all, it’s important to look at local real estate statistics.  Even in the Seattle area, there are vast differences among the various locales.

How are real estate sales in your neighborhood?

Kirkland Real Estate Sales Through April 2011

In April,  30% percent of all the homes for sale in Kirkland had accepted offers.  These odds were the highest Kirkland has seen in years.  In fact, the number of home sales more than doubled since January of this year!

April’s sales surpassed April 2010, when sales were artificially inflated by last year’s tax credit.  This year buyers are ready to buy and actually doing so because they want to move on, literally.   There is clearly a difference, a more positive difference, in the marketplace this year.

If you follow real estate news in the media, keep in mind the articles are geared to a wider area, whether its Seattle, King County, Washington State or the entire country.  Since “one size real estate” does not fit all, it’s important to get real estate news that is based on specific neighborhood and/or city statistics.  Even in the Seattle area, there are vast differences among the various locales.

As far as eastside real estate goes, Kirkland had one of the highest percentage of homes sales last month.

Is everything back to what was the old “normal?”  No, it’s not.  It may never be.  But I am saying the real estate market in Kirkland is a good, but very realistic one.   It may be our new “normal” real estate market and that may be just fine.  What do you think?

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?

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.

Kirkland WA Real Estate Sales for January 2011

There were a lot less homes on the market in Kirkland at the start of 2011. The numbers were really low when you look at how many homes were for sale during the middle of last year.  The competition for the buyers was not as fierce as it was last summer when so many more homes were on the market.  Forty-six Kirkland homes sold out of 254 in January, 2011.   If you were trying to sell your Kirkland homes in January, you had an 18% chance of getting it sold.

The median price in Kirkland increased from $499,950 to $506,950. It’s great to see an increase, since that’s been pretty rare in most places.  Not to burst any bubbles, but the increase was only 1%. Remember 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.

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. You also see that home values in Kirkland were slightly lower overall.

Where’s Kirkland WA?

What do you see happening in real estate?  How do Kirkland home sales compare to your neck of the woods?

November, 2010       302 homes for sale        48 (was 52) homes sold      16% (was 17%) odds of selling.*

December, 2009      321 homes for sale         40  homes sold                     12% odds of selling

*(Reflects the revised percentage of homes sold because some home sales failed.)

The odds of selling is another way to characterize the “absorption rate” in which we take the number of homes sold in a particular month and divide it by the number of homes on the market. This number tells us what the odds are that a home will sell.  So if the odds are 10%, then 10 out of 100 homes sold that month.

Kirkland Real Estate ended 2010 with 34% less homes for sale than in January.  When more homes came on the market back in the summer and early fall, it seemed like selling a home was difficult. The sales numbers didn’t change all that much.  It was the amount of homes for sale that made it harder to sell a home.

The number of homes sold has remained pretty steady over the whole year, varying between 40-65 homes.   April reached a high of 73 sales because of the tax credit.

Don’t wait too long into 2011 if you’re thinking of selling.  As you can see by the chart above, it’s a lot more competitive in the summer.

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?

The median price in Kirkland increased from $491,000 to $549,000. Remember 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.  If you look on the link above, you can see Kirkland home values in 2010 are generally lower than 2009, but not by a whole lot.

What do you see happening in real estate?  How do Kirkland home sales compare to your neck of the woods?

Kirkland WA Real Estate Sales through Nov 2010

November, 2010       302 homes for sale        52 homes sold                      17% odds of selling.

October, 2010           359 homes for sale         61 (was 67) homes sold      17% (was 19%) odds of selling.*

September, 2010      387 homes for sale        43 (was 49)homes sold      11% (was 13)% odds of selling*

November, 2009      371 homes for sale         46  homes sold                     12% odds of selling

*(Reflects the revised percentage of homes sold because some home sales failed.)

The odds of selling is another way to characterize the “absorption rate” in which we take the number of homes sold in a particular month and divide it by the number of homes on the market. This number tells us what the odds are that a home will sell.  So if the odds are 10%, then 10 out of 100 homes sold that month.

November had the least amount of homes for sale in Kirkland in 2010. There are 22% less homes for sale in Kirkland than in September. The number of homes sold has remained pretty steady over the whole year, varying between 40-73 homes, with most months showing between 40-60 sales.

Enjoy your holidays and have a great 2011, but don’t wait too long into 2011 if you’re thinking of selling.  As you can see by the chart above, it’s a lot more competitive in the summer.

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?

The median price in Kirkland decreased from $749,000 to $549,950. Remember 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.

What do you see happening in Kirkland real estate?  How do Kirkland home sales compare to your neck of the woods?

Kirkland WA Real Estate Sales in Oct 2010

October, 2010           359 homes for sale         67 homes sold                    19 % odds of selling.

September, 2010      387 homes for sale         43 (was 49)homes sold     11% (was 13)% odds of selling*

October, 2009          393 homes for sale          56  homes sold                  14 % odds of selling

*(Reflects the revised percentage of homes sold because some home sales failed.)

The odds of selling is another way to characterize the “absorption rate” in which we take the number of homes sold in a particular month and divide it by the number of homes on the market. This number tells us what the odds are that a home will sell.  So if the odds are 10%, then 10 out of 100 homes sold that month.

I like the odds of the past month’s sales compared to last October and last month.  More homes are coming off the market and more homes sold!   October’s 67 sales is pretty close to the peak of Kirkland home sales, which was back in April.  Kirkland was the only area on the Eastside with an increase in sales this past month.The higher number of October sales was not a result of the tax credit, which I think is very positive news. Buyers bought homes because they found good values out there.

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?

The median price in Kirkland decreased from $500,000 to $488,900. Remember 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.

What do you see happening in Kirkland real estate?  How do Kirkland home sales compare to your neck of the woods?