It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged about Real Estate. I’ve been working on my current remodel, and keeping an eye on the market. Which, while slow, is still going up in price in Seattle proper. However, the surrounding areas are seeing some significant downward pressure on price.

A new blog has popped up at the Seattle Times, called the Real Estate Deal:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2004343248_cindy13.html

I’ll be keeping an eye on it to see if there’s any good advice.  Speaking of good advice, read this article for information on picking a lender. I also found this great Realtor’s site on pet friendly buildings in Seattle, a great niche for an agent, and a great resource for those of us who love our pets.

Now for the numbers….

Seattle single-family home prices in March were unchanged from the previous month, but sank 2.2 percent from the same time a year ago.

The median price for in-city condominiums was 4.9 percent higher than in February with a 4.1 percent increase from the same period in 2007, according to figures released Friday by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

In March, the median price of a Seattle single-family home, which includes many townhouses, was $450,000, exactly the same as in February, but $10,000 less than in March 2007.

King County’s median single-family home price was $439,900, a 2.3 percent jump over February, reversing a downward or flat trend that began last July. But it remained 3.3 percent lower than in March 2007. Condo prices in King County increased 4.6 percent over last year.

In Western Washington overall, the median price for a single-family home was $325,000, a slight drop from February and well below the year-ago price of $345,000.

There still were far more homes on the market than a year ago. House and condo listings increased 61 percent from 2007 in Seattle, 64 percent in King County and 35 percent in Western Washington.

Pending sales of single-family homes and condominiums in Seattle and King County were down sharply, compared with last March, by 29 percent and 39 percent, respectively.

Ask anyone who lived in Bremerton for a few years if you should have bought a condo in Kitsap County for almost half a million dollars, and they’d have told you that it was nuts.

Apparently it was…

 http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/feb/10/kitsap-condo-prices-slide-from-a-year-ago/

It costs a lot less to buy a condominium today in Kitsap County than a year ago, according to new real-estate tracking figures.

The January median closing price of $299,900 was down $135,000 from a year ago. The average closing price fell nearly $87,000, to $346,980, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

Even with the lure of new bargains, low interest rates and plenty of choice, the Kitsap condo market has slowed. Only five condo sales closed last month in Kitsap, down from 33 in January 2007.

A Web site for the one of the largest condo complexes in Kitsap — the 180-unit Harbor Square on Bainbridge Island — advertised one unit marked down from $545,000 to $449,000.

Maureen Buckley, owner and broker at Buckley & Buckley Real Real Estate on Bainbridge Island, characterized the island’s condo market is “moseying along” after undergoing big price drops last fall.

Elsewhere in Kitsap, a West Bremerton condo sold for $210,000 last month, and one near Poulsbo closed at $150,000.

Unlike condos, prices for single-family homes in Kitsap County held steady last month compared with a year ago. The median closing price now is at $278,553 and the average at $333,597.

Condos can be very good investments, but you better have some knowledge about what you are doing, and have an agent that has bought a few condos before who can advise you about things the possible pitfalls.

When you buy a condo, you are technically buying “air space,” and while they can go up in price quickly, they can also fall very quicly.  From special assesments to housing bubbles, condos are risky, and those buyers who are looking to buy it and “forget about maintenance” are taking a big risk. Researching a condo purchase means doing your homework. Does the condo association have a long term track record of being run well, maintained, and is there an active home owner’s association? How much money is there in the association’s reserve account? I personally recommend that potential condo buyers talk to other owners in the building to find out how they like living in the building, how long they’ve owned a condo in the building, how do they like the home owner’s associations, etc. Living in a condo does not necessarily guaruntee that you will have “worry free” home ownership.

But doing your due diligence up front will help. Personally, I have always recommended that my clients think long and hard before they buy a condo.  Buying real estate should be a long term investment and a home, and both factors should be weighed out when judging which home and location is right for you.

A good buyer’s agent, one who knows the area in which he or she works may help you avoid costly mistakes. Maybe you love the location, and you are going to live in the same condo for the next 20 years. Well then, brand new construction, that might dip 150,000 dollars in the short term, might not be a big concern, because in 20 years it will ultimately regain that loss, and probably triple in price on top of it… but if you are planning on selling in a few years, risky condo speculation might not be for you.

As the rest of  the country sees drastic reductions in prices, the Northwest Real Estate Market has seen a slight increase:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/350266_housing07.html

Ten people were lined up outside of a Ballard Craftsman just before an open house two Sundays ago, and three more arrived just after the doors opened.

“I’ve been hearing it’s better for the buyers now,” said Patti Studley, a Seattle resident who has looked at homes for about a year. “I feel a little bit of an advantage.”

Local real estate professionals say they have seen increased activity since the start of 2008, but January statistics the Northwest Multiple Listing Service released Wednesday still show a sluggish market, with an uptick in year-over-year house prices and the first condominium price drop in recent years.

“The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 22 basis points last week to a four-month low of 6.28%, according to a national survey of large lenders by Bankrate.com”

–from http://www.thestreet.com/

If you are seriously looking for property currently, or refinancing existing debt, read the whole article if you have time.

As the rest of the country flounders, Seattle is still at the top of the list of best places to live… and moving up:

http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2007/09/10/daily13.html

Seattle is the No. 3 city in the country where people want to live, according to a recent poll, moving up one notch from last year.

According to a new Harris Poll, New York City retained its No. 1 ranking and San Diego moved up from No. 4 last year to No. 2. Seattle overtook San Francisco, which fell to No. 4. Las Vegas retained its No. 5 ranking in the poll.