Here are some interesting statistics gleaned from the NWMLS’ 2009 Statistical Review and Highlights. The NWMLS region covers 21 counties, mostly in western Washington.
- More than 52,000 closed residential sales in 2009 accounting for more than $17 billions in total sales volume, of which 6,800 were condos valued at $1.9 billion in sales.
- King County realized just over 20,200 residential sales valued at $8.6 billion, of which 4,191 were condos (down 18.8% from 2008) with a value of $1.3 billion.
- Only 43% of King County condo sales were located in Seattle.
- There were 1,793 condo sales in Seattle (down 15.5% from 2008) valued at $645 million. Condos accounted for 25% of all residential sales in Seattle.
- There were 802 sales of single family homes and 66 sales of condos priced $1 million or greater in 2009. Bellevue had the highest number of $1+ million sales overall, though Seattle accounted for 67% of all $1+ million condo sales (44 units).
- In Seattle, 56% of condo sales were priced under $300,000, 11% were priced above $500,000 and only 2.5% were $1 million or greater. For comparison, in 2008 46% of condo sales were priced under $300,000, 15% were priced above $500,000 and 3.2% were $1 million or greater.
- The median condo price in King County was $255,000; Seattle’s median condo price was $279,000.
Note: The NWMLS database and statistics do not include many new construction pre-sale units, private sales or auction sales.
Source: Data was obtained from the NWMLS’ 2009 Statistical Review and Highlights report, though the Seattle figures were compiled independently. Some figures were rounded.
February 7th, 2010 at 7:25 am
OT IMPORTANT.
Short sale in WA State may now have a predatory feature when … “Once the offer was accepted by the seller, the homebuyer was surprised to learn that there’s a third party involved, a “Short Sale Negotiator” who is charging an additional $9,000 fee on top of the real estate commissions paid to both the agent for the seller and the agent for the buyer. The Short Sale Negotiator is demanding that the homebuyer sign an agreement that the homebuyer will be responsible for paying the $9,000 fee. ” http://ceforward.com/?p=123 This is from an incident in WA state.
No short sale negotiator is worth $9,000.00, and no money should be paid by the borrower who did not contract with the negotiator. At $100 per hour, this would be 90 hours worth of work. What a rip off.
Make sure that you put it in writing that you will not pay a negotiator that you do not have a contract with. If you enter into a contract make sure the fee is not a percentage of the purchase price, contract for a flat fee or hourly fee with a limited number of hours.
February 8th, 2010 at 9:53 am
@Ella – thanks for the comment. We are seeing more of these 3rd party negotiators with short sales. It can be unnecessary and adds another layer and cost to the process, to the detriment of the buyer and seller. That said, not all are predatory, and in some cases, they can be beneficial and efficient. I personally don’t know of any, though, would advise sellers/buyers to avoid them where possible. Sellers – if you list with an agent who specializes in short sales (not necessarily someone with a short sale specialist title) there’s little need for 3rd party negotiators.
July 16th, 2010 at 2:07 am
Tto ella: great comment. Your point about not paying a negotiator you don’t have a contract with is so right. it’s something many people don’t watch out for and I’m glad you’ve put it up here.