Seattle Housing Buzz

The Seattle Times recently reported that condos in King County has surpassed single family homes in appreciation. Part of the reason is due to a new mentality about condo living, that it’s no longer for people who can’t afford single family homes. As new condos are being built in downtown areas, it’s becoming a lifestyle choice.

In the first six months of this year, condos in King County have appreciated 21.9 percent a square foot compared with the same period in 2005. That’s slightly faster than the 19.7 percent that single-family homes appreciated in the first half of this year.

There were some early murmurs that condos would be built at the old Albertson’s site across the street from Green Lake. The DPD will be having an early design guidance hearing of the proposed project of 148 apartments that will include 12 live/work units and 15,000 sq ft of retail space.

The hearing is set for July 31st at 6:30 pm at the University Heights Community Center, 5301 University Way NE.

According to CNNMoney.com, Seattle is a fair value market -

After years of local home markets getting more and more overvalued, the trend has reversed, according to an analyis published this week.

Each quarter, Local Market Monitor, which provides research to the real estate industry, assesses 100 markets, comparing selling prices to “equilibrium” values. Company president Ingo Winzer bases those values on local economic and population growth, construction costs, vacancy rates, household income in the area and interest rates.

Since there’s no significant signs that the market has cooled in Seattle, does this mean prices are where they should be? Hard to believe considering the number of years of double-digit appreciation rates we’ve experienced.

Zillow is now introducing it’s open API to add Zillow functionality to individual (agent?) websites. Considering Zillow’s information is at best, controversial in it’s accuracy, one wonders. And, the information is coming from the MLS’ which are owned by the companies/associations Zillow is likely to market too.

At any rate, Zillow has “encouraged” companies to innovate and zillowrize. Not long after Zillow launched, John L. Scott added similar functionality - MLS sold data, comparable sales, bird’s eye view map, etc.

No sense reinventing the wheel…just head on over to Marlow’s 360 Digest regarding Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman’s recent field trip to hallowed-halls of Washington DC. Kelman spoke at a hearing before the US House of Representative’s Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity on the “Changing Real Estate Market” (ie attacking the privately owned MLS’).

The prepared statments can be found on the subcommittee’s website.

Seattle Times is reporting Zillow received $25 million in it’s second round of financing, raising a total of $57 million.

With the additional funding, the company plans to add at least 40 employees to its staff of 118. Rascoff would not say what development projects the company was working on.

“We are being a little bit tight-lipped about what’s coming next with respect to the product, but we are constantly trying to improve the quality of the underlying data,” he said.

Major League Soccer is coming to Seattle for one day this Summer. Spain’s Real Madrid (Beckham’s team) will play D.C. United at Qwest Field on August 9th.

Real Madrid plays DC United

To some, Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct (elevated portion of Highway 99) is an eye sore, a disaster waiting to happen, an endearing piece of Seattle’s history. Either way, it slices downtown from it’s waterfront limiting access and views. The 2001 6.8 magnitude Nisqually Earthquake damaged the viaduct which has been undergoing continuous repairs to keep it up and functional. And, experts predict the viaduct may collapse during the next major earthquake.

Several proposals are under consideration from burying Highway 99 underground and creating a street level promenade, rebuilding another viaduct, creating a grade-level thoroughfare or just retrofitting it. Costs range from $800 million to $4 billion.

The city’s preference, and the most appealing & expensive, is tunneling Highway 99. This would open up the waterfront skyline and attach the waterfront to downtown. But it is controversial because the area is landfill that’s supported by a retaining sea wall. The proposal calls for rebuilding the sea wall, thus adding to the cost and closing one of the main North/South thoroughfares for 3 years.
But it has an uphill battle. Seattlites voted down the 14-mile monorail after the $1.7 billion price tag ballooned to $11 billion. One wonders, if the city is pitching a $4 billion proposal today, what exactly is the true cost? Though, if implemented, many condos and lofts along the viaduct will see increased values and may even spur new housing developments.

Before:

After:

Got the urge for a little DIY? Some people engage in home-improvement to enhance the functionality and comfort of their living space. Most often than not, improvements increase the home resale value bottom line. Some, however, may not:

Homeowners can find plenty of information on which improvements will help boost the value of their houses. But significantly less attention is paid to what to avoid when remodeling your home. Consider the following seven deadly home-improvement sins before committing to projects that may work against you to lessen your resale value.

Read on- the seven deadly sins of home remuddling

To the Sonics, that is.

It was just announced this afternoon that the Seattle SuperSonics has been sold to a group from Oklahoma City. Of course there’s spin, but in all likelihood the team will move to Oklahoma. This does create an opportunity, though. Since Paul Allen is transforming the South Lake Union district in the image of Portland’s Pearl District, maybe he’ll build a new arena at Lake Union (or at least get us to pay for one) and move his Portland Trailblazers team. It could happen.

With the loss of the team, Seattle’s sparkle has dimmed a bit. I think losing a big-time professional sports team can affect the psyche of the citizens and tarnish Seattle as a big-league world-class city. The loss could affect investments by businesses and developers.

I wouldn’t mind the Sonics sticking around. It’s great for the city and residents. But, it does seem like the Starbucks-headed ownership team were trying to extort the city and ultimately the tax payers.
The news is fresh and people are reacting emotionally. On news reports there are people angrily screaming their distain and others calling for a boycott of Starbucks. But, it’ll pass and life will go on.