While the real estate market took a dip after the home buyer tax credits expired a couple of months ago, it appears that the summer boost is coming back.

After May’s disappointing numbers, we saw an increase of 24% in new home sales for June, according to the U.S. Commerce department. Sales of new homes rose to an annual rate of 330,000, an encouraging sign for builders and home sellers nationwide.

The home buyer tax credits have propped up the real estate market in the U.S. for at least a year. Their expiration caused a rush at the finish line, and a stall in new transactions immediately after. The big question for the real estate industry was how big the stall would be. Although the new numbers aren’t monumental, we are seeing an easing of buyers back into the market and encouraging signals moving into late summer.

Current Listings:
Seattle Homes For Sale
Seattle Waterfront Homes
Seattle Houseboats and Floating Homes

Sam DeBord is a Realtor and real estate broker with SeattleHome.com, a division of Washington State Realty, LLC. He is a member of the Seattle-King County Association of Realtors and a Green-Certified Pro. The NWMLS did not compile or publish this information.

Have a question about this waterfront home, or Seattle real estate in general?
Sam can be contacted at (206) 658-3225 or Sam(at)SeattleHome.com.  

Connect with me:

 

There are currently about 3 dozen houseboats and floating homes for sale in Seattle. This number is a bit higher than usual, but not particularly far out of the normal range of inventory.

Sales of houseboats and floating homes started out well for the year, but have slowed a bit. We’re currently at just 8 sales for the year, while last year at this point just 7 had been sold. This is a luxury/vacation/second home market, which typically suffers in slow real estate markets.

Financing is now available for houseboat vessels, which previously was a big hindrance for buyers. There’s still usually a requirement for at least 20% down, but it does break the requirement for all-cash buyers. This should help the market moving forward.

Current houseboats and floating homes for sale:

Address Price Beds Baths
8604 Dallas Ave S $85,000 1 0.75
2730 Westlake Ave N #84 $125,000 1 1
2143 N Northlake Wy #53 $125,000
2143 N Northlake Wy #24 $135,000 1 1
2401 N Northlake Wy #E1 $149,000 2 1
2524 Westlake Ave N #Dock1 $150,000 2 0.75
1080 W Ewing Place $169,000 2 0.75
2401 N Northlake Wy $175,000 2 0.75
2143 N NorthLake Wy #A7 $195,000 2 0.75
2040 Westlake Ave N $224,000 1 1
2143 N Northlake Wy #A-19 $225,000 1 0.75
901 N Northlake Wy $239,000 2 0.75
2401 N Northlake Wy #L7 $274,950 2 0.75
2764 Westlake Ave N #D $325,000 1
2143 N Northlake Wy #27 $339,950 1 0.75
2143 N Northlake Wy #30 $345,000 1 0.75
2401 N Northlake Wy #L-16 $349,000 2 1.5
2764 Westlake Ave N #C $489,000 2 0.75
1409 NE Boat St #2 $489,000 1 0.75
2019 Fairview Ave E #B $495,000 1 1
2235 Fairview Ave E #2 $575,000 2 1
2321 Fairview Ave E #3 $625,000 2 0.75
1214 E Hamlin St #3 $645,000 1 1
2017 Fairview Ave E #N $649,950 2 1.5
1210 E Shelby St #G $739,000 2 1.75
2025 Fairview Ave E $749,000 2 1.5
3130 Portage Bay Place E #A $750,000 4 3
933 N Northlake Wy #14 $799,950 2 1.5
2822 Boyer Ave E #1 $825,000 1 1
2821 Fairview Ave E #10 $850,000
2466 Westlake Ave N #17 $975,000 2 1
10 E Roanoke #1 $1,720,000 2 2

Current Listings:
Seattle Homes For Sale
Seattle Waterfront Homes
Seattle Houseboats and Floating Homes

Sam DeBord is a Realtor and real estate broker with SeattleHome.com, a division of Washington State Realty, LLC. He is a member of the Seattle-King County Association of Realtors and a Green-Certified Pro. The NWMLS did not compile or publish this information.

Have a question about this waterfront home, or Seattle real estate in general?
Sam can be contacted at (206) 658-3225 or Sam(at)SeattleHome.com.  

There has been much (uninformed) debate on the web about the possible existence of a tax on real estate sales within the new health care bill passed by Congress and the President this year. It’s been called a “sales tax”, “transfer tax”, “income tax”, and some have even said it doesn’t exist at all.

Let’s set the record straight–no politics, just facts. This is a tax that affects a very small number of Americans directly. It is, however, particularly significant for waterfront and luxury real estate owners. It could also be significant to builders, contractors, tradesmen, and others in the real estate industry who are dependent on real estate sales for their employment. (Thanks to Lane Bailey over at ActiveRain for the thorough analysis of the subject–some of his research points synopsized here).

There is indeed a tax that affects the sale of real estate in the new health care law passed this year.

Starting in 2013, individuals with incomes over $200,000 will have to pay a 3.8% tax on profit from the sale of their primary residence or investment properties over a certain profit threshold. The exact amount will be based on a formula that includes the profit from the property and the income above $200,000. The tax is not an income tax, but rather it is a “payroll tax”… officially it is a Medicare Tax.

This new tax applies to investment income, dividends, real estate profits– all “unearned income”.

Here’s the gist of it:
A person with an income of $200,000+ purchased an investment property for $400,000.
The home is now sold for $1,000,000, a $600,000 profit.
The full $600,000 profit is applied to the new tax rate of 3.8% ($22,800 new tax) plus the usual income tax rate.
-or-
A person with an income of $200,000+ purchased a primary home for $400,000.
The home is now sold for $1,000,000, for a $600,000 profit.
The first $250,000 profit is tax-free.
The additional $350,000 is subject to the new 3.8% tax, costing $13,300 (plus the applicable income tax).
-or-
A married couple with an income of $250,000+ purchased a primary home for $400,000.
The home is now sold for $1,000,000, a $600,000 profit.
The first $500,000 profit is tax-free.
The additional $100,000 is subject to the new 3.8% tax, costing $3,800 (plus the applicable income tax).

A married couple who makes less than $500k profit on their primary home will pay no extra tax, and a single person who makes less than $250k profit on their primary home will pay no extra tax.

While Seattle’s waterfront real estate market stayed healthy but flat in June, sales of waterfront homes on the Eastside continued to make a big splash.

There were 13 homes sold on Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish last month, including a dozen sales over $1 million and 5 sales over $3 million. That more than doubles the sales numbers in June of ‘09 when just 6 waterfront homes in this category were sold.

Sales of waterfront homes in Bellevue, Kirkland, Kenmore, Renton, Redmond, Sammamish, and “the Points” have shown healthy growth since late 2009 and are continuing to strengthen the base of the waterfront market. While multi-million dollar transactions were few and far between last year, they’re becoming the norm in 2010’s market.

Waterfront sales usually peak in late summer, so there’s a good chance we haven’t seen the best of the sales numbers yet for the year. The greater Seattle real estate market in general seems to be in a bit of a lull right now, but as we saw in Seattle’s waterfront sales numbers last month, the top end seems to still be finding some buyers.

Waterfront Real Estate Sales on the Eastside, June 2010

Address
Beds Baths Sq Ft Sold Price

4011 E Lk. Sammamish Shore Lane SE Sammamish
2 2.25 1,770 $815,000

3268 W Lake Sammamish Pkwy SE Bellevue
4 3.5 4,090 $1,245,000

2120 W Lake Sammamish Pkwy NE Redmond
3 2.75 3,720 $1,395,000

13253 Holmes Point Dr NE Kirkland
4 2.5 2,520 $1,700,000

273 E Lake Sammamish Shore Lane NE Sammamish
4 3.25 3,950 $1,795,000

161 E Lake Sammamish Shore Lane NE Sammamish
5 3.25 3,750 $1,950,000

1721 E Lake Sammamish Place SE Sammamish
4 4 4,800 $2,000,000

4129 E Lake Sammamish Pkwy SE Sammamish
3 3.75 4,183 $2,305,000

2401 Killarney Wy SE Bellevue
3 3.75 3,380 $3,266,050

3257 Hunts Point Rd Hunts Point
4 3.25 5,022 $3,900,000

9455 Lake Washington Blvd NE Bellevue
5 3.5 4,600 $4,283,000

9010 NE 47 St Yarrow Point
3 4 3,670 $4,600,000

9441 Lake Washington Blvd NE Bellevue
3 3.5 6,590 $4,900,000

Current Listings:
Seattle Homes For Sale
Seattle Waterfront Homes
Seattle Houseboats and Floating Homes

Sam DeBord is a Realtor and real estate broker with SeattleHome.com, a division of Washington State Realty, LLC. He is a member of the Seattle-King County Association of Realtors and a Green-Certified Pro. The NWMLS did not compile or publish this information.

Have a question about this waterfront home, or Seattle real estate in general?
Sam can be contacted at (206) 658-3225 or Sam(at)SeattleHome.com.  

Connect with me:

   

The waterfront real estate market in Seattle continued to top 2009’s sales numbers with 6 waterfront home sales in June and 5 of those being traditional houses. While the total sales are down slightly from the 8 sales in May, we’re still significantly higher every month this year than we were in 2009.

In May of ‘09 we had a half dozen waterfront home sales in Seattle. All but one of those sales, however, were houseboats and floating homes, which average much lower sale prices than traditional waterfront houses. This June there was just one houseboat included in our numbers and all of the houses were $1 million+, which made the median sold price fairly high at $1.6 million.

While the general Seattle real estate market seems to be in a bit of a lull, waterfront sales seem to have slowed from their breakneck pace in Spring to a healthy trot this summer. There area clearly still a lot of buyers with the ability to purchase waterfront real estate in this market, and they’re negotiating for the best prices possible.

Waterfront home sellers may take these price discounts as a bad sign, but the overall market has really benefitted from the past 6 months’ activity and established a new pricing model for them to follow. We really had very little guide in 2009 with the dearth of quality sales data, so the current sales are giving everyone a bit of a meridian for the next six months of waterfront real estate pricing.

Seattle Waterfront Real Estate Sales, June 2010

Address
Beds, Baths, Sq Ft, Sold Price

11045 Arroyo Beach Place SW
3 3.5 3,050 $2,200,000

2915 Harris Place S
3 2.5 1,910 $400,000

3736 W Commodore Way
5 2.75 3,930 $1,350,000

2481 Perkins Lane W
2 1.75 2,520 $1,600,000

2401 N Northlake Wy #9-E
1 1.5 620 $249,138

357 NW 113th Place
3 2.5 2,626 $540,000

10305 Bedford Ct NW
4 2.5 3,136 $1,100,000

4408 55th Ave NE
6 3.75 5,450 $2,500,000

Current Listings:
Seattle Homes For Sale
Seattle Waterfront Homes
Seattle Houseboats and Floating Homes

Sam DeBord is a Realtor and real estate broker with SeattleHome.com, a division of Washington State Realty, LLC. He is a member of the Seattle-King County Association of Realtors and a Green-Certified Pro. The NWMLS did not compile or publish this information.

Have a question about a waterfront home, or Seattle real estate in general?
Sam can be contacted at (206) 658-3225 or Sam(at)SeattleHome.com.  

Seattle Waterfront Real Estate Tour: 10420 Rainier Ave S, Seattle WA 98178

Car Enthusiast’s Dream Home on Lake Washington Waterfront – Bryn Mawr, Seattle

There are a thousands of homes on the shores of Seattle’s lakes and Puget Sound. Finding the right house for a waterfront home buyer always entails researching their need for boat moorage, privacy of location, and waterfront footage desired. Sometimes, though, a rare characteristic of a home makes it uniquely suited to a particular buyer’s needs.

If I was searching for a Lake Washington home for a buyer who was a car collector, enthusiast, or just liked to have a stable of vehicles for variety, this home on Rainier Ave S. would be our first stop. The home has all of the features necessary for a beautiful lakefront estate, but its 5+ car garage with panoramic Lake Washington views is almost singularly unique in the vast number of homes I’ve visited around the lake.

Access from the street is easy, as the bank of garage doors opens the full length of the garage. The full-length windows on the water-side of the garage make for a perfect spot to show off your collection, tinker with the engine, or just house a handful of personal watercraft for the winter. The garage covers the full width of the street-side property, save for a gated walkway down to the home. This provides a nice privacy break from the street and a secure entry.

Walking down the stairway to the home, the 6000 sq ft lot provides plenty of space for a protected patio area, and a large lawn down near the water. The property feels like an amply-sized plot for a large outdoor gathering. The dock provides moorage for a fairly large vessel, and the nearby homes are all nicely-appointed, similarly-styled homes. It feels like this area has retained much of its style and charm since many of these homes were built in the mid-century.

Inside the home, the kitchen and baths have been remodeled extensively. Stylish tile work, clean hardwoods, and modern touches give a strong contemporary feel, while classic period pieces have remained untouched. Coved ceilings, built-ins, and glass doorknobs retain the war-era charm of the original structure.

As with most well-built waterfront homes, the views abound from every lake-facing room in the house (which includes almost every room). The South end of Mercer Island sits just across the water, and this end of the lake seems to catch the calmest waters of Lake Washington. The home was designed for comfortable living, and the modern updates have only enhanced that effect. This waterfront property would make almost any home buyer elated about their new residence, but if that buyer happened to have a thing for classic cars, they may have just found their needle in a haystack.

Current Listings:
Seattle Homes For Sale
Seattle Waterfront Homes
Seattle Houseboats and Floating Homes

Sam DeBord is a Realtor and real estate broker with SeattleHome.com, a division of Washington State Realty, LLC. He is a member of the Seattle-King County Association of Realtors and a Green-Certified Pro. Listing info courtesy NWMLS and Shannon Ressler, Findwell. The NWMLS did not compile or publish this information.

Have a question about this waterfront home, or Seattle real estate in general?
Sam can be contacted at (206) 658-3225 or Sam(at)SeattleHome.com.  

I love to promote some of my favorite businesses in the greater Seattle area, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention my dentist.

Bellevue WA Dentist: 
Dr. Judson A. Werner, DDS PS
Family Dentistry
2150  112th Ave NE, Suite B
Bellevue, WA 98004
425-454-2892

I’ve had the unfortunate experience of having a half dozen dentists in my life (I moved a lot in my twenties).  Some were good…some not exactly.  My experience at Dr. Werner’s family dentistry office has been a remarkably good experience. 

The office staff is always friendly and supportive.  It’s a comfortable, family atmosphere in a very modern, professional office.  The dental assistants and staff always have a question about my children, work, or just some friendly chat to make me feel at home in the office. 

Bellevue WA Dental Office

Dr. Werner recieved his dental degree from the University of Washington, and afterward he worked as an associate dentist in downtown Seattle, and volunteered his time as a part-time professor at the University of Washington School of Dentistry.  His office strives to make the most up-to-date and high-quality dental care and equipment available to its patients.  The business is run efficiently, with telephone reminder calls for patient appointments (I need them). 

Dr. Werner is a member of the Seattle King County Dental Society, the Washington State Dental Association, the American Dental Association, the Washington Academy of General Dentistry, and the Washington Oral Health Foundation.

If you’re looking for a relaxed, comfortable environment within professional surroundings, give Dr. Werner’s office a call. 

Bellevue Dental Office Contact Info

Phone:  425-454-2892

Email: info@wernerdds.com

Location:
North Hidden Valley Dental Center
2150  112th Ave NE, Suite B
Bellevue, WA 98004

To contact Dr. Werner directly:
judson@wernerdds.com

Nearly 3,200 Washington state home buyers may lose their tax credit this week. That’s just one state’s share of the 180,000 U.S. home buyers hanging by a thread onto the latest tax credit.  These are not folks trying to buy a home right now, but people who entered into a contract two months ago to buy a home and qualified for the tax credit. Congress has currently set the maximum closing timeline at 2 months, which would end on June 30.

There’s an effort under way to have Congress extend this closing deadline, as it doesn’t allow for enough time with many sales today being distressed sales, short sales, and bank-owned REO transactions. The extension wouldn’t provide a tax credit to any new buyers, just those who signed their purchase contracts before April 30.

What will happen if it’s not extended? For most Seattle area transactions, the $8000 is significant, but not an automatic deal-breaker. Home buyers entered into these transactions knowing the timeline that was available, and should have been aware that they may not close in time to receive the credit.

However, buyers may negotiate for a further reduction in price. The seller could grant a price reduction, or the borrower may just walk away. If the buyer’s potential loss of defaulting on their contract (losing their earnest money) is less than $8000, it may be an attractive option for some.

I’m not suggesting that a buyer should default, as each contract is different and there may be more penalties for a defaulting buyer than just losing their earnest money. Some contracts allow the seller to sue for damages or force the buyer to close the transaction (specific performance). Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if quite a few lower-priced home purchases end up being cancelled transactions, as the $8000 could be too much of a financial hit for either buyer or seller to swallow.

Realtor Article:

Up to 180,000 home buyers will lose their tax credit through no fault of their own if Congress fails to pass an extension to the home buyer tax credit by June 30 when the closing deadline expires.

Included in that number are thousands of home buyers in every state of the union, from 390 in Wyoming to 17,700 in California, according to estimates by the National Association of REALTORS®.

“We are strongly urging the Senate and the House to act quickly to pass this legislation and ease the minds and pocketbooks of these home buyers,” said NAR President Vicki Cox Golder, owner of Vicki L. Cox & Associates in Tucson, Ariz.

“These are not buyers who just entered into the market. These are buyers who previously met all the qualifications for the tax credit, but find themselves at the mercy of a workflow jam with lenders or other delays such as lapses in the National Flood Insurance Program, Rural Housing Service, and new home construction, and might not be able to complete the purchase of their homes by the current deadline,” said Golder. “It would be a tragedy for them not to be able to complete the purchase in time to claim the credit.”

NAR issued the following state-by-state estimate of the number of home sales that would be delayed beyond the June 30 deadline; numbers are rounded to the nearest 10:

Alabama, 2,590; Alaska, 830; Arizona, 5,440; Arkansas, 2,090; California, 17,700; Colorado, 3,390; Connecticut, 1,770; Delaware, 400; District of Columbia, 300; Florida, 14,830; Georgia, 6,270; Hawaii, 710; Idaho, 1,270; Illinois, 7,030; Indiana, 3,560; Iowa, 2, 030; Kansas, 1,840; Kentucky, 2,540; Louisiana,1,800; Maine, 840; Maryland, 2,630; Massachusetts, 3,930; Michigan, 6,470; Minnesota, 3,760; Mississippi, 1,530; Missouri, 3,600; Montana, 760; Nebraska, 1,110; Nevada, 3,800; New Hampshire, 690; New Jersey, 4,300; New Mexico, 1,160; New York, 9,190; North Carolina, 4,890; North Dakota, 460; Ohio, 8,510; Oklahoma, 2,760; Oregon, 2,090; Pennsylvania, 5,830; Rhode Island, 500; South Carolina, 2,460; South Dakota, 500; Tennessee, 3,910; Texas, 15,340; Utah, 1,130; Vermont, 400; Virginia, 3,890; Washington, 3,190; West Virginia, 940; Wisconsin, 2,690; and Wyoming, 390.

Current Listings:
Seattle Homes For Sale
Seattle Waterfront Homes
Seattle Houseboats and Floating Homes

Wallingford, Seattle Homes – Real Estate Sales 2010

Sales of homes in Seattle’s Wallingford neighborhood are markedly improved over 2009, and prices are showing a rebound at the halfway point of the year. Total sales of single family homes are up 27%, and the median sale price is up 21% vs the first half of last year. As with the usual median price discussion, we don’t really have a 21% increase in the value of all Wallingford homes in one year, but more high-end home sales have pushed the median back up to normal levels after a dismal 2008-2009.

In May of this year we had 14 single family homes sold in Wallingford, following 15 sales in April. The median sale price during the month was $567,500. Condos are not prevalent in Wallingford, with just a handful selling so far this year. There are an increasing number of new construction townhomes in the neighborhood, although they are still significantly outnumbered by detached, single family homes. The vast majority of Wallingford homes are early 1900s Craftsman, Tudor, and Colonial homes.

Year-to-date, we’ve had 61 single family home sales, compared to 48 homes sold in the same period last year. The median price in that period has risen from $427,000 to $510,000. Removing townhomes from the sales, the detached home sales median price this year is $560,000.

Wallingford’s waterfront shoreline on Lake Union is a mix of public parks, marine industrial, and houseboat marinas. There are a handful of houseboats sold on the waterfront here every year, with the majority being in Seattle Marina (rental slips) and Gasworks Marina (owned condominiumized moorage). These houseboats in Wallingford usually range in price from $150k to $500k, while the more expensive floating homes in Eastlake reach up to $2 million. Just one Wallingford houseboat has sold so far this year, a $250k newly-constructed vessel in Gasworks Marina.

Current Listings:
Seattle Homes For Sale
Seattle Waterfront Homes
Seattle Houseboats and Floating Homes

Sam DeBord is a Realtor and real estate broker with SeattleHome.com, a division of Washington State Realty, LLC. He is a member of the Seattle-King County Association of Realtors and a Green-Certified Pro. Source: Individually compiled NWMLS statistics. The NWMLS did not compile or publish this information.

Have a question about this waterfront home, or Seattle real estate in general?
Sam can be contacted at (206) 658-3225 or Sam(at)SeattleHome.com.