Happy New Year! I had a lovely trip down the California coast to join college friends for a reunion at the Parkfield V6 ranch! I drove along Highway 46, above Morro Bay, to purchase wine from the oldest winery I can remember, Rotta Winery. When I was attending Cal Poly, it was one of the only wineries to be found.
It’s my wish that 2016 brings us a more level playing field in real estate! We still have low inventory and a seller’s market in Seattle much do to a lag in new construction. We are seeing many younger people starting to move away from home and many baby boomers downsizing or looking for a second vacation home. It’s possible more people around Seattle may start looking for homes in the suburbs. I have a new inquiry from an out-of-state buyer looking for a home in Kitsap county within thirty minutes of the Bainbridge Island ferry – comparing some of the listings with Seattle, one can still buy more for your money on Bainbridge than you can in Seattle.
As usual, listings waned in December and early January creating even more scarcity, but they are now on the rise. If momentum keeps building into spring we should see many more listings which will benefit all of those buyers out there who are waiting on the sidelines for an inventory increase.
Of course, the longer sellers wait to put their home on the market, the more competition they will have. Pricing a home reasonably is still a good idea as savy buyers will spot an overpriced home. Reasonable pricing encourages lots of interest – one home in the Greenwood/Broadview area had thirteen offers and eight pre-inspections; the final offer was higher than seventy-five thousand over the list price.
The Northwest Multiple Service has released their Annual Report showing that we had a great year!
Appreciation Rates
The final appreciation report is out for 2015. The Insignia condominium project is primarily responsible for the 24% appreciation in Belltown. It could be that the predictions of the port agreement between Seattle and Tacoma are responsible for the 23.4% rise in Tacoma; we have seen federal dollars improving the roads from the Port of Tacoma in expectation of more shipping traffic, thanks to this agreement. If you are looking for an investment property, this may be a good time to by in and around Tacoma!
