Auctioning of condos seem to be the latest trend for condos these days. Press condominiums is following the footsteps of Seventeen07 and auctioning 18 of their remaining homes on the market on December 13 at 1.00pm at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in downtown. Read more on Seattle PI.
Floor plans Minimal bids
1 Bedroom $185,000
2 Bedroom $225,000
As we are heading towards the end of the year, the Seattle condo market will be slowing down as part of normal seasonality trends and amplified by jitters about the economy and housing markets. If you are considering purchasing a condo before the end of the year, some attractive incentives are to be had given the high inventory and sellers being more realistic about market conditions.
There are a few condos that I think are worth checking out. One of them is the Parc in Belltown. The building was completed late last year and they have 24 homes remaining on the market. The developer is offering a couple of incentives. If you purchase a home, there will be a $15,000 buyer's bonus and an additional $1,000 referral bonus if you're a current Intra-corp homeowner. These homes are VA and FHA approved. The developer is also making some price adjustment on some of their homes so I think this condo building is worth checking out.
Related Posts:
The Parc Update
Pre-construction marketing and reality
Rent a condo or hotel?
The Parc
(Photos from Nyhus Communications, LLC.)
Four Seasons's open house took place on last Thursday. I was curious if the completed project would really live up to the Four Seasons brand and whopping price tags so I decided to check out their open house. I drove up to the entrance and was greeted by courteous hotel staff dressed in finely pressed Four Seasons attire ready to park the car, open the front doors, and provide you with the courtesy they would any hotel guest.
Gallery Condos has started moving in home buyers. Approximately 50% of their inventory has sold with more than 30 homes closed so far. If you are thinking of touring this building, the sales center is located on the street level on the North end of the building.
When it was initially launched, the sky lofts floor plans (2 level homes) were available from the 7th floor in the middle glass section of the building. However, due to higher demand for smaller floor plans, they changed to more single level open floor plans. The skylofts are available only on the ground level and penthouse levels. 4 penthouse level skylofts are sold. Only 10 sky lofts homes are available in the building.
The developer also raised prices on some of the homes since their launch. No buyers' incentives are available. Gallery will have an opening event sometime early next year when all the units are completed. Compared to its close competitor, the Parc, Gallery is a good looking building with more amenities but offers less variety of floor plans.
Related posts:
Gallery Update-Belltown condos
Gallery
The Parc Update
Pre-construction Marketing versus Reality
October numbers are in. They could be worse but they aren't very encouraging.
Seems like half of the buyers who might have been in the market decided to wait and see in October. Only the most confident buyers pulled the trigger while banks were collapsing and bailouts were being debated all around us. In fact, there were half as many pending sales in October 2008 as there were in October 2007. This was probably the most pronounced year-over-year decline since I started this blog a few years ago.
Inventory on the market was also down versus last year (10% fewer listings year over year) and a little over 5% lower than September 2008. While this reduced inventory is the right direction if you want the market to find its bottom soon, it pails in magnitude relative to the pending sales decline.
If November 2008 pending numbers come in higher, the same, or down <20% of November 2007 pending numbers, it will probably mean things are slow but that October might have been a particularly harsh month and not necessarily indicative of longer term trends. If November is just as bad as October was, we're in for a rough, rough winter.
Now that the election is over and we have a new President(!), there will be fewer political programs for me to watch and more time for blogging. Here are some thoughts on the recently completed Leona project.
Last weekend, Leona had their open house and I popped by to check out their homes. 4 out of the 18 homes are sold. The historic apartment conversion has 2 penthouses added to the existing structure and 3 brand new multi-level condos constructed on the north side of the building on Ward St.
There are quite a few different floor plans in the building, definitely not your traditional cookie cutter condos. The interior finishes will probably meet most buyers' expectations. Hardwood floors, slab countertops and Viking appliances come standard. The majority of the bedrooms come with a sizable walk-in closet.
The large windows add light and height to the homes; however, they are using single pane windows. According to the sales center, the windows are hand blow glass. The developer wants to retain its original design and they claim it actually costs 3 times more to restore the windows than putting in new ones. As for the 3 multi-level condos, they are using double pane windows. They feel more like a house than a condo. I think in some ways, that will probably be a good fit for someone who is looking for more square footage but doesn't want to deal with maintenance or a yard but also wants something more unique than the typical row of town homes.
Only one penthouse was available for viewing that day. It has a huge deck and an incredible view of the city.
Overall, a nice project with a lot of promise. The big selling points are that it's a pretty unique building, has a nice location midway between Queen Anne and Seattle Center, and has a variety of attractive floor plans. The biggest concerns that occurred to me specific to this building are the wood frame construction and perhaps price tag (though I'm sure there's room for negotiation in light of the current market conditions).
Related posts:
(Pictures are provided by Veer Lofts.)
Veer Lofts, one of Vulcan's project in South Lake Union has recently completed construction. The condo is a few blocks away from Vulcan's other projects (Enso, Rollin and 2200 Westlake) on 9th Ave and Harrison in a slightly more industrial feeling part of South Lake Union.
The 99 homes are comprised of full lofts, flexi lofts, and flat floor plans. Full lofts are on the ground floor and the top floor with 16 ' ceiling heights in the main level and 8' on the loft level. Flexi lofts are located on the 4th and 5th floors with approximately 12' ceiling heights in the main level and 4 1/2' ceilings in the flexi level (for sleeping). Flats are on the 2nd and 3rd floor with 9' ceilings.
Pricing:
Full Lofts
High $400,000's and above- 810-1,073 sqft.
Flexi Lofts
~$370,000 and above- 620-710 sqft. (exclu. flexi space)
Flats
~$400,000 (1 Left)- 751 sqft
Here are some of my observations from the tour:
Since we won't be hearing of new projects breaking ground anytime soon. I thought I would focus on condos completing next year.
Let's start in Midtown. Escala (currently, Seattle's largest condominium project under construction) rolled out their launch of Club Cielo a few weeks ago. What's the big deal with Club Cielo? For one thing, the 25,000 square foot club will be managed by Columbia Hospitality, which manages Salish Lodge in Snoqualmie and will also be running the soon to be opened Four Seasons.
The Club also takes up the entire 2nd floor of the building and includes a private dinning area, spa and fitness center (exercise classes, pedicure, manicure, 2 resistant lap pools, massages, steam room), 18 seat wine cave, theater for screenings/meetings, business center, cocktail lounge, dog run, and full service outdoor terrace with menu.
There was a good article in the Seattle Times today about how after the existing projects get finished, there's unlikely to be many more commenced for a few years. Aside from the obvious concerns about credit and demand, I actually find these stories partially heartening since the last thing we need is any more inventory on the market.
"Brokers and developers agree that few, if any, proposed office buildings will start construction soon. So many condo projects in downtown Seattle's core have been postponed that there could be nothing new on the market until 2012 once the crop now under construction is completed next year."
Yes, we're almost definitely in a recession. Yes, our banking system is scratching its way out of a crisis. And yes, there are a ton of condos sitting on the market while some buyers await the apocalypse.
But there is some encouraging news to be had. Check some of these new stories coming out in the last 7 days calling out Seattle as one of the most promising parts of the country.
Seattle real estate rated No. 1
Among major metropolitan areas, Seattle's real estate is the best in the nation as a prospective investment, a national report released Tuesday says.
On an eight-point scale reflecting investment value, Seattle was ranked 6.2, according to the 30th annual study of emerging trends in real estate from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute.
That ranking reflects averaged ratings by more than 600 surveyed real estate professionals, who assigned a number of 0 to 8 to each the nation's top 10 regions. The better the location for investment purposes, the higher the rating. Full article
Seattle one of the "best looking markets" in the country
According to the Seattle Times, rents are up 10% over the last year and some analysts project rents to increase a further 17% by December 2010.
Those seeking to spend less than $1,500 a month, especially in urban Seattle, must act quickly when a high-quality apartment or house becomes available in their price range.
"If you see anything on Craigslist for a decent price, it's gone in a day," says Steve Spencer, 23, a student at Seattle Pacific University and another early arrival at the Dexter open house. He's lived at his current home for two years and says "prices have gone way up" in that time.
Full Seattle Times article here.
Looks like more folks are "battening down the hatches" as Zillow's Barton said. Here are some excerpts from Seattle real estate startups regarding their cut backs. I have to say I hope these companies make it through the rough patch. Redfin's MLS search is one of my favorites and Zillow is always fun to check out from time to time.
The unprecedented economic events that are playing out on a global stage began in our own industry and have made a prolonged recession likely, in our judgment. We are a young company that is not yet making a profit. Despite having sizeable cash reserves, we deemed the responsible course was to meaningfully reduce expenses, so that Zillow emerges from the other side of the recession in a very strong position, even if the recession lasts many years.
Even a month ago, we were raising 2009 revenue projections. All our markets, now including Chicago, contributed profits. But the past few weeks have seen a major reversal. As the stock market wiped out prospective down-payments, tours and offers dropped 30%. Transactions that were done came undone. October will still be pretty good, then we’re headed for a big dip.
For what it's worth, I remain hopeful things will turn around in the new year. I know a number of my clients are pondering if January is the right time to make a purchase. A few are waiting for after the election to decide on what to do. It remains to be seen if the news will get better, worse, or stay the same leading up to the new year.
Contact Wendy
(206) 925-3018
Wendy is not directly affiliated with the development projects reviewed on this site.
Wendy welcomes fact sheets and other pertinent information from Seattle condo marketers to be considered for reviews. To preserve Seattle Condo Review's unbiased point of view, Wendy does not accept any offers for marketing sponsorship or site advertising requests.
Seattle Market Snapshot
Recent Comments