Seattle Condos | Seattle Condos for Sale | Reviews by Marco & Wendy

Our New and Improved Seattle Condominium Building Map

Since our blog's inception back in 2006, our Seattle Condo Map has been a place where our readers could go to find information about the various buildings in and around the Downtown Seattle core.

We decided that it was time to revamp SCR's Seattle Condo Map, expanding it to include all buildings in Seattle, to include more detailed information about each building and to create it in a format that allows our readers to search it for information important to them that might not be readily available either online, or within other real estate sites that rely only on information from the MLS.

We are very proud to announce that our new and improved Seattle Condo Map has launched!!!

Our new map contains information about all condominium buildings in the city of Seattle! It is a constant work in progress as condo buildings go through updates, condo buildings become apartment buildings, apartment buildings become condo buildings, new condominium buildings are proposed and new construction buildings are completed. The information contained in our Seattle Condo Map will continue to be updated so please make sure you check back in with the map often. We intend to add links to our Condo Review articles to each building as we review them so our write ups with pros, cons and stats about the building will be available via one click from the map listings. This is something we are actively working on and think will be an amazing resource tool for those looking to buy or sell their condo. 

A couple things to know about our new map:

• There is a directory of buildings that is organized by area - Downtown Area, Northeast Seattle, Northwest Seattle, Queen Anne & Magnolia, South Seattle, Central Seattle and West Seattle
• The buildings are also color coded to denote the following categories - luxury, proposed, under construction, historic or co-op
• You can search the map if you open it up - for example, you can search 'concierge' and see all of the buildings in Seattle with concierge services

Since this map will forever be dynamic, we encourage you, as our readers, to let us know if any buildings are missing or if any of our information is incorrect. We want to do our best to provide the most accurate information we can and we need you all to make that happen!

We hope you find the map interesting and helpful and we hope it is a tool you will bookmark and enjoy using for many years.

Check the map out here! Or from the navigation bar on our website.

Cheers-
Marco and Loren Kronen

The Odessa - New 3 Unit Condominium Building in Madison Park

If you are looking for a new construction condo outside of First Hill and Belltown, and you desire a luxury product, The Odessa might be a great fit for you. It is a 3 unit boutique building in Madison Park on 43rd Avenue, right across the street from North Beach Park with unobstructed views of Lake Washington.

Here is the breakdown of the 3 homes:

• Unit A
  
  • $2,550,000
  • Ground floor  home
  • 3 bedroom, 3.5 baths
  • 2,408 square feet
  • 2 parking spaces (tandem) + storage locker
• Unit B
  
  • $2,750,000
  • Floor 2
  • 3 bedroom, 3.5 baths
  • 2,474 square feet
  • 2 parking spaces (tandem) + storage locker
• Unit C
  
  • $3,150,000
  • Floor 3 (top floor)
  • 3 bedroom, 3.5 baths
  • 2,574 square feet
  • 4 parking spaces (2 sets of 2 tandem spots) + storage locker

General features of the homes:

• Patio/deck with gas fireplaces
• 5 piece master baths and walk-in closets
• Air conditioning
• Built green
• Elevator access
• Gas cooking
• Open layout

All three condominium homes are listed for sale but are still under construction. The developer will be looking at offers on October 13th. Hard hat tours are available.

By Marco Kronen with Seattle Condo Review: A guide to Seattle downtown condos.

Condo Review - Madison East in Madison Valley

Madison East Condominiums in Madison Valley
2820 E Madison St



Madison East is a condominium building on E Madison Street in the heart of Madison Valley, sandwiched between Madison Park and Capitol Hill.  The location is near several restaurants, bars, cafes, boutiques, and being near Lake Washington Boulevard make it an easy commute to 520 Bridge for east side commuters to Bellevue or Redmond for Microsoft.  Madison Street also has good bus routes to downtown Seattle are also convenient.

The stats:

• 17 units
• 5 stories
• Built in 2003
• 1 bedrooms and 2 bedrooms
• Range in size from 791 to 1,206 square feet
• All units have 1 parking space and most also have storage lockers
• 2 units have sold in the last year ranging in price from $297,500 to $350,000
• There is 1 pending listing currently on the market at the time of this post
• HOA dues include: water, sewer, garbage, master insurance policy

Seattle Condo Inventory Starts to Come Back

Finally, inventory in the Seattle condo market moved up to match demand in May 2013!

We saw a nice boost for listings (from 379 in April to 470 in May).   

This combination of boosted supply and fairly flat demand resulted in a slight dip in median prices by 10% overall with Downtown/Belltown taking a particularly large hit in median prices (from $427k to $365k) while Queen Anne/Magnolia median prices have been steady at $300k for the last few months.

Overall, we're probably not in the no-brainer sellers market anymore.  Seems like we're headed to a more balanced market where buyers will have some leverage given the increase in choices though sellers aren't powerless since even with the bump in listings, there are still 20% fewer listings than the same time last year. 

 

It's a Seller's Market: Seattle Condo March 2013 Update

I took a look at March 2013 data and pretty much every neighborhood has the same story.  Sales up. Median prices up.  Inventory flat.  

If you were one of those condo investors waiting for the market to pick up to avoid having to have a unit sit on the market too long, your time may have come.  You'll not reap huge windfalls from a pricing point of view but you'll certainly see some action and at a price that's considerably more than you would have gotten a year ago.

In terms of neighborhoods, Belltown/Downtown and Queen Anne/Magnolia both had almost double the units sold in March as they did in Feb but number of listings available was either flat or down versus February.  

 

2012 Seattle Condo Market in Review - The Year of Dwindling Inventory

As we start off 2013, every year in January we like to take a quick pause to take a look back and recap the major events, trends, and milestone from the previous year and for the heck of it, make some forecasts and predictions for the upcoming year.

Trends of 2012 and Events Worth Noting

We saw our condo market absorption rates increase and inventory dwindle to the point nearly all segments of our Seattle condo market were leaning toward a seller’s market with less than three months of inventory. 

Multiple offers returned but interestingly enough we did not see a sharp incline in pricing. This is likely due to buyers who were much more conservative and resistant to overpaying in light of the recent market crash. This could also be due to more stringent appraisal review practices by lenders, which many applaud.

2200 Condominiums in South Lake Union reached the largest construction defect settlement in state history with its developer for $26 million dollars.

We saw the return of investor buyers. An increase in all cash purchases seemed to indicate investors gained confidence in spending again.

Many newer condominium buildings entered litigation with their developers in accordance with the Washington State Condominium Act’s construction warranty time frames. This further limited available condo units on the market because units that are for sale in buildings with pending litigation have a very hard time obtaining buyer financing.

Seattle Condo Market Update: Soft Landing for the Winter

November 2012 data are in.  Here's some key takeaways and of course, the charts.

• After several year-over-year thumpings of monthly 2011 sales, November 2012 was higher than November 2011...but only by ~15% (versus the ~30% advantages we saw in September and October year-over-year comparisons).  Perhaps the we're finally settling in for our winter hibernation.
• Median prices for Seattle overall saw a soft landing, slightly higher than November 2011 but considerably lower than the banner October 2012 numbers ($245K versus $275K).
• At the neighborhood level Belltown/Downtown remains the most solid overall with sales almost as high as October 2012, median prices up 10% month over month, and inventory still tight.   

 

Client Question of the Week: Is the VA Loan Program Available for Condos?

This week, new clients of mine wondered what their options were for a downtown condo that would qualify for the VA loan program. The Department of Veteran Affairs loan program is available to those military veterans and active duty personnel that have accumulated enough service time to be eligible for the favorable terms afforded by this loan program.  Benefits over conventional loan programs include market interest rates, reduced down payment requirements, no monthly mortgage insurance, as well as more flexibility with debt to income ratios and closing costs.

What’s the catch? Condominium buildings must go through the VA's condo project approval process.  Similar to the FHA approval process, an HOA would need to provide supporting documents verifying the eligibility of the condominium community as a whole.  No longer can an individual condo owner seek VA approval if they are either refinancing or selling their condo.  It's all or nothing.  VA looks at things such as overall financial health of the HOA, percentage of rental units, percentage of units that are delinquent on dues, and level of insurance protection, to name a few.  Currently, very few VA approved condominium buildings exist in the downtown core of Seattle.  Newer condo projects in the Downtown, Belltown, Midtown and South Lake Union area especially, lack this VA approval.  So it can be challenging for those wanting to use the VA loan program to find options in our already low inventory market.

September 2012 Condo Sales Stronger than Expected

I finally got around to analyzing the September Seattle condo sales data!  Below are some interesting observations and those beloved charts.

• Last year we saw a drop in sales from August to September of over 20%.  
• This year we saw as many sales in September as we did in August.
• Prices are holding steady.  Median prices have been exactly $250,000 for the last three months.
• Inventory continues to be tight at about 40% fewer listings than September 2012.
• Capitol Hill / Madison / Central saw the biggest strength with sales jumping 35% versus the previous month.

So overall, we saw a nice September with some encouraging signs that the Seattle condo recovery continues to plod forward.

 

FHA Changes Mean Help for Condo Buyers, Sellers and HOAs

The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) recently changed several of its outdated and controversial guidelines, which might help those looking to buy or sell a condo.  Rule changes are “temporary” but include things such as increases to the allowance on percentage of commercial space within a condo project, increased flexibility on percentage of delinquent HOA dues, less liability for HOA Board Members who sign off on the FHA application, as well as allowances for increases in the number of units that can be rented at one time or owned by one person in a building. All of these changes have the ability to help condo buildings, condo owners, and of course buyers who are using FHA loans.

A recent article in the Seattle Times summarized some of the key relaxed guidelines the FHA recently announced.   I wanted to share this article with you and go into more detail about how it affects us here in Seattle. If you are a buyer, seller, or HOA board member, and FHA has been a topic of recent discussions, you might want to revisit it. As of September 13^th you now have more options so I’d take another look to see if your condo building or one you thought about buying in might now be in a position to get FHA approval.