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

Client Question of the Week: My condo's tax assessed value went down, does that mean my condo value decreased?

Recently a client emailed me a great question that we felt many people would benefit from knowing the answer to.

“Marco, I recently received a tax assessment notice in the mail and it showed my condo value has gone down since I bought it earlier this year. But I'm seeing condo prices in the area are increasing. Should I appeal to the tax assessor’s office to increase my tax assessment to be more in line with recent market sales, as I'm afraid this might hurt my condo's value now and in the future? I realize this might mean my annual taxes may go up, but I'm just not sure what is best.”

Great question!

2200 Westlake Condos: Humble Beginnings, Bright Future

2200 Westlake is a building that I feel might be misunderstood and I believe this is due to its market timing. Let me explain.

2200 (along with Cosmopolitan and Madison Tower) was one of the first pre-sale new construction projects to hit the scene after the Cristalla (pre-sold in 2003; completed in 2005). When Cristalla was completed it was the first new construction project to have been completed in Belltown since the Bellora in 2003 and buyers were excited to get into something new and shiny. The market was booming and everyone was trying to buy. Oh the good ole days.

When closings began in 2005 Cristalla, owners were being approached to sell their condos for much over their purchase price (I know, because it happened to me!). This created the expectation that if you purchased a new condo, you could turn around and sell it immediately for a hefty profit. Investors jumped on the chance to make a quick buck and were a large percentage of those who bought at 2200 in pre-sale. Unfortunately, by the time 2200 purchases began to close in 2006 and into 2007, the market had started to cool and buyers were wise to the ‘flipping’ that investors were doing in buildings such as Cristalla and they were not having it. So, when the investors went to sell off their units right away, there were not enough takers. As a result, many of these units then became rentals and still are rentals. Other condo owners who needed to sell walked away and foreclosed or short sold, which affected the condo values.

2010 Seattle Condo Market in Review

The Seattle condo market has definitely gone through a lot in the last few years.  Looking at 2010 as a whole, it did not preform as well as 2009 but it wasn't too far behind.

During the first 6 months of 2010, we saw a higher number of closed sales compared to first half of 2009.  This may have been due to the extension of the tax credit from October 2009 to April 30, 2010 which gave the market a boost in activity.  In addition to the original $8,000 first time home buyers' credit, a $6,500 tax credit was passed for repeat buyers as well.  Buyers had to be under contract by end of April, 2010 and closed by June 30 (the closing date was later extended to September 30, 2010) in order to qualify for this tax credit.

The strongest month was April; probably due to many buyers trying to meet the tax credit deadline closing date.  

Olive 8 and Fifth & Madison Update

The Seattle Times covered the Olive 8 auction last weekend.  According to  David Thyer, president of developer R.C. Hedreen,  all but 4 homes (out of the 32 auction homes) were accepted by the seller last Sunday.  

"Before Sunday, Olive 8 closed deals for 74 of its 227 units, mostly on the building's lower portion between floors 18 and 26.  The 32 units auctioned off Sunday represent nearly all of the unsold inventory on that lower portion, so "we'll no longer have prospective buyers going through those floors," Thyer said last week.  Olive 8 still has a little more than 100 unsold units on the top floors, with price tags from $500,000 to $6.9 million."

This made me wonder if all the Fifth and Madison auctioned homes actually reached the closing table.  I managed to pull some information and put together this updated sheet.  Out of the 16 auction homes, 13 closed within 60 days.  The three homes (#1102, #1200 & #1805) that went back on the market after the auction were subsequently closed within the next five months (presumably, not to bidders).  Out of the 13 homes  that closed within 60 days, a few of them were sold at a higher price.  They are #1803, #2200, and #2202.  The average closed price is still about 66% of the original listing price.  So, in Fifth and Madison's case, they managed to close ~81% of their auction homes, not a bad way to unload a big chunk of unsold inventory in a day.  

Related posts: 

Seattle Condo Auction Roundup
Seattle Condo Auctions: Equivalent of the Nordstrom Anniversary Sales?
5th and Madison and Trace Lofts Update
Queen Anne Auction- By the numbers
Lumen Auction Results
Brix and Gallery Auction Results
Press Auction: Going once, Going twice, Gone!

 -Wendy 

Olive 8 Auction Results

Olive 8's auction event was this afternoon.  Thirty two homes were auctioned off by Kennedy Wilson.  They initially had thirty-four homes for auction but two of them, #1902 and #2102 were removed from the list.  The homes were sold for an average of 66% of the previous listing price, which is very close to the average of the last few auctions (Queen Anne High School, Lumen, Brix, Gallery, and 5th and Madison) since 2009 at 67%.  The average price per square sold for the auction was $450.78.  This is by far the highest average price per square foot sold for all auction events. 

Olive 8 Auction Results

Here are some highlights of the event:

1.) One bedroom's were sold for an average $462.69/sq.ft. and the average winning bids were at 68% of the previous listing price.  Two bedroom's were sold for an average of $415.06/sq.ft and the average winning bids were at 60% of the previous listing price. 

 2.) One of the largest two bedroom homes sold for $625,000, 54% of the previous listing price.

3.) The lowest price one bedroom was sold for $297,000 (650 sq.ft.).  One couple won the bid for a two bedrooms, two bathrooms for $702,000 (1,586 sq.ft.).  It was the highest bid for the two bedroom homes but they were very pleased with the price.  It's going to be their 2nd home.  

Each home has an unpublished reserve price, which means that the seller has set a minimum selling price.  In the event the winning bid was lower than the reserve price, the winning bid is subject to acceptance by the seller.  It would be interesting to see how many of these homes will make it to closing.  

Related posts:

Seattle Condo Auction Roundup
Seattle Condo Auctions: Equivalent of the Nordstrom Anniversary Sales?
5th and Madison and Trace Lofts Update 
Queen Anne Auction- By the numbers
Lumen Auction Results
Brix and Gallery Auction Results
Press Auction: Going once, Going twice, Gone!

 -Wendy

 

Four Seasons Hotel/Condo New Prices

Four Seasons Private Residences announced this week that they are extending some special pricing on selected remaining homes.  22 out of the 25 sales have closed so far with 11 remaining.  The price drop for some of these homes varies from 15%-25%.   

Condo Updates

I've been working OT on a few deals so have a lot of catching up to do for the blog.  Here is some of the latest Seattle condo market news:  

First off, The Schuster Group's proposed project on the corner of Elliott and Cedar St (previously named as Bellora 2 at UrbanCondominiums.com in 2007) is heading for Downtown Design Review Board on June 23rd.  The proposed project will housed 120 condos and may go as high as 14 stories.  The last time I spoke to the developer's office, they were waiting for the market to recover.  Construction may not start for a year or two.  So, it will be a few years before we see this project.  Read more here. 

Madison Tower / Hotel 1000

Madison Tower/ Hotel 1000 was Seattle's first hotel/condo project completed in 2006.  Fourty-seven homes sit above the Hotel from the 15th level to 24th floors.  The building is located between Pioneer Square and Pike Place Market on the corner of 1st Ave and Madison St and occupies a quarter block.

There are five homes on each floor with the exception of the penthouse.  The 00 and 01 floor plans are west facing and offer the most optimum water views. 

00 Floor plan         Two bedroom 1980-3,010 sqft.       NW 

01 Floor Plan         Two bedroom 1,562-3,740 sqf.       SW   

02 Floor plan         Two bedroom 1,444 sqft.               SE 

03 Floor Plan         One bedroom 805 sqft.                   E

04 floor plan          One bedroom  877 sqft.                 NE

Click here for the floor plans.

Feb 1 Seattle Condo Update

Well, it has only been a week since I was gone for my vacation but it seems like a number of condo projects have some news for us.

• Fifteen Twenty-One kicked off their grand opening event with a light show and tour of their model home. There are 11 homes remaining with the lowest price starting at $975,000.     

• Alex in Belltown announced that they are moving ahead in full speed as a condomium project. They will be selling their homes sometime in May. Completion for this condo building is going to be in late spring.  

• Market Street Landing, the condo project replacing the Denny's in Ballard is still under going design review. The 5 and 8 story buildings will house 330 homes. The design review board thinks that the design still needs a little bit of work. Read more here.  

• Equinox has updated their website. The construction progress is on track with windows installed and sheet rock started in the North Building. A model unit will be available for viewing in late March. Homeowners can be expected to move in in June.  

• Trace North is featuring 5 homes under $300k.    

• Ruby will be holding their grand opening on February 7th and 8th (Saturday & Sunday). Prices for their lake view homes start at $329,990 and bridge view homes start from $259,990. The project is also FHA approved. Read more on the hard hat tour.

Related Posts:

Alex Update
Equinox Update
Fifteen Twenty-One Opening Ceremony
Trace North Update
Ruby Condos Update

Olive 8- Green Roof

 

       

Last week, the Olive 8 hotel / condo installed one of downtown Seattle's largest green roofs. The 8,355 square foot green roof is on the fourth floor podium of the Hyatt at Olive 8 and is comprised of two parts. The first part of the installation was on top  of the roof's mechanical system. The second installation was on the podium. Judging from the pictures, it's definitely a nice addition for the building and visually more pleasant than looking at the mechanical systems. I would imagine residents will get more enjoyment out of it if it is accessible from the building and they could pull out some chairs and relax on the roof. Read more on the green roof.

Related posts:

Olive 8 and 5th & Madison Update
Olive 8 Auction Results
Olive 8 Going Auction
Olive 8 Price Guarantee
Olive 8 Update
Olive 8 Hard Hat Tour
Hotel Condo Shoot Out 
Olive 8