We've learned how to roll with the punches from two of the most free-swinging boxers out there!

Market Insight

After a soft patch in the end of 2018, the overall market bounced back this spring raising the median values nearly 9% throughout Seattle.  Despite the increase in demand, one style of housing seems to be behind the curve.  

Town homes or row houses gained popularity in Seattle in the mid-2000's.  At the time, Seattle zoning would allow 1 town home per 2200 square foot of property lot, so the average 1920's bungalow was cleared off her lot to make room for 2-3 homes.  Developers would generally purchase adjacent homes to make room for a 4+ home development.  Most of them were designed similarly, three stories with a garage on the ground floor along with a bedroom and a patio.  The second level featured the main living space and kitchen.  The top level often showcased a split floor plan with two bedrooms and vaulted ceilings. 

The recent town home boom that started in 2015 transformed select areas.  Neighborhoods like Ballard and Judkins have been drastically altered.  Many streets began to feel uneven as towering 3 story boxy structures overshadowed the customary cottages of these older neighborhoods. There was push back in communities, but these newly constructed edifices sold well and for serious money.  At their peak last year, many properties sold for over $600 per square foot.  

The more recent adjustments to zoning laws permitted even more housing as each home now only required 1600 square feet of lot space.  This promoted narrower structures that often traded garage space for a roof top deck.  The interior layouts were revamped accordingly. The most common 3-bedroom design have two small bedrooms on the ground level, a sleek living space on the second level and an impressively sized Master on the top level.  The roof top deck would frequently come with a wide view as these structures had a bit more height than the previous generation, now allowing 35’ in total height. 

Since these projects held such high margins, they were the main type of residential new construction throughout Seattle.  The new design has become the face of many streets, with them outnumbering the old bungalows that sit slumbering tucked in among them.

When the Seattle market began it’s decline in the second half of 2018; town homes lead the way with price reductions.  Since then conditions have improved, but the market for town homes is still far behind houses.  The earlier generation town homes are especially affected.  In the last month, Ballard single family houses are flying off the market in a week with multiple offers while 2000's era town home activity remains muted.  Despite the slowing in activity, there are dozens of new town home projects proposed throughout the city which will further saturate this segment of the market. 

Despite the increase in Seattle traffic, home buyers seem to be changing trend and choosing to travel further away to get a more traditional house over these centrally located town homes.  As a result, Everett, along with areas north of Tacoma are outperforming Seattle in terms of appreciation this spring.   

Featured Buyer Story

Team Effort to Win a Property

We’ve been working with one buyer for some time who's looking specifically for a two bedroom condo in the HighPointer community of Burien.  The problem is there aren’t many of these units in the community and it’s difficult to gauge when one would be listed.   

After waiting for over a year, one finally hit the market!  We connected with our buyer and learned he was in Hawaii for an extended business trip.  The property was getting such strong attention, we knew it would be highly likely it would sell in just a few days.  We had a discussion with our buyer, and he agreed to go for it, sight unseen. We ran down to the property to check it out and that night we wrote an offer.  The buyer quickly signed just before midnight.  By the next morning, we were told that there were two others offers and one more on the way.   

Refusing to let this one slip away, we aggressively modified the terms of the offer, but it wasn’t enough.  The other parties quickly jumped to rival it and even beat it on price.  We had a discussion with our buyer and decided to take an emotional route to separate our offer from the competition.  The whole family showed up to tour the unit and to take a photo.  They were excited for their son and wanted to do anything they could to increase his odds. I shared the story with the sellers and spoke of our buyer’s patience in waiting for this opportunity.  At first, it didn’t seem to work as the seller stressed to me that he was “a business man” and not interested in anything other than his bottom line.  So, we got the mortgage broker involved.  They called and sang his praises showing his financial strength.   

I then sent the photo of his family along with the approval from the lender. An hour later we were pending!

In Closing...