There was a slight bump in median sales price on residential properties in Issaquah last month, with prices up 5.24 percent from $495,000 a year ago to $520,944 last month. This is in sharp contrast to other parts of King County. The median price on the Eastside overall was down by 6.2 percent.
In Sammamish the median price was down 1.90 percent, from $420,000 a year ago to $412,000 last month.
Pending sales — sales where contracts are agreed upon but have not yet closed — were down by 2.78 percent in Issaquah to 105, from 108 a year ago in November.
Inventory was down 22.86 percent in Issaquah, with fewer single family homes and condos on the market. Last year there were a total of 468 active listings, compared to 361 this year. In Sammamish, inventory dropped 13.74 percent, from 844 listings a year ago to 728 last month.
In Sammamish pending sales were up 25.23 percent for single family homes with 139 mutually agreed contracts, compared to 111 a year ago. In Issaquah, single family sales were down by 12.5 percent, while Issaquah condos soared 40 percent with 28 pending sales compared to 20 a year ago, albeit at a 20.91 percent drop in median price from $165,000 to $130,500.
“Condos have been hit the hardest of all our inventory in the last four years,” said Bob Richards with Windermere in Issaquah. “Sellers have reduced their prices so much that investors are buying them.”
He said it’s mainly the $80,000 to $150,000 price range condos that investors are buying, letting them realize a positive cash flow on the property.
Richards said there will continue to be less inventory and soft prices until the end of the year, but there will be some bargain purchasing over the next month.
In Sammamish, the median price on condos actually rose 5.24 percent from $210,000 a year ago to $221,000, with 22 closed sales, up from 15 a year ago. Pending condo sales were up in Sammamish, from 28 a year ago to 37 last month.
Andrew Weiffenbach, a broker with Re/Max Exemplary in Sammamish, said sellers are behaving seasonally, taking their homes off the market for winter, while buyers are not pulling back. Continued low interest rates, pent-up demand and expanding families are keeping buyers on the hunt. Weiffenbach’s advice: List now.
“I think we lost a lot of confidence in the spring, then in the summer buyers held off and as summer drew to fall, buyers started to settle down and come out,” Weiffenbach said.
He said the drop in confidence in the spring was due to the crisis in Europe, but now buyers are getting used to the news.
Weiffenbach estimated that there is about 4.6 months of inventory left in Sammamish, and he expects inventory to drop off again in the next month. However, he said buyers’ unseasonably high performance continues.
Linda Ball can be reached at 206-232-1215 ext. 5052.
