In August of 2010, 48 new residential/condo listings came on the market on Mercer Island, per NWMLS statistics, compared to 38 during the same month last year. With a total of 201 active listings, inventory has scaled down by 9.05 percent since 2009. Closed sales were up by 35.20 percent as well, with 23 closings in August.
“This is a very stable community as far as our citizens,” said Kris Robbs, one of the principal brokers with Ewing and Clark real estate on Mercer Island.
Robbs, who has been selling real estate on the Island since 1979, said that the key is for sellers to price their properties accordingly.
Mercer Island resident and associate broker with John L. Scott Mercer Island, Larry Williams, grew up on the Island. He agrees with Robbs.
“The ones (sellers) that come down to market level are the ones that sell,” he said.
Williams said many properties are overpriced given market conditions. However, entry level homes, which start at a half million on Mercer, are selling. Williams said they might be first-time home buyers, but many are driven by the schools — young families wanting to upgrade.
The median sale price for the 17 single family Island homes that sold last month was $810,000 — up 10 percent from August 2009.
The bottom line, Williams continued, is financing. Conforming loans — under $417,000 — that are government-backed are not a problem. He said combining historically low rates with a good inventory can equal a good deal on the Island.
But, as prices go up there are fewer buyers because they must borrow more money, increasing the risk to the lender and cost to the borrower.
“It comes down to the amount of capital people can put down,” Williams said.
One segment selling quickly and well, are (what is termed), ‘entry level waterfront homes,’ he said. Those properties are in the $2-$3 million range. However, with homes priced above $4 million, he said it will be interesting to see how it plays out.
“There’s a lot of properties on the market in that range,” he said.
At the lower end, Julie Nugent, the broker with Windermere Mercer Island, said that a two-bedroom condo in an older building can be obtained in the $200,000 range. She said the disappearance of the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers did affect condo buyers. She said would-be first time home buyers did drop off in May, June and July as the tax credit expired.
All three real estate professionals are prepared to see inventory drop off as winter approaches. Nugent said it’s typical to see homeowners pull their homes off the market around the end of October.
Robbs said sellers who can’t get what they want are turning to the option of leasing their homes out. She said she has seen a lot of new people moving in from other states who can’t sell their homes, opting to lease in Seattle and Mercer Island.
Island foreclosures
Nearly three dozen homes are up for auction or in foreclosure proceedings, either headed to auction or already bank-owned. Several online businesses track homes that are in foreclosure and are either bank-owned or slated to go to auction. They include a Town Center condominium valued at $268,000 and a single family home priced at $1.4 million, and are scattered throughout the Island: from First Hill to Boulevard Place and Forest Avenue to East Mercer Way. Ten of those homes have an estimated market values of $1 million or more.
Vacant land
Over eight acres of vacant residential land in 19 lots are up for sale on Mercer Island — at about $45,000 per acre.
The properties for sale are, for the most part, squeezed into existing neighborhoods. They range in price from $350,000 for a 14,000-square-foot lot on S.E. 47th Place off of East Mercer Way to just under a half million dollars at 8159 West Mercer Way, which includes waterfront. Five properties are offered at $1 million or more. Except one, all of the properties have been on the market for three months or more.
Seven properties have been listed for six months or more. Six sellers have lowered their price between $45,000 and $185,000.
More real estate online
For previous Island real estate stories, go to our Web site at www.mi-reporter.com.
