The New York Times cites a Capitol Hill townhouse as a prime example that the real estate market has fallen to pieces even in stable Seattle:
Arne Klubberud and Melissa Lee-Klubberud paid $358,000 for a new, 960-square-foot townhouse on trendy Capitol Hill a few weeks after that Seattle Times article was published. Now, with one child and with hopes for more, they need more space. They just put the townhouse on the market for $300,000.
“Obviously, this is not the ideal situation,” said Ms. Lee-Klubberud, a 32-year-old lawyer. They are hoping to take advantage of the sour market to buy at a good price, but first, they must sell for an amount that is acceptable. “Everyone has their limits,” she said. “We have ours.”
The basic gist of the piece is that real estate standouts like Seattle that resisted the declines of recent years now have catch-up to do.
It’s time for us to take a look at the local statistics again. The last time we dug into the numbers, we saw evidence of a tough summer for the Hill’s real estate market — especially for the condo crowd — but pockets of stability around the Hill. It will be interesting to see if there are, indeed, signs of erosion in those pockets.
In the meantime, considering all the worries around owning, there’s at least one pocket of Hill real estate that is hot again. Land to build apartment projects is in demand again with examples of projects popping up everywhere you turn.
The NYT story missed a big angle — the level of demand. Even though values are much lower than in 2007, homes on Capitol Hill seem to sell quickly enough if priced reasonably. In some cities, there aren’t any buyers.
Unfortunately rent isn’t any cheaper!! All those condos are sitting empty! If only they would lower the price $200….