Happy New Year! It’s been a roller coaster of a year in local real estate, and we’re beginning 2019 with a quick reflection on the final month of real estate in 2018. Regionally, a market correction is underway, though the data for Mercer Island continues to show stability, even with a shift from a strong sellers’ market to a more balanced market.
Overall, it was a strong month for the Mercer Island luxury market, and sales included 10 properties that were sold above $2 million. We’re seeing somewhat slower activity in lower price ranges; many buyers seem to be sitting on the sidelines waiting to see what the early months of the year will bring.
The highlight of last month was the sale of a spectacular waterfront property – a $13.25 million waterfront estate on Faben Point – marking the highest sale of the year and the fifth highest sale in Mercer Island real estate history.
An Overview of Mercer Island’s Single-Family Residential Market
In December, there were 13 new listings, down from the 19 new listings we saw in November, though increased compared to the same month last year, when we saw only 9 new listings in December 2017. There were 18 home sales last month, similar to November when there were 20. However, it’s interesting to note the year-over-year difference in home sales – buyers were quite a bit more active last year, as reflected by an impressive 30 sales in December 2017.
Mercer Island Price Trends
As shown in the table below, Mercer Island had an exceptionally high median sale price and average sale price in December. This was due to two waterfront property sales (one over $6 million and the other over $13 million). Additionally, 10 out of the 18 properties sold for more than $2 million.
A quick note about our new “Trends at a Glance” table in regard to median and average sale price: The Mercer Island monthly sales data set is small, and we provide the median and average sale prices from one month ago and one year ago as an interesting comparison. However, waterfront or luxury sales can skew the average and median monthly sale prices to the high side. To get a more accurate sense of appreciation on Mercer Island, we suggest that you look at quarterly and annual Mercer Island market reports.
