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The Mercer Island real estate market is off to a good start. January brought 27 new listings, a nice increase from the slower months of November and December.
Waterfront properties represented five of January’s total listings, a welcome sight for luxury buyers, who only saw two waterfront homes listed from October through the end of December.
Sales were also strong in January with 17 sold homes, including four condos, several homes in the entry-level market ($1 million to $1.2 million) along with two new construction and two waterfront homes.
The “spring frenzy” arrives early
Following months of low inventory, buyers are eager and ready, and the market is showing all the signs of “spring frenzy,” including offer review dates, bidding wars, and homes selling as much as $100,000 to $200,000 over asking price.
However, these trends are mostly isolated to more affordably priced homes. The luxury market (homes priced $2 million or more) is still a buyers’ market, currently making up approximately 80% of current active listings.
A look at cash transactions
We noted that over half of January sales (9) involved all-cash transactions. Looking back at 2016, cash transactions accounted for approximately 30% of all closed sales on Mercer Island for the year.
While many think of foreign investors as the major players, there is no profile for a cash buyer. Cash buyers include local and foreign investors, as well as business and tech executives, professional athletes, retirees, and others.
“Cash is king,” as the saying goes. For sellers, a cash offer usually means a faster sale and less risk, since these transactions don’t involve the time-consuming requirements of financing, including appraisals and loan underwriting.
For buyers, they mean a more competitive market, since all-cash offers often win in competitive situations. However, a good agent can provide winning strategies for competing with cash buyers, including finding out what’s important to the home seller. This information might reveal needs and motivations beyond getting top dollar.
January 2017 Real Estate Market Update
Overview of residential / condominium market:
- 50 active listings (as of 2/5/17)
- 27 new listings in January
- 17 sold homes in January (January 2016: 10 sold homes)
Single-Family Residential Homes*
- 19 new listings
- 13 sold homes (January 2016: 6)
- Average sales price: $1,683,041
- Median sales price: $1,260,000
- Lowest sales price: $765,000
- Highest sales price: $3,400,000
- Homes sold under $1 million: 2
- Homes sold between $1 – 2 million: 5
- Homes sold over $2 million: 4
*Non-waterfront
Waterfront
- 5 new listings (2 North End; 3 Westside)
- 2 sold homes
- Lowest sales price: $3,800,000
- Highest sales price: $6,200,000
Downtown Condos
- 3 new listings
- 4 sold listings
- Lowest sales price: $325,000
- Highest sales price: $590,000
Current Mercer Island Listings
By Home Type / Location
- Mercer Island Condos
- Single-Family Residential Homes (All)
- New Construction Homes
- Waterfront Homes
- Search by Neighborhood
By Price
- $1 million or less
- $1 million to $1.5 million
- $1.5 million to $2 million
- $2 million to $2.5 million
- $2.5 million to $3 million
- $3 million to $4 million
- $4 million to $5 million
- $5 million or more
Take a look at local real estate trends over the past 12 months on our Mercer Island Real Estate Statistics page.
Sirianni Real Estate Group News & Notes
We are excited to share that we just launched a new website at www.siriannigroup.com. The site has been months in the making, and we hope this will be another helpful resource for you.
We are also launching a monthly video newsletter about real estate news and trends in the Greater Seattle area, so be sure to sign up if you’d like to stay up-to-date – just enter your email in the website footer.
Speaking of video, we just launched our 15 Favorite Places on Mercer Island video series, and we are sharing one video a day on our Facebook page. “Like Us” to follow along! If you aren’t on Facebook, you can also check them out on our YouTube channel.
As always please get in touch if we can help you with any of your real estate needs.
Reach out anytime. Call or send us a text for a quicker response.
Charlie Sirianni, JD
Managing Broker
Windermere Mercer Island
Call: 206-992-6151
Email: [email protected]
Erin Sirianni
My MI Founder & Editor / Residential Broker
Windermere Mercer Island
Call: 206-992-5272
Email: [email protected]
