Michael Ford is Voted North Regional Director of Seattle King County Realtors®

Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty (RSIR) is thrilled to announce that our Designated Broker, Michael Ford, was voted into the position of North Regional Director for the Seattle King County REALTORS®. Ford was previously appointed to the position when a space became available between election years, and will now continue in his capacity as North Regional Director for a full two-year term. Ford’s recent achievement is preceded by his 22 year-long reputation for strong mentorship, broker support, and leadership in business development and educational broker training.

“I look forward to continuing my participation in the creation and implementation of policies designed to give brokers the tools to help foster home ownership,” said Ford. “I feel it is important to lend my voice to the cause of brokers working to help people achieve their real estate goals.”

As a long-time successful broker and manager who currently oversees 5 RSIR offices comprising nearly 200 real estate agents, Ford is acutely aware of the need for an organization whose primary purpose is to ensure real estate brokers have the most current education and legal support, as well as an avenue for brokers to take their causes directly to lawmakers.

“As a smart, savvy and sensitive leader who cultivates next generation real estate professionals, Michael inspires our brokers and has offered strong operational support in what has been a pivotal time both in our marketplace and for our brand,” said Dean Jones, President and CEO of RSIR. “All of us at RSIR offer him a warm congratulations and look forward to his participation in this renowned organization.”

As the Seattle King County REALTORS® website describes, the organization’s mission is to create “a thriving and ethical business environment for members through education, advocacy and tools that support member success. We protect and promote the right to own, transfer and use real property.”

 

What a Difference a Year Makes

Downtown Seattle Condominium Market Values Swell 28% in 2016

Eager homebuyers rallied during the first half of 2016 increasing unit absorption and median home prices by 48% and 28%, respectively according to analysis of Northwest Multiple Listing Service data released as of June 30th. The typical condominium is selling in just over a month with a median home value of $575,000. However, a closer look reveals that 135 of the 381 condominium closings so far this year were in the INSIGNIA condominium tower, a new construction development (and one remaining developer-owned unit in the Four Seasons Private Residences) whereas there were effectively no new construction deliveries or closings during the same term in 2015. When removing this spike of higher-priced, new inventory in the overall resale market still expanded by 22% year-over-year but total resale closings actually decreased 5% with 246 homes in 2016 (including a few resales at INSIGNIA) against closings of 258 units in the first half of 2015.

“These market results were anticipated given the rising demand and relatively anemic supply being added to the skyline,” said Dean Jones, President and CEO of Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty (RSIR). “I wish I could point to a cure for homebuyers hoping for greater affordability but the answer is supply and that can take years to develop.”

Below are a collection of graphs illustrating the changing market that compare the first half of 2015 with the first half of 2016, both with new construction and resale (All) as well as exclusively resale homes (Resale).

To be sure, much of what’s occurring in the development of downtown Seattle has been a common discussion about supply and demand. In 2013, Jones prognosticated on this very topic in an interview with Seattle Magazine’s Publisher’s Series in which he mentioned the northern migration of downtown Seattle and a condominium comeback, although nearly three years ago the housing market was still very much in recovery mode.

In June of 2015, RSIR published with The Puget Sound Business Journal a supplement called “The Manhattanization of Seattle,” which again spoke to the imbalance of for-sale inventory relative to the population increases and the maturing Millennial demographic.

Then, earlier this year 425 Business Magazine tapped Jones about the trends for urbanization, this time with a focus on the Eastside. He notes that the rising trend for foreign direct investment in the region and a propensity for in-fill development will have even the much smaller Eastside urban landscape soon looking more like a skyscraper city before long.

Most recently the state of the in-city housing market has less to do with projections but evidenced by consumer response. Among the newly constructed in-fill condominiums in the region (either in development or planned), which includes INSIGNIA, LUMA, Gridiron and now NEXUS, 80% of the homes have already been reserved, pending or closed.

“That’s just one of the reasons we’ve been so successful with NEXUS,” said Michael Cannon, Director of Sales for NEXUS. “We’re well positioned both in our geographic location as well as our time in the development cycle. Buyers have clearly been waiting for the next generation of high-rise living and at NEXUS, ‘X’ marks the spot.”

Cannon says homebuyers have a remarkably clear view of the future as downtown Seattle is moving north and NEXUS is in the heart of a new multi-billion dollar vertical village.

*Information gained from sources deemed reliable but cannot be guaranteed.