SeattleBubble released a slew of handy charts today indicating that the median price for non-distressed homes sold in Seattle (as of August) clocked in at $423,900, a slight 2.1 percent increase from last year's numbers. Fantastic news for sellers, especially considering that Seattle PI reports that the median value for homes in the Seattle was only $374,000. The areas with the most robust increases in housing values from last year include the Sand Point/Ravenna, whose median hovers around $445,000 (up 10.2 percent); Wallingford/Phinney Ridge at $426,600 (up 8.2 percent); and Magnolia at $497,000 (up 8.8 percent). These numbers are certainly outpacing the nationwide numbers, as according to FNC's latest Residential Price Index numbers, home prices have risen than 4.6 percent since January in the U.S.
What is interesting, however, is that while housing prices are driven up as the market shrinks, the recent demand for million dollar houses in Seattle seem to have fallen off. Does that suggest that millionaires are becoming more fiscally reserved (and thus perhaps curbing their greed by being satisfied with only one million dollar in-city pad) or that upper-middle class Seattleites still don't have enough faith in the market to throw caution to the wind and snag one up?
[Photo by Seattle Bubble]
· Non-Distressed Median Price Up 2.1% from August 2011 [SeattleBubble]
· Seattle-area home values record biggest jump since bust [Seattle PI]
· The Most Expensive Houses Sold This Week [Curbed Seattle]
· The Least Expensive "Houses" Sold This Week in Seattle [Curbed Seattle]