Dock Permitting and Regulations Seminar

The Shoreline Property Owners and Contractors Association (SPOCA) is sponsoring a seminar on dock permitting rules and regulations, shading, grating, construction time windows, and mitigation requirements for shoreline property owners. The seminar will be held at the 2007 Seattle Boat Show in Seattle's Qwest Field Event Center at the following times: Monday January 29th 1:00pm, Tuesday January 30 3:00pm, and Wednesday January 31 5:00pm.

SPOCA is a contractor-created organization led primarily by waterfront construction interests, and they are trying to expand their membership to private waterfront property owners. They aim to reduce and streamline shoreline environmental regulations, which you may or may not agree with but the seminar should be interesting and informative for anyone considering a new dock, dock repairs, or dock modifications.

Olympic Sculpture Park on Seattle Waterfront

The Emerald City has another jewel in its crown: the Seattle Art Museum's Olympic Sculpture Park on the waterfront of downtown Seattle. It officially opens to the public Saturday and Sunday January 20-21, and I recommend stopping by for a stroll when you are next in the area.

Whatever your particular tastes and however you may feel about the modern sculptures represented throughout the park, it's a bold urban move in a prime development spot that ended up being preserved for public space and urban lifestyle. It also connects the city core literally with the water again: it has returned 850 feet of shoreline back to a more naturally sloped and publicly accessible topography, right in the middle of downtown Seattle.

The meandering path and architectural control emphasizes integration with the art, yet the views are expansive outwards to Elliott Bay, the Olympic Mountain range, downtown skyscrapers, ferry traffic, and even Mt Rainier. One stop shopping for all the local classics there.

And perhaps one of the most impressive feats is invisible to the casual visitor: $64M of the park's $85M total were from private donors, not from government tax sources.

For good information, check out the Seattle Times guide to the park. It includes entertaining pictures from a hundred years ago, virtual tours, how the park was built, and more.

2006 Waterfront Market In Review

2006 has come and gone, and it was yet another terrific year for WaterHavens everywhere. Waterfront real estate has risen with the general market throughout the year, and in many cases outperformed market averages. This is a normal occurrence: waterfront is always more desirable and tends to be a better investment than non-waterfront real estate. And if a down market ever occurs in the future, waterfront will still be the most desirable and first to sell if priced appropriately.

First, a review of the general King County real estate market: in December 2006, house prices increased 12% for the year and arrived at a median price of $440,000, while condo prices rose an astounding 21% to a median $270,000. For all combined residential properties, median was $399,900 and average was $477,845. Available inventory has risen and average time on market has recently taken longer than a year ago, yet prices have continued to rise.

Strong underlying fundamentals continue to drive our market strength: low interest rates continue, alternative mortgage models, strong job growth and professional economy, and lifestyle desirability of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. Condos continue to be in demand due to demographic and age trends, second homes, investments/rentals, urban lifestyle movement, downsizing and simplifying, and continuation of having many singles or childless couples in the Seattle metro area. These large appreciation increases won't continue forever, but current outlook for 2007 indicates a stable market with lower - but still positive - appreciation.

Now for the actual waterfront property sale price results of each local waterfront community for all of 2006. I have compiled all of this specific data for house and floating home properties (in west to east / north to south order), and at the end I have also provided general aggregate information for condominiums (since condo waterfront status is not as clearly tracked in the MLS as with houses) and vacant land.

Here's a key to reading this data:
Number of houses from lowest to highest sale price, average list price / average actual sale price / average cost per square foot / average days on market.

NORTHWEST SEATTLE lakes: 6 from $350,000 - $994,000, list $625,408 / sale $634,667 / $285 sf / 113 days.

MAGNOLIA Sound: 2 from $899,000 - $1,500,000, list $1,224,500 / sale $1,199,500 / $1,087 sf / 261 days.

WEST SEATTLE Sound: 10 from $390,000 - $1,928,000, list $1,257,890 / sale $1,240,816 / $466 sf / 126 days.

BURIEN Sound and lakes: 11 from $250,000 to $1,300,000, list $914,350 / sale $840,277 / $339 sf / 160 days.

NORMANDY PARK Sound: 3 from $1,450,000 to $1,950,000, list $1,831,667 / sale $1,666,667 / $461 sf / 239 days.

DES MOINES Sound: 4 from $625,000 - $1,600,000, list $1,067,500 / sale $1,023,250 / $379 sf / 164 days.

FEDERAL WAY Sound and lakes: 11 from $302,500 - $1,770,000, list $719,400 / sale $698,209 / $268 sf / 134 days.

SEATTLE Lake Union houseboats: 17 from $158,500 to $1,385,000, list $514,135 / sale $484,300 / $466 sf / 108 days.

NORTHEAST SEATTLE Lake Washington: 13 from $940,000 - $4,250,000, list $2,761,531 / sale $2,619,692 / $642 sf / 80 days.

SOUTHEAST SEATTLE Lake Washington: 5 from $985,000 - $1,775,000, list $1,437,331 / sale $1,395,333 / $480 sf / 56 days.

MERCER ISLAND Lake Washington: 22 from $1,100,000 - $6,200,000, list $3,524,136 / sale $3,304,955 / $774 sf / 317 days.

KENMORE Lake Washington: 3 from $1,410,000 - $1,605,000, list $1,606,667 / sale $1,530,000 / $464 sf / 52 days.

KIRKLAND Lake Washington: 3 from $2,400,000 - $6,175,000, list $5,087,667 / sale $4,525,000 / $816 sf / 397 days.

HUNTS POINT Lake Washington: 10 from $2,100,000 - $8,700,000, list $5,362,600 / sale $5,113,834 / $1,179 sf / 353 days.

MEDINA Lake Washington: 9 from $2,570,000 - $15,000,000, list $6,309,889 / sale $6,093,889 / $1,191 sf / 308 days.

BELLEVUE Lake Washington: 13 from $1,300,000 - $4,300,000, list $2,906,077 / sale $2,709,064 / $649 sf / 166 days.

WEST LAKE SAMMAMISH: 18 from $930,000 - $7,600,000, list $2,220,417 / sale $2,192,483 / $516 sf / 98 days.

EAST LAKE SAMMAMISH: 9 from $1,199,000 - $2,100,000, list $1,722,444 / sale $1,683,000 / $600 sf / 91 days.

RENTON lakes: 18 from $495,950 - $2,645,000, list $894,461 / sale $881,775 / $292 sf / 98 days.

KENT lakes: 10 from $325,000 - $825,000, list $642,980 / sale $635,965 / $211 sf / 90 days.

AUBURN lakes: 4 from $349,950 - $690,000, list $496,975 / sale $494,738 / $258 sf / 59 days.

CONDOMINIUMS all local areas: list $506,773 / sale $496,207 / $371 sf / 61 days.

VACANT LAND all local areas: list $773,734 / sale $751,496 / 215 days.


To summarize all of the home sale price data above from all of the local waterfront communities:

Lowest: $158,500 (houseboat)
Highest: $15,000,000
Average: $1,806,860
Median: $1,187,000


Quite a year! Enjoy a WaterHaven. Our waterfront and waterview is the best in the world.

"Green" TV Show Casting Call for Normandy Park

I was recently contacted by a television show producer who occasionally asks me for ideas on our local communities. She has chosen Normandy Park as where she wants to film a show with two families competing to make their homes "greener" and more energy efficient; the show pays for all of the upgrades and remodel costs. Good deal! If you or someone you know might be a match, tell me about yourselves and I'll make the introductions. Here is the concept description that the producer sent to me:

CASTING CALL: FAMILIES WHO WANT TO "GO GREEN"
The 2006 wind storm left many western Washington residents without power and influenced many New Year’s resolutions to include being aware of how much energy we really use and possibly abuse in our everyday lives. A renewed dedication to “go green” and reduce, reuse, recycle in 2007 is gaining momentum and Screaming Flea Productions is offering two local families the opportunity to do it on national TV!

The new program called “Green It Up!” will give two western Washington families an opportunity to explore their energy usage and will challenge them to green up their lifestyle with do-it-yourself home improvement projects we can all learn from. Each family will be given the resources to tackle projects, large and small, that will feature Earth-friendly materials, appliances, and concepts to be implemented and monitored over a month to see which home has improved the most. With rising energy costs, “Green It Up!” will show how families can save money AND the Earth’s precious resources at the same time.

DETAILS: We are looking for two families living in Normandy Park who would welcome a little green competition into their lives. Families with multiple children are preferable. Project materials/appliances for the show will be funded/provided by the production team.

Local Rep to Lead Puget Sound Committee

Good news that we will have local King County (Des Moines) state representative Dave Upthegrove to lead the Select Committee on Puget Sound. He was elected chair last month, and he will help bring south King County viewpoints to the table when deciding how to address Puget Sound clean-up and how to improve its longer term environmental health. There are a number of different legislative districts that border the sound, so it's beneficial for us to have a local presence in the lead.

The initial goals for the committee are broad and far reaching, and as such may not get anywhere for a while as politics, budgets, and priorities get straightened out. However, these committees eventually define - or at least guide - new legislation and regulations which impact waterfront home owners. Bulkheads, septic system design and policies, new development, remodels, setbacks, vegetation, dock permitting, and many other topics can eventually be affected and existing regulations can be changed. Keep in contact with your local representatives and with Dave Upthegrove if you have opinions and feedback on how to best preserve the long term health of Puget Sound. It's always a tricky balance between owner rights and our ecosystem's health, so your inputs can help provide elected officials with a feel for "the local pulse".