Get Real Tacoma

The News Tribune blog has a great article today about my very favorite lunch spot,Infinite Soups.  To celebrate their anniversary they will be giving customers free cupcakes from Corina Bakery.  Um. Yeah. I’ll totally be there.

One of the best things about living in the City of Tacoma is that you are close to the action on a night like New Years Eve.  

The Weekly Volcano’s SPEW Blog has put out a list of the best places to Party tonight.  You can find THIS Realtor at The Mix on 7th & St Helens, but from the look of this list there are lots of great places to celebrate.

Don’t forget to designate or Cab it home, and have a very Happy New Year!

It’s been a couple weeks since we reviewed the Downtown Tacoma Condos that have sold, so here you are.  There were 9 condos that closed, 6 of those I already wrote about earlier this week located at The Esplanade.  

Selling like (price reduced) hot cakes.

CitySteps continued the great townhouse blowout with 2 sold this week, both for $219,990.  They were units #105 & 106 2 bedroom, 2 bathrooms, with 1113 square feet.  One was originally listed at $259,990.

The final condo was over with Survon at Marcato, unit #319.  A 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1040 square foot that was originally listed at $369,000.  It sold for $309,000.   For information on Marcato check out another of last weeks posts here.

I believe it is worth mentioning that right now there are 225 condos listed for sale in 98402, 98405, & 98403.  There are 24 that are pending sale.  That gives us an 11% sales ratio- which is DEFINETLY a buyers market.  If you want a good explanation of a sales ratio, I recommend reading Tacoma Realtor Tom Hume’s post on the topic.  He explains it well.  Basically, less that 50% is a buyers market, more than 50% is a sellers market.

It is also worth mentioning that in the past 2 weeks int the same downtown area, 1 condo listing was cancelled, 1 was temporarily taken off the market, and 4 expired.  That’s one way to get the inventory down.

Between the Christmastime Parties and all the Shopping, 27 people found time to close on houses and condos this week in Tacoma!  Here is the breakdown:

• 22 Houses sold. 5 Condos sold.
• All 5 condos were located at The Esplanade.
• The average days on market for the houses that sold were 130 days.  Those sellers accepted offers at an average of 97% of the list price.
• The average price per square foot of sold homes across the whole city was $130/square foot.

 Update:  While writing this a 6th unit was marked sold at Esplanade.  So that is 6 total.

The problem here is that there are currently 2,199 houses and condos actively for sale in Tacoma.  That number is probably a little low, as I know many of the new construction houses and condos are not on the MLS as builders will just put up a few to represent the whole building/neighborhood.   There are 315 pending sales, which puts us at a 14% sales ratio for the city at large. 

 Stay tuned for a post comparing the Pricing and Days on Market of Sold Homes & Condos with those of the Currently Listed Homes & Condos!

Tacoma has a ton of great blogs, covering every topic you can imagine. Thank goodness for Google Reader!  Check out this new blog by Jacob Rose.  Jacob is all over town and loves to dig up stories, but he’s also very knowledgable about zoning, business, real estate, and life in Tacoma in general.

One of my favorite parts of being a Realtor is Previewing.  Previewing is just visiting homes and condos for sale keeping an eye out for bargains for your buyer clients, and building your knowledge of your market.   I took a trip to Marcato at 1501 Tacoma Avenue.  I had been there before, but I realised it had been about a year and a half and it was time to check them out again.  I’m glad I did!

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Find Your Optimal Home Location!

When buying a house, it is fair to say that the majority of my clients place an extremely high priority on commute time.  For people who are still part of the workforce (sorry retireds and trust funders!) this consideration is usually second only to price. 

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Bella View Condos Sold Out

I was hoping to do a great post today about all the condos that have sold downtown since my last post on the topic on 11/16.  Unfortunately, there is not much to report, even after expanding into the Stadium District for material!

Only 2 condos have sold downtown since 11/16, one yesterday, and one today.

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