Windermere Greenwood • August 31, 2017

Dine Well – Do Good Raises $12,000 for Food Lifeline!

by Windermere Greenwood

Dine Well – Done Good!

Pictured Above: Laura Smith and Michele Flinn of Windermere Real Estate Co. presenting a check to Lindsay Carlisle, Victoria Austin and the staff at Seattle Food Lifeline, on behalf of the Windermere Foundation.

Last June, Windermere Real Estate Co. teamed up with neighboring restaurants to Dine Well – Do Good. Each Monday night in the month of June, Windermere Real Estate Co. matched tips made to servers – up to $3,000 per night – to raise money for Food Lifeline, via the Windermere Foundation.

Thanks to the generosity of Windermere agents, diners, and the participating restaurants, the Windermere Foundation collected $12,000 in donations. According to Lindsay Carlisle, Community Engagement Officer for Food Lifeline, $12,000 can provide approximately 48,000 meals to our hungry neighbors.

Food Lifeline is the food bank to food banks. They rescue millions of pounds of surplus food from farmers, manufacturers, grocery stores, and restaurants; then deliver this healthy and nutritious food to nearly 300 food banks, shelters, and meal programs across Western Washington. Through their own ingenuity and clever practices, a single $1 donation can provide the equivalent of four complete meals.

Please join us in continuing support to our local restaurant businesses who helped make this idea a reality. Browse through the following list of participating restaurants and stay tuned for the next edition of Dine Well – Do Good!

The Beach House
1927 43^rd AVE E, Seattle, WA 98112

Ballard Loft
5105 Ballard AVE NW, Seattle, WA 98107

Bramling Cross
5205 Ballard AVE NE, Seattle, WA 98107

Bryant Corner Café
3118 NE 65th Street, Seattle WA 98115

Cactus
4220 East Madison Seattle, WA 98112

Fiddler’s Inn
9219 35^th AVE NE, Seattle, WA 98115

Kabul Afghan Cuisine
2301 N. 45th Street, Seattle, WA 98103

Kizuki
319 NE Thornton Place, Seattle, WA. 98125

Mioposto
3426 NE 55^th Street, Seattle, WA 98105

Rock Creek
4300 Fremont Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103

Sand Point Grill
5214 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105

Serafina
2043 Eastlake AVE E, Seattle WA 98102

Sushi Kappo Tamura
2968 Eastlake AVE E, Seattle, WA 98102

Varlamos Pizzeria
3617 NE 45th St, Seattle, WA 98105

The Watershed Pub & Kitchen
10104 3^rd AVE NE, Seattle, WA 98125

Windermere Greenwood • August 22, 2017

UW & WSU Football Schedules

by Windermere Greenwood

Windermere Greenwood • August 22, 2017

Preparing Your Home for Fall

by Windermere Greenwood

Windermere Greenwood • August 17, 2017

The Gardner Report | Second Quarter 2017

by Windermere Greenwood

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The following analysis of the Western Washington real estate market is provided by Windermere Real Estate Chief Economist Matthew Gardner. We hope that this information may assist you with making better-informed real estate decisions. For further information about the housing market in your area, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

ECONOMIC OVERVIEW

The Washington State economy has been expanding at a rapid pace but we are seeing a slowdown as the state grows closer to full employment. Given the solid growth, I would expect to see income growth move markedly higher, though this has yet to materialize. I anticipate that we will see faster income growth in the second half of the year. I still believe that the state will add around 70,000 jobs in 2017.

Washington State, as well as the markets that make up Western Washington, continue to see unemployment fall. The latest state-wide report now shows a rate of 4.5%—the lowest rate since data started to be collected in 1976.

I believe that growth in the state will continue to outperform the U.S. as a whole and, with such robust expansion, I would not be surprised to see more people relocate here as they see Washington as a market that offers substantial opportunity.

HOME SALES ACTIVITY

There were 23,349 home sales during the second quarter of 2017. This is an increase of 1.1% from the same period in 2016.
Clallam County maintains its position as number one for sales growth over the past 12 months. Double-digit gains in sales were seen in just three other counties, which is a sharp drop from prior reports. I attribute this to inventory constraints rather than any tangible drop in demand. The only modest decline in sales last quarter was seen in Grays Harbor County.
The number of homes for sale, unfortunately, showed no improvement, with an average of just 9,279 listings in the quarter, a decline of 20.4% from the second quarter of 2016. Pending sales rose by 3.6% relative to the same quarter a year ago.
The key takeaway from this data is that it is unlikely we will see a significant increase in the number of homes for sale for the rest of 2017.

HOME PRICES

Along with the expanding economy, home prices continue to rise at very robust rates. Year-over-year, average prices rose 14.9%. The region’s average sales price is now $470,187.
Price growth in Western Washington continues to impress as competition for the limited number of homes for sale remains very strong. With little easing in supply, we anticipate that prices will continue to rise at above long-term averages.
When compared to the same period a year ago, price growth was most pronounced in San Juan County where sale prices were 29.2% higher than second quarter of 2016. Eight additional counties experienced double-digit price growth.
The specter of rising interest rates failed to materialize last quarter, but this actually functioned to get more would-be buyers off the fence and into the market. This led to even more demand which translated into rising home prices.

DAYS ON MARKET

The average number of days it took to sell a home in the quarter dropped by 18 days when compared to the same quarter of 2016.
King County remains the tightest market; homes, on average, sold in a remarkable 15 days. Every county in this report saw the length of time it took to sell a home drop from the same period a year ago.
Last quarter, it took an average of 48 days to sell a home. This is down from the 66 days it took in the second quarter of 2016.
Given the marked lack of inventory, I would not be surprised to see the length of time it takes to sell a home drop further before the end of the year.

CONCLUSIONS

This speedometer reflects the state of the region’s housing market using housing inventory, price gains, home sales, interest rates, and larger economic factors. For the second quarter of 2017, I moved the needle a little more in favor of sellers. To define the Western Washington market as “tight” is somewhat of an understatement. Inventory is short and buyers are plentiful. Something must give, but unless we see builders delivering substantially more units than they have been, it will remain staunchly a sellers’ market for the balance of the year. Furthermore, increasing mortgage rates have failed to materialize and, with employment and income growth on the rise, the regional housing market will continue to be very robust.

ABOUT MATTHEW GARDNER

Matthew Gardner is the Chief Economist for Windermere Real Estate, specializing in residential market analysis, commercial/industrial market analysis, financial analysis, and land use and regional economics. He is the former Principal of Gardner Economics, and has more than 30 years of professional experience both in the U.S. and U.K.

Windermere Greenwood • August 9, 2017

Art Walk at Windermere Greenwood Friday 8/11

by Windermere Greenwood

Come enjoy snacks, wine, and the work of local artist Meggi MacKenzie this Friday at Windermere Greenwood

Friday, August 11, 6-9pm
at Windermere Greenwood
311 N 85th St, Seattle WA 98103

Please join us in celebrating local artist Meggi MacKenzie this upcoming Friday from 6-9pm at Windermere Greenwood, as part of the ArtUp PhinneyWood Art Walk. We’ll be serving wine and snacks at this fun summer soirée, so please feel free to share this invitation with your friends. Take in the beautiful work of our artist and maybe take something home with you!

Meggi MacKenzie, Plein Aire Artist | I recently returned to Seattle from Santa Barbara, CA as I was born & raised here and 3 of my 4 daughters & 5 grandchildren live here. My art experience began in my early formative years: I would lay on the living room floor in front of the picture window of my neighbor, coloring in my Betty Grable crayon book. I attended McGilvra Grade School, Meany Junior High and Garfield, where I continued to paint, graduating in 1957 and continuing my interest in art and architecture at UW for 2 years. I then worked as Secretary to the off-line Japan Air Lines District Manager before marriage. My 1st house was in Sand Point Country Club, where my 4 daughters grew up. I moved to Santa Barbara in 1985 with Michon and Jennifer and took advantage of free art lessons by accomplished local artists. I joined a pleine aire art group, S-C-A-P-E, Southern California Artists Painting for the Environment. I was Paint-Out Chair, organizing monthly paint outs in the local areas of Santa Barbara County 11 months of the year. Then I was invited to join the Board of Directors and voted President for 4 terms of 2 years. I continued on the Board until a few years ago. I am now interested in painting with local artists in the environment.
Contact: meggimac@gmail.com or (805) 284-2730

Windermere Greenwood • July 28, 2017

Blue Angels Practice & Show Schedule

by Windermere Greenwood

Windermere Greenwood • July 21, 2017

Windermere Summer Splash at Green Lake

by Windermere Greenwood

Join us on Saturday, August 19 from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Southwest corner of Green Lake in Seattle, for this FREE community event celebrating summer fun and healthy activities for families.
The day is jam packed with fun, including a family fun fair with exciting vendors, a mini rowing regatta featuring local corporate teams, and an opportunity to try water sports including canoing, kayaking, rowing and paddle boarding. Bring your kids, grandkids, and dogs on down to the lake for some fun in the sun!

Windermere Greenwood • July 21, 2017

Vacation Home Security Checklist

by Windermere Greenwood

Windermere Greenwood • July 18, 2017

Seattle Seahawks 2017 Schedule

by Windermere Greenwood

Windermere Greenwood • July 17, 2017

Windermere Foundation Report – Q2 2017

by Windermere Greenwood

Dear Friends of the Windermere Foundation,Thanks to all of you, the Windermere Foundation collected over $903,500 in donations through the second quarter of 2017. This is an increase of 10 percent compared to this time last year! Individual contributions and fundraisers accounted for 62 percent of the donations, while 38 percent came from donations through Windermere agent commissions. So far, we have raised a total of $34,009,527 in donations since 1989.

Each Windermere office has its own Windermere Foundation fund account that they use to make donations to organizations in their communities. Year to date, a total of $979,486 has been disbursed to non-profit organizations dedicated to providing services to low-income and homeless families throughout the Western U.S.

One organization that has been the recipient of Windermere Foundation funds is the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) National Scholarship Fund. LULAC has considered education its number one priority since it was established in 1929. The scholarship fund was established in 1975 to provide scholarships to help Hispanic youth in underserved communities make the dream of college enrollment a reality. Former recipients of LNSF scholarships are now leaders in fields of business, science, government, and education. A rigorous selection process assures the expectation that future recipients will demonstrate the same level of excellence.

Last year, the Windermere office in Salinas, CA supported LULAC’s scholarship fund with a $1,000 donation, and will be making this donation annually. Christopher Barrera, Realtor and President of LULAC Salinas Council #2055, says “I am proud to be associated with such a great organization like Windermere Valley Properties in Salinas, and it’ll be an honor to present a check to LULAC on behalf of Windermere and the Windermere Foundation.” Each year, the LULAC Salinas Council holds a Black & White Ball to raise money for the scholarship fund. Monies raised are matched by LULAC national. There were 14 scholarships awarded in 2016. Thanks to the $15,000 raised through their event, matching funds from LULAC national, and a donation from the Windermere Foundation, they will be awarding 39 scholarships at a presentation ceremony on July 29 in Old Town Salinas.

Generous donations to the Windermere Foundation over the years have enabled Windermere offices to continue to support local non-profits like LULAC. If you’d like to help support programs for low-income and homeless families in your community, please click on the Donate button.