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Ballard zip code is a hot housing market

Posted by Geeky Swedes on September 15th, 2008

There’s no denying that the Seattle real estate market has slowed down along with the rest of the country. When the August monthly multiple listings report came out last week, the Seattle Times concluded that home prices in King County are now equal to April 2006 prices.

But Ballard seems to be a hot spot — in fact, one of the hottest in the country. According to Business Week, the 98117 zip code is the 8th fast-selling zip in the nation. (98117 spans 65th Ave NW to 100th Ave NW and 1st Ave NW to the water.) The average time on the market is 86 days, which is 34 percent longer than last year, but the median price has only dropped 0.9 percent to $525,000. If you’re curious, the fastest-selling zip is pricey Sunnyvale, CA where homes sit on the market just 66 days.

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  • GB
    Good to hear!
  • boardbrown
    86 days seems like a long time to me.
  • G Dub
    board - Keep in mind the run down houses that are overpriced and sit on the market for 400 days. They skew the averages.
  • rowbot
    Interesting but does not explain why two houses on my street (totally clean and fixed up) could not sell this summer and are now hoping to find renters instead of buyers. And one was listed for less than it sold for a year ago.
  • jm
    Leif Ericson says YA!
  • rowbot,
    I know two separate people looking for houses to rent in Ballard...can you share what street?
  • thalia
    Ballard is not a hot spot. 86 days is to sell is just plain miserable for a housing market. Has it been so long ago that Ballardians have forgotten what a hot market really looks like? Being #8 in this tremendously frigid national real estate market is cold comfort for anyone who has just watched 30 months of their equity disappear.
  • Most of what is available in 98117 is miserable.
    Either way over-priced, itty bitty teensy weensy, a total piece of crap, in a shitty location, or a cheap crappy townhouse or condo (as opposed to a nicer, well constructed one) overlooking a busy, dirty street.

    I know because I live in this zip and just bought a house in it. I looked for 7.5 months before I found something I liked, and snatched it up after it had been on the market for about 3 days.

    I've been continuing to watch ever since, as getting a loan these days is a terrifying process and I was sure I was going to have to start looking again if the sellers decided to stop being patient, and in the 2 months that have passed while everything was being processed, nothing better has come on the market.

    It is extremely difficult to get a home loan right now, so 86 days isn't that bad. Has it been so long that Ballard has forgotten what a normal market looks like? I'm glad I didn't have to get into a fist fight with other bidders to get a house!
  • Ballardog
    Financial crisis will pull the rug out from under the housing market in Ballard which has been overbuilt. Contrary to popular belief, we are not immune to a weak economy and a banking collapse. So if you want an affordable condo in the area you just need a little patience.
  • boardbrown
    Bella, I guess that explains why you bought a house in Olympic Manor.
  • I don't own the house in Olympic Manor. I rent it. No way could I afford a house in here! The one I live in would probably be the least expensive, and it's still way outta my price range!
    Still living in OM, but new house closes this Friday or next : )
  • boardbrown
    Cool, well welcome to the world of over-priced, itty bitty teensy weensy pieces of crap. They're not so bad once you clean 'em up a bit.

    On the topic of Oly Manor, my wife and I walk through there from time to time and are always struck by how few people we see about. No one working on their yard, playing with the kids, nothing. It's like a friggin' ghost town up there.
  • m
    We went through Oly Manner for their annual yard sale and I overheard someone say "it feels really Republican around here" LOL
  • Ha, I already got my warm welcome : )
    Happily though, I don't think the house we bought is teensy weensy - over 1500 sf. Much better than the generous average of everything else I saw of around 900sf! And while it is not "pre-fixed-up" it is nowhere near as crappy as some of the others we saw. I came away from house searching with some amazing stories. Our house is totally liveable as-is, unlike almost everything else we looked at that was "reasonably" priced.
    And yeah, sometimes OM seems a little ghost-ish, but I think it is because a ton of the houses in here have nice view backyards. My landlords at the end of the street have such an amazing backyard, I would never leave it if it were mine!
    But come by during the day on a weekday in the summer - you will see all kinds of little old people on their hands and knees weeding! And our cul-de-sac is full of kids playing all the time : )
  • milo dakkat
    Where the heck is Olympic Manor? ...And do they have sushi there?
  • boardbrown
    Oly Manor is bounded by 85th and 96th in the n/s direction, and 24th and 20th(?) in the e/w direction. It's a development of mid-century ranch houses that is still fairly well preserved from it's original design. No commercial properties at all. Think Edward Scissorhands, but without the animal shrub sculptures.
  • And unfortunately, there is no sushi in Olympic Manor, unless you make it yourself.
  • milo dakkat
    Well luckily one is never more than a mile from raw fish in Ballard.
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