Real Estate Briefs – February 2008

Published 9:28 pm Thursday, March 20, 2008

New committee to help tackle county housing issues

In January, Snohomish County began an initiative geared toward ending homelessness and increasing affordable housing by convening the first meeting of the Housing &Homelessness Policy Oversight Committee.

Present at the Jan. 11 committee meeting were nearly 40 members of the community. Represented were leaders from local and state government, the housing and real-estate industry, educators, nonprofit executives, business leaders and members of the faith community.

“The work you do today will be implemented into county policies and ordinances,” County Executive Aaron Reardon told the group. “This won’t be another committee without an outcome. We will get the job done.”

The committee will be asked to make suggestions on how best to establish benchmarks for forthcoming homeless and housing initiatives as well as guide long-term strategies.

The committee is expected to meet at least three more times before the Housing Consortium of Everett and Snohomish County — a nonprofit membership organization searching for solutions to the county’s housing challenges — completes its forthcoming Affordable Housing Action Plan.

The consortium is partly targeting housing issues facing seniors, the homeless and persons with disabilities.

Home sales down; condo prices up

Home sales in Snohomish County dropped again in December in comparison to year-ago figures. But condominium prices rose as the cost of single-family homes fell, according to numbers released by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

The combined median price for condos and single-family houses in December was $339,675, a 0.63 percent drop from a year ago, when the median was $341,831. Median means half the homes sold for more and half sold for less.

While house prices dipped, condominium prices posted a solid increase of 6.1 percent, up from $217,225 in December 2006 to $230,475 this past December. While condo prices rose, the number sold dropped 37 percent, from 178 in December 2006 to 112 this past December.

December is typically a poor month for real estate sales, but the numbers show conditions were stronger a year ago than they are today.

Real estate analysts say concerns about the national real estate market and tighter credit standards have slowed sales in the Seattle area, even though job and population growth here has shielded the housing market from the more serious problems happening around the country.

Many agents say they expect sales and attitudes to improve in the spring.

J. Lennox Scott, CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate, said market conditions are good.

“Interest rates are down, sellers have adjusted their prices, apartments are full, job growth is strong and there is a pent-up demand of buyers coming into the market,” he said.

Funding helps county fight homelessness

Nine Snohomish County nonprofits serving the homeless recently were awarded a combined $4 million in federal funding.

The grants are part of $36.7 million recently issued by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to 185 homeless programs in Washington state.

Each of the organizations is supported in part by Snohomish County and helps the county further its mission to end homelessness. Among those receiving funds is the YWCA of Seattle-King County-Snohomish County with more than $2.5 million.

Also receiving funding is the Salvation Army ($175,000), Housing Hope ($356,000), Cocoon House ($164,000), Volunteers of America Western Washington (74,000), Compass Health ($312,000), Archdiocesan Housing Authority ($162,000), Catholic Community Services ($106,000) and the Snohomish County Center for Battered Women ($109,000).

Each agency is a partner in the county’s 10-year “Everyone at Home Now” plan to end homelessness, started in 2006. One of the ways it accomplishes this goal is through the annual Point in Time count, which measures homelessness in Snohomish County. The most recent count was held Jan. 24.

Everett apartment complex

part of $57.5 million acquisition

Seattle-based Security Properties Inc. recently acquired the MuniMae portfolio located in the greater Puget Sound area for $57.5 million.

The portfolio consists of three garden-style apartment complexes located in densely populated submarkets of Seattle: Mallard Cove is a 198-unit complex located in Everett; the 125-unit Gilman Meadows complex is located in Issaquah; and the 241-unit Mountain View complex is located in Fife.

SPI acquired Mallard Cove and Gilman Meadows in a partnership with Capmark Finance, represented by Jason Krupoff, and Mountain View in a partnership with Equity Resources Investments LLC.

The assets are well located in their respective markets near major employers, which include Microsoft, Boeing, Costco, Naval Base Everett, Fort Lewis Army Base and the Port of Tacoma, SPI said.

The company plans exterior painting, upgraded landscaping and clubhouse remodels on all three properties. Also, the interiors will be modernized to appeal to today’s renters, and washer/dryers will be added to some units, SPI said.

The SPI group of related real estate companies has both management and ownership responsibilities for approximately $1.5 billion in assets.