It is the end of 2010 and time to review sales in the local area and the outlook for the future. Large commercial firms with in-house analytics teams, such as Cushman & Wakefield and Grubb-Ellis, do not generally report on real estate activity outside of the Seattle/Bellevue markets. However, data from those markets can be used to make inferences about the health of more suburban markets, including East King County and Snohomish County. Third quarter reports indicate that market will remain soft in the short term, but is about to turn around. Absorbtion rates for office and industrial properties are negative, but the rate at which space is coming on the market has slowed and general interest in leasing new spaces has increased. With the overall lack of new development, absorbtion rates are likely to turn around in the next year… though the market is unlikely to improve quickly.
The sales market is slowly improving, or rather the negative trend has slowed down. Lower prices have brought out investors looking to pick up solid investments. One area to be cautious about is lending. 2010 and 2011 are the years when a large number of commercial loans will come due. Activity in the BPO market, price opinions often ordered by lenders to verify the value of properties when they are distressed or in danger of becoming distressed, has picked up in recent weeks. This suggests that a greater number of distressed properties will be on the market soon.
In the mean time, here are the statistics for last year. Numbers are based on sales reported to, or researched by, the Commercial Brokers Association.
Snohomish County Sales Summary
From January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010, sales statistics by category are:
|
Property Type |
Number of Sales |
Low Sale Price |
High Sale Price |
Average Price per Square Foot |
|
Industrial/Flex |
12 |
$625,000 |
$7,300,000 |
$97.88 |
|
Office/Mix Use |
30 |
$255,000 |
$3,296,000 |
$212.79 |
|
Retail |
43 |
$310,000 |
$16,150,000 |
$196.59 |
|
Land |
21 |
$310,000 |
$6,596,691 |
$189,864.68 (per acre) |
The following chart illustrates the number of sales in Snohomish County by month. As you can see, closings peeked in June, with close to double the sales of any other month. In fact, in 6 months of the year, there were only 5 sales closed.
King County Sales Summary
From January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010, sales statistics by category are:
|
Property Type |
Number of Sales |
Low Sale Price |
High Sale Price |
Average Price per Square Foot |
|
Industrial/Flex |
82 |
$350,000 |
$46,000,000 |
$99.26 |
|
Office/Mix Use |
112 |
$250,000 |
$15,520,000 |
$265.53 |
|
Retail |
101 |
$255,000 |
$15,520,000 |
$156.07 |
|
Land |
47 |
$100,000 |
$93,000,000 |
$970,082 (per acre) |
The following chart illustrates the number of sales in King County by month. As with Snohomish County, closings peeked in June. However, in general, sales were more evenly spread throughout the rest of the year.
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