Welcome to our Leaders in Luxury blog – a showcase of the top experts in luxury real estate and home design in some of the most exclusive luxury markets around the world. The contributors are an elite group of the best of the best and are members of Luxury Portfolio Fine Property Collection® - a collection of the top independent luxury real estate brokerages worldwide, including North and South America, Europe, Australia and islands of the Caribbean, Mediterranean and Pacific. Read on to hear what the experts are saying about the latest happenings in their respective markets and areas of expertise.


State of the Union: Luxury Market Recovery?

The luxury market in the Northwest is showing signs of recovery. In the last six months of 2009 there were 21 sales above $3 million. And, more importantly, 48% of those sales happened in the 4th quarter. We hope having these sales in the 4th quarter show positive signs for 2010 and that we are heading towards recovery. There seems to be a real energy in the luxury marketplace on behalf of buyers that we did not see at all in the first two quarters of 2009.

In looking at 21 sales that closed in the last 6 months, all of them sold within 15% of the listed price. Remarkably there were two sales above $10 million in the Seattle area. One property in the Laurelhurst neighborhood sold for $11,500,000 and the other in the Washington Park neighborhood sold at $10,600,000. Both of these properties were large estate homes on the Seattle waterfront.

In the Bellevue and Kirkland communities on the Eastside, there were several sales of note: a Clyde Hill estate closing at $5,399,000 and 3 pending sales that will close in the coming weeks: a Kirkland home at $4,575,000, and two Bridle Trails homes: one at $3,750,000 and one at $3,478,000.

We are very excited to see these sales occur and hope this is a sign of things to come for a more healthy market in 2010.

Posted by:Tere Foster