Last weekend, Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty hosted “Passport to Luxury,” a showcase of new construction residences, in collaboration with JayMarc Homes and The Sessom Group.
The progressive open house exhibited new luxury homes on the Eastside and allowed open house tourists to explore each offering with a personal open house “passport” which they could get stamped at each home. Fully completed passports were entered for a prize drawing this month an all-expenses-paid trip to Danzante Bay in Loreto, Mexico. As an additional bonus, homebuyers were offered the aforementioned trip plus a $25,000 buyer bonus.
With more than 100 groups touring the homes last weekend, we have decided to run the Passport to Luxury again July 27-28 from noon to 4 p.m. Prospective buyers and brokers are encouraged to stop by The Delhi Estate at 8520 NE 25th Street in Clyde Hill to pick up a “passport” and commence the tour.
In June, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) reported median home prices in King County dropped 2.3 percent to $695,000 compared to June 2018. While median prices were retracting in many markets, Mercer Island saw median prices jump 15 percent in June year-over-year to $1.9 million. In nearby West Bellevue, the median price in June climbed 16 percent year-over-year to $2.9 million, according to NWMLS. Both neighborhoods experienced overall price-per-square-foot value growth of 11 percent to an average of $831 per square foot for homes valued above $2 million for the first half of 2019 compared to the first half of 2018.
So, what makes West Bellevue and Mercer Island exceptional in contrast to the rest of the greater Seattle metro area? A smart investment in the future could be the answer, and there are at least two “investments in the future” for which these neighborhoods are already well known.
First, the area consists of highly favored school districts. Newcomers or city natives planning a family often turn to the Eastside’s gold-standard districts for a competitive education for their children.
Secondly, a tech boom is reshaping downtown Bellevue and the greater Eastside as Amazon, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and others are establishing significant urban campuses, which promises tens of thousands of new jobs and subsequent housing demand.
JayMarc has been taking the lead since 2010 as one of the area’s most prolific builders of single-family homes and celebrated its 100th home sold last year. The homes that JayMarc is now presenting are significant in that these properties were in development ahead of a recent down-zoning for Mercer Island and may stand 15–20 percent larger than those behind the curve.
“We’re thrilled to showcase this premier collection of homes at the height of the summer sales season,” says Marc Rousso, President of JayMarc Homes. “At a time of rising consumer confidence and lowering interest rates, we’ve delivered 11 contracts for new homes in March alone, and now we get to share what’s next in the midst of this excitement in the market.”
Rousso says the new home collection presents real value in an appreciated marketplace.
“If we were to break ground today, we’d have to price the homes 10–15 percent higher just to cover the increases in land and construction costs,” he says. “Our Passport to Luxury home tour is a timely opportunity for prospective buyers and valued brokers to experience a broad range of home plans and locations, including several opportunities for presales.”