The Seattle Times this weekend had a big article on luxury real estate, The new luxury in Real Estate and takes a look at the definition of luxury condos:
How does an “all-luxury” building differ from a regular condominium project? For starters, there’s price: Most luxury condos cost $1,200 a square foot or more.
As well as the perks:
- Tall ceilings
- Programmable home entertainment
- Programmable (Lutron) blinds
- Outdoor space: 15-20% of the square footage of the unit
- Concierge services
- Valet parking
- Food delivery from hotel restaurant
- Multi-floor
- Views
- Indoor gyms, spas, golf ranges
- Dry cleaner
- 100 square foot closets (about the size of a Moda condo)
- Latest construction styles: Steel, glass, concrete
- Dog park
Curious how many of these luxury condos were on the market I pulled up this list using Redfin. Here they are sorted by $/SqFt.
- $1,981 - 1521 2nd Ave #36 - $9,990,000 - 5,004 sq ft - 104 days
- $1,765 - 2000 1st Ave #2700 - $9,950,000 - 5,636 sq ft - 232 days
- $1,518 - 2033 2nd Ave #PH 2 - $4,695,000 - 3,092 sq ft - 0 days
- $1,492 - 1000 1st Ave #2301 - $2,595,000 - 1,739 sq ft - 146 days
- $1,351 - 1000 1st Ave #2101 - $2,350,000 - 1,739 sq ft - 61 days
- $1,315 - 1000 1st Ave #20-21 - $4,575,000 - 3,478 sq ft - 42 days
- $1,279 - 1000 1st Ave #2001 - $2,225,000 - 1,739 sq ft - 70 days
- $1,275 - 1200 Alki Ave SW #200 - $5,100,000 - 4,000 sq ft - 442 days
- $1,250 - 1000 1st Ave #1701 - $2,175,000 - 1,739 sq ft - 47 days
- $1,200 - 1200 Alki Ave SW #400 - $4,800,000 - 4,000 sq ft - 140 days
Notice how long some of those have been on the market and there certainly are a surprising number of units at the ’sold out’ Hotel 1000 / Madison Tower. I’d hate to be one of those flippers!
…This makes sense given the Seattle Time’s stats of condo sales over $3 million in King County:
- 2003: 0
- 2004: 3
- 2005: 5
- 2006: 7
Popularity: 33% [?]
5 responses so far ↓
1 Ethan John // Dec 5, 2006 at 9:58 am
Makes you wonder what will happen when Second and Pine, 5th and Madison, and the Escala open up…
2 Josh // Dec 6, 2006 at 4:02 pm
Hi Matt,
Wondering if you’ve heard anything about Expo 62 on 2nd and John? Apparently, its a super retro project, moped parking and stuff like that.
3 Matt // Dec 6, 2006 at 4:42 pm
I haven’t. Do you have any more info?
4 Ron // Feb 10, 2007 at 8:13 am
The buyers at Madison Tower are pretty price and time insensitive. They are also making substantial returns on their investments and have deep enough pockets to wait for the right buyer.
5 EconE // Feb 10, 2007 at 5:48 pm
I’ll have to disagree with you Ron.
The buyers at the Madison Tower most likely also know that the carrying costs of their units will slowly eat into their expected profits.
Every unit that has been listed for rent in the last 6 months are still vacant.
Unit 2101 dropped from 12,000/mo to 10,000/month today. Lets see how quickly it rents.
Unit 1701 is still currently being offered at 10,000/mo…however…I feel that todays price drop for 2101 will force 1701 to cut their price in order to remain competitive.
Unit 1702 came on the market recently both for sale and rent. the Rent dropped from $6500 to $6250 I believe.
People with “deep enough pockets” 1. Don’t rent their places out for less than carrying costs if they EVEN RENTED IT OUT IN THE FIRST PLACE. 2. Understand the concept of “opportunity cost”.
Also…making a statement that they are making substantial returns on their investments is absurd. They refers to a collective. I’m sure that a couple may realize a return when they sell…but…in order to make a “substantial return”…they either have to 1. SELL the place…no return has been made until it is sold and a profit is realized…up until that point all you are doing is speculating. or 2. Rent it for a “substantial” amount over their carrying costs.
If you are referring to their “other” investments and not just their “investment” in the Madison Tower condos…I would have to pose the question…
Did ALL those owners show you their investment portfolio?
Nice try anyways…you wouldn’t happen to work in some sort of real estate related industry would you?
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