Published November 2005

Real Estate Briefs

Monroe apartment complex
sells for nearly $20 million
A California-based real estate investment trust has purchased the 222-unit Morning Run Apartments complex in Monroe for just under $20 million.

The complex on Blueberry Lane includes 20 buildings on 11 acres, with 162 two-bedroom units, 48 three-bedroom apartments and 12 one-bedroom units.

The reported sales price of $19.75 million paid by Essex Property Trust Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif., equals just under $89,000 per unit.

The seller was Seattle’s Crown Capital Corp., according to county records. Gregory Laycock, a senior director at Cushman & Wakefield’s Seattle office, was the listing agent for the transaction.

Housing market continues strong
Despite a shortage of listings, homes in Snohomish County continue to sell quickly at near-record prices, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported.

For September, the combined median price of homes in Snohomish County was $299,000, up more than 20 percent from last year, or nearly $60,000. The figure includes the prices for both condominiums and single-family homes. Median means half sold for more and half sold for less.

Prices for single-family homes alone, which broke the $300,000 level in August and rose to $311,000, slipped a bit to $310,000 in September.

In all areas of the county, prices were 20 percent higher than 12 months ago.

Listings, however were down 18.8 percent from a year ago, with 3,164 houses on the market in September. Pending sales were up 8.2 percent, at 1,362, and closed sales were up 18 percent, at 1,392.

County’s office, industrial
vacancy rates below 20 percent
Colliers International and CB Richard Ellis reported separately in October that between 15 percent and 17.6 percent of Snohomish County’s office space was empty during the third quarter.

The reports came out after Cushman & Wakefield reported the office vacancy rate at 17 percent. Colliers and CB Richard Ellis also reported that 18 to 19 percent of the county’s industrial space was vacant.

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