By Natasha Chen, KIRO TV News
November 20, 2015, WOODINVILLE, Wash. —
The number of homes sold in October 2015 increased by 69 percent in Woodinville, compared to one year ago, which makes the highest increase in the Puget Sound region.
The data, provided by Redfin, also shows Everett, Mukilteo, Mill Creek and Kenmore seeing increases of at least 20 percent.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, half as many houses were sold in Tukwila compared to one year ago. Other cities seeing a decrease of at least 20 percent in home sales include Snohomish, Mountlake Terrace, Tacoma and Enumclaw.
Greg Willis, a John L. Scott real estate agent, said he recently helped a family sell their Woodinville home, only to help them buy another house a few blocks away.
“Woodinville’s really great because of what it offers in terms of a community, schools, and the ruralness, but not too far away from the hustle and bustle of the east side,” Willis said.
The median home price in Woodinville in October was $441,500, down 3 percent from the previous October. That price hovers around the median home price in King County.
Willis said, “You get a lot for your money, compared to the same price in a different area.”
That’s because many Woodinville properties sit on larger plots of land.
Sandra Westerlund just bought a house in Woodinville, a fixer-upper on 1.5 acres.
Westerlund said she and her husband wanted a house halfway between her job in Bellevue and his job in Everett. They chose Woodinville, not just because of the location, but also because her husband likes to make wine.
The community also has activities: “park events, and wine events, and family functions that we like to attend,” Westerlund said.
She said she didn’t realize many other people had the same idea. She was surprised at the competition over homes in the area.
“We’d make an offer, and there’d be five other offers on the same home,” she said.
This October, there were nearly half the number of homes for sale in Woodinville that there were one year ago. Yet there were more homes sold.
One neighborhood even saw each family on the block receive the same letter from a Los Angeles man, telling them he loved the area, wanted to move there, but didn’t see anything for sale. His letter asked families to call him if they would consider selling.
Watch the segment by clicking on the photo above or click here to visit the kirotv.com link.
