Brooksview Northwest | Real Estate in Bellevue, WA.

Things to Know Before Moving to Kirkland, WA

AgentImage

Nestled on the shores of Lake Washington, Kirkland is a suburb located east of Seattle that is known for its waterfront parks, among many other things. In fact, no other area in the whole region of Puget Sound boasts of as many waterfront parks and beaches as this charming city. It was once home to the Seattle Seahawks, and also used to house the corporate headquarters of Costco; the multinational retailer’s Kirkland Signature brand pays homage to the city.


Table Of Contents

The area around Lake Washington was first settled by native Americans, then in the latter part of the 1860s, English settlers arrived. In 1886, British-born steel tycoon Peter Kirk moved to Washington after hearing of news of iron deposits found in the Cascade Range. He thought that if a town was built near the water, it could serve as a freshwater port to the sea while also supporting any prospective mill.

In 1888, his venture Kirkland Land and Development Company bought acres of land in what would later become downtown Kirkland, and the company set about constructing a new steel mill. However, several issues arose and Kirk never saw his dream of turning Kirkland into the “Pittsburgh of the West” come into fruition. Still, Kirkland gave Washington its first ever wool mill in 1892, and in 1905, it was incorporated as a city.

Since that incorporation, Kirkland has grown nearly twelve times in terms of geographic boundaries, and almost doubled in size in the 1940s and in the 1960s. Through several annexations of neighboring towns, Kirkland grew in population and size, and today, it is home to more than 93,000 people, according to its 2019 census.

Kirkland is bordered to the west by Lake Washington, to the north by Kenmore and neighboring areas, to the east by Redmond, and to the south by Bellevue. Kirkland is accessible via Interstate 405.

What to Know Before Moving to Kirkland, WA

Interested in moving to Kirkland? In this section, you can arm yourself with all the important information that you need as you search for homes and brush up on the real estate market conditions in the area to make the best possible deal.

The Washington Housing Market

The coronavirus pandemic leveled nearly every vertical in the United States and all over the world, but real estate is not one of them. The market in Washington, in particular, continues to be hot as homes sold as quickly as possible at the asking price for almost every case.

In fact, according to Bankrate’s Housing Heat Index, Washington ranked 7th on its list, which measures key data points, such as home appreciation rates, job growth, and taxes. The state saw “a lot of full cash offers, multiple offers over listing price, extremely short supply of listings and buyers making risky concessions in their offers”, according to a spokesperson for Washington Realtors.

Across the state, home values rose by 13.7%; whereas a typical home would sell for $417,000 in January 2020, its price in January 2021 rose to $470,000. This increase also did little to dissuade people from moving into the state, according to agents, as Washington saw a growth of almost 80,000 residents between the middle of 2019 and the middle of 2020. Redfin also reports that, as of March, home prices rose by 19%, but the number of homes that got sold also increased by 16.6%.

Kirkland’s real estate market is also not lagging behind. NeighborhoodScout.com says that it is among the top 10 cities in Washington state that saw the highest appreciation rates since 2000. Real estate in the city appreciated by more than 107% over the last ten years, with an annual average appreciation rate of almost 8%. This lands Kirkland among the top 10% in the whole country in terms of real estate appreciation.

Kirkland has a median home price of $763,546, according to NeighborhoodScout.com, and Redfin reports median sale price in the city at $975,000. This is a 6% increase compared to last year, as of March 2021, and homes in the area usually sell in as short as 6 days. Ten of the highest appreciating neighborhoods in the city are as follows:

When it comes to types of home, single-family detached homes are the most common housing type in Kirkland, as they account for more than 55% of the housing units in the city. They are followed closely by large apartment complexes and high-rise apartments at 32.78%, duplexes, small apartment buildings, row houses, and attached homes. Properties in the city are also primarily three or four-bedroom dwellings, and more people (62.50%) own their homes rather than rent them.

As far as architectural styles are concerned, Kirkland homes predominantly have that “Brady Bunch” look that was all the rage from the 1970s to the 1980s, as most of the housing in the area was built between this time period. Some homes, however, are more modern, built in 2000 and even later, which are pegged to comprise about 17% of the properties in the area.

If you are raring to move in soon, you would be happy to know that its active inventory of listings continues to increase from month to month. One catch, though: homes in the area sell fast! In fact, according to Redfin, Kirkland scores 89 out of 100 in its competitiveness scale, as many listed homes typically get multiple offers, even some with waived contingencies. They can also sell for more than 10% of their listed price, and on average, homes sell 5% more than their asking price.

There are multiple reasons for this interest in Kirkland. First off, the real estate market conditions in the area are comparable to those of its neighbor Seattle, which has one of the hottest markets in the entire state. This makes it appealing to real estate investors, as future projections remain to be positive well into the next year.

Additionally, Kirkland is considered by many to be one of the best places to live in. Livability.com ranks it among the top ten best places for three categories: best for techies, best for STEM workers, and best for recent college graduates. In the next section, we’ll get into more reasons to move to Kirkland.

Reasons to Move to Kirkland, WA

Kirkland is a medium-sized city with a population that predominantly works in white-collar jobs, at a whopping rate of 90.03%, which is beyond the national average. More people that live in Kirkland work in computers and math than 95% of the other places in the United States. Similarly, more than 60% of its adult population has a college or advanced degree; the national average across all areas in the country is only 21.84%.

Per capita income in the city, according to data from 2018, was $63,135, wealthy relative to the entire state and even the country. Many of its residents are young and single, educated, and upwardly-mobile in their careers. Some neighborhoods with the highest income growth over the last 5 years are:

English is the most common spoken language, with a few spatterings of Spanish and Chinese. Those who call it home enjoy the following and more.

Buying a Home in Kirkland, WA

If you’re looking for a home in Kirkland, there is no better time to buy than now, as mortgage rates are at an historic low of 2.97%. Freddie Mac projects that rates will average 3% throughout the year, so anyone who wants to make a sound real estate investment in Kirkland, WA should do it today!

However, expect competition to be tight as inventory levels continue to be steep. In fact, as of March 2021, Kirkland has only about a month’s worth of inventory for home listings, which means that homes sell as fast as possible and interested home owners must be quick in snatching up a property. To make your home shopping successful, consider these tips.

Start sorting through listings for Kirkland today!

You can choose among a great selection of listings that you can sort according to price, status, listing date, type, and more.

Brooksview Northwest also has properties for sale in other areas in the state such as Bellevue, Seattle, Tacoma, and Puyallup. Visit our property search page to start your quest!