Good morning. Five minutes on what moved in Bellevue this week, one item for your own neighborhood, the market in three numbers, and one practical thing for the house.
Bellevue this week
Your water, sewer and storm bill would rise 8.5% next year and 8.6% in 2028. Those are the rates the city's Environmental Services Commission recommended, and staff presented them at Tuesday's budget session. In both years water rises 6.7%, sewer 10.1% and storm 6.0%, driven by wholesale water and sewage-treatment costs and aging pipes. Bill assistance would widen to households at or below 80% of area median income, worth up to $900 a year. Public hearing October 27; adoption November 17. Source
The transportation tax district moves onto council's own agenda, with no tax attached yet. Council voted 6–1 on October 6 to take over the Transportation Benefit District directly, and the ordinance was on Tuesday's consent calendar. It imposes no tax or fee. The 0.1% sales tax and the $20 car-tab fee remain separate votes. Source
A county sales tax starts in January. The question is whether Bellevue keeps its share. King County passed a 0.01% tax for children and family services on October 6, one cent on $100. A city that adopts the same tax collects what is spent inside its limits instead, and the two do not stack. Bellevue's version, on Tuesday's agenda, would keep about $1 million a year here. Source
One Planning Commission seat is open. It is a four-year volunteer term for a Bellevue resident, with meetings on the second and fourth Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. Apply by 5 p.m. Friday, October 23. Source
The parks plan is being rewritten. The Parks and Open Space System Plan guides land purchases, trails and future park levies. Surveys and focus groups run through December, public workshops from January to May, and adoption is expected by the end of 2027. Source
Your neighborhood
Bridle Trails. Bridle Trails now has a date for its neighborhood plan rewrite: council has scheduled it for 2028–2029, after Lake Hills and West Lake Sammamish (now under way) and Woodridge and West Bellevue (2027–2028). Source
Sold near you: 6 homes closed within a mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $2.18M (range $1.50M to $5.80M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 57 days.
BelRed. The deal for Sound Transit's parking garage at the 130th light rail station, and the housing and shops planned around it, is expected to reach council in the first quarter of 2027, according to the city's economic development update. Source
Sold near you: 8 homes closed within a mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.12M (range $490K to $1.90M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 42 days.
Cougar Mountain/Lakemont. The city's Arbor Day planting is at Lewis Creek Park, 5808 Lakemont Boulevard SE, this Saturday, October 17, 9 to 11 a.m. Volunteers plant Sitka spruce, western red cedar and Douglas fir and pull invasive plants. Register on the city's environmental stewardship page. Source
Sold near you: 9 homes closed within a mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $2.25M (range $825K to $3.08M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 31 days.
Crossroads. Bellevue Youth Theatre, which is based at Crossroads Park, served 936 participants last year and sold nearly 6,000 tickets, staff told council on October 6. Source
Sold near you: 17 homes closed within a mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $955K (range $250K to $2.75M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 25 days.
Downtown. The city has opened comment on Downtown Livability 2.0, the first broad rewrite of the Downtown land use code since 2017. It covers Main Street in Old Bellevue, affordable housing and commercial space, and the Grand Connection. A full strike draft is posted, and comments are taken until council adopts it: file 26-120379-AD, planner Arvind Gopalakrishnan, [email protected]. Source
Sold near you: 27 homes closed within a mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.36M (range $410K to $5.60M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 3 days.
Eastgate. A new trail and trailhead will connect Eastgate Park to SE 42nd Street. It is one of the projects residents voted onto the Eastgate–Factoria enhancement budget, it includes a youth job-training component, and it is now expected in summer 2027. Source
Sold near you: 19 homes closed within a mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.16M (range $600K to $3.25M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 14 days.
Factoria. Sunset Ravine Trail, at 13400 SE 40th Street, is getting new surfacing, fencing, benches, signs and wayfinding posts, expected in early 2027. The city notes the work is affected by nearby state highway construction. Source
Sold near you: 18 homes closed within a mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.07M (range $245K to $2.80M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 19 days.
Lake Hills. The Lake Hills neighborhood plan went to the Planning Commission for its first briefing Wednesday. Next, city planners and economic development staff walk Lake Hills' commercial areas in late October, asking business owners what would make them busier. A report on what residents have said so far is due in December. Source
Sold near you: 22 homes closed within a mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.07M (range $474K to $2.87M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 19 days.
Newport. Crews are pulling blackberry, ivy and invasive weeds out of the forested parts of the Newport Hills Property, 11450 SE 60th Street, and replanting native trees and shrubs. Residents voted the project onto the neighborhood's $282,000 budget; it is expected to finish in December 2027. Source
Sold near you: 15 homes closed within a mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.30M (range $325K to $2.19M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 19 days.
Northeast Bellevue. Tam O'Shanter Park, at 1655 173rd Avenue NE, has 1.5 miles of trail through 15 acres of Douglas fir and bigleaf maple, and its trails link north to Redmond's Viewpoint Park. Source
Sold near you: 16 homes closed within a mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $950K (range $250K to $2.75M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 25 days.
Northwest Bellevue. Hidden Valley Park, at 1903 112th Avenue NE, covers 17.31 acres with three softball fields, a lighted tennis court, a sports court and two play areas. Its fieldhouse is run with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Bellevue. Source
Sold near you: 10 homes closed within a mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.81M (range $288K to $2.72M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 34 days.
Somerset. Coal Creek Natural Area, one of the greenbelts on the Somerset side of the city, has 4.5 miles of trail through second-growth forest, with remnants of the area's early coal-mining industry along the way. The main trailhead is the Cinder Mine Trailhead on Newcastle Golf Club Road. Source
Sold near you: 19 homes closed within a mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.73M (range $413K to $3.56M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 19 days.
West Bellevue. West Bellevue is next in line for a neighborhood plan rewrite: council has scheduled it, with Woodridge, for 2027–2028, once Lake Hills and West Lake Sammamish finish. Source
Sold near you: 26 homes closed within a mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.48M (range $410K to $5.60M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 3 days.
West Lake Sammamish. The neighborhood plan rewrite is on a published schedule. Listening runs through December, a draft vision follows early next year, the Planning Commission hearing comes in September 2027, and council adoption is planned for December 2027. No property owner asked for a land use change by the September 15 deadline. Source
Sold near you: 6 homes closed within a mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $2.43M (range $1.52M to $3.15M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 31 days.
Wilburton. Council's final vote on the EverGlen Village rezone is tentatively set for Tuesday, October 20. It would change 0.62 acre at 12500 NE 10th Place from professional office to midrise mixed-use residential zoning, and the Hearing Examiner recommends approval. Source
Sold near you: 20 homes closed within a mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.47M (range $550K to $5.00M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 19 days.
Woodridge. Woodridge's neighborhood plan rewrite is scheduled for 2027–2028, alongside West Bellevue. The plans cover neighborhood identity, gathering places, getting around and the natural environment. Source
Sold near you: 10 homes closed within a mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.65M (range $605K to $3.48M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 26 days.
The market in 60 seconds
Three numbers from the live sales data behind the monthly Bellevue market report: the median sold price is $1.46M, the median home takes 59 days from listing to closing, and there are 4.9 months of inventory at the current pace. Under three months favors sellers and above six favors buyers. Inventory tightened for a second week, down from 5.3 months: active listings fell from 658 to 628, while closings in the trailing 30 days edged up from 124 to 128. Single-family homes are tighter still, at 4.1 months. For an owner, there is less competition on the market than a month ago. For a buyer, only 6% of homes closed above asking, so there is still room to negotiate. Bellevue market report
One useful thing: rake out the storm drain before the rain does
Bellevue has more than 20,000 storm drains, and in October, leaves are what block them. If a drain near your house collects leaves, rake it clear from the sidewalk, staying out of the street. The leaves go in your organics cart, not into the drain, a ditch, a creek or the gutter. If a drain is blocked below the grate, or water is pooling across the road, call Utilities at 425-452-7840. Adopt a storm drain
That's the week. Reply with anything you want tracked in Bellevue. Next Thursday: the October 20 budget session on development fees, and the final votes on the Bellewood Townhomes and EverGlen Village rezones.
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The Bellevue Dispatch is a RexMont Real Estate publication. Adriano Tori, Designated Broker. Reply to this email and a person reads it.