Luxury Real Estate

Courtesy of Realogics Sotheby's International Realty

Sales of waterfront houses are picking up again. Recent deals and at least one new listing point to this.

Earlier this month, Dorothy L. Simpson sold a Mercer Island manse on Lake Washington to an LLC headed by Liberty Dialysis CEO Mark Caputo for more than $5.95 million. And as the DJC reported, Detlef and Marianne Schrempf sold their place on the lake for $5.76 million to Yahn Bernier and Beth McCaw.

The latest listing is a six-bedroom, six-bath home at 2000 Beans Bight Road N.E. on Bainbridge Island, designed by Stewart Silk Architects.

Realogics Sotheby's International Realty said the design is meant to recall the “nostalgic summer homes of the Atlantic coast.” The company's Dennis Paige is co-listing the property with Bob Bennion of Windermere Real Estate. The asking price is $8.5 million.

Bennion said the market has been sluggish for the last few years, but now there's record sales volume for Lake Washington houses.

Sellers on Bainbridge are listing properties. Realogics Sotheby's reports two other “significant” Bainbridge waterfront properties are on the market in the private residential enclave that surrounds a country club.

The most expensive estate now on the market is Harmony on Proctor Lane, a Mercer Island property that Tere Foster of Windermere is listing for just under $26.9 million. It knocked Boulevard Place, also on Mercer Island, from the top spot when that $28.8 million property was taken off the market.

Brokers say demand for luxury properties is rising because the economic outlook has improved, prices have fallen and home buyers are moving here from out of state for the lifestyle and Washington's tax-friendly climate for the wealthy.