News You Can Use
As the Seattle metro area continues to witness skyrocketing home prices, affordability has become an increasingly elusive goal, as is timing the market for developer incentives and today’s historically low, but rising, interest rates. As reported by The Seattle Times, condominium sales in Seattle saw a 121.2 percent increase year-over-year, while median prices jumped 4.5 percent, compared to April 2020.
Read MoreThe probability of a high-speed rail line from Seattle to Vancouver, B.C., just got higher. Microsoft announced their plans to invest a second round of funds (over $220,000) into a feasibility study for high-speed ground transportation in the region.
Read MoreLove it or hate it, a dramatic shift in the Seattle Building Code for single-family residential property owners has been signed by Mayor Durkan. On July 1, 2019 Seattle passed one of the most aggressive housing bills in the country, Council Bill 119544.
Read MoreThough much of Seattle’s tech expansion and news has revolved around Amazon, other key players are expanding their presence at South Lake Union. As GeekWire reported this week, Expedia and Apple are moving along nicely with their new Emerald City campuses.
Read MoreIn late Spring, Washington State’s legislators introduced a new, graduated Real Estate Excise Tax (REET), which replaces the fixed 1.28 percent tax applied evenly across all transactions.
Read MoreAs the recent Bisnow “Seattle Construction & Development Forecast” event outlined, the commercial real estate industry in Seattle is continuing its boom and the city is even looking at ways to lessen the length of time of the permitting and approval process by adding staff.
Read MoreThe Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) released a press release that signals good news for home buyers, as April 2019 data revealed increasing inventory, slowing price growth rates, and low mortgage rates.
Read MoreThough year-over-year home prices in Seattle for February 2018 grew at a lower rate than the previous year, an upward trend appears to be in motion, as monthly decreases moved from -0.28 percent in January to +0.57 percent in February. This put an end to the series of seven months of decreases, which tied the last run of slower price gains, which lasted August 2011 to February 2012.
Read MoreThere is something to be said for the power of modern architecture. I have long admired the clean lines of Canlis, the windowed masterpiece perched on the east slope of Queen Anne. Now the restaurant is in the global spotlight, as it was recognized by James Beard with the 2019 Design Icon Award.
Read MoreThinking about selling and want to know more about home prices in your neighborhood? Searching for a home and want to ensure you understand market fundamentals in the region? Our market moves quickly—and so do you. Meet the Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty “Market Tracker,” a new tool that puts the latest local real estate data at your fingertips.
Read MoreThe latest S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index—which outlines home price trends from November 2018—shows growth restoring in Seattle, as the Emerald City was restored to the top three regions leading the U.S. for residential home price growth.
Read MoreCurrent zoning restrictions in various parts of Seattle are under discussion, as Seattle’s City Council has just begun what promises to be a debate on whether to upzone neighborhoods that have historically been reserved for single-family homes. Seattle Times has been keeping a close eye on the topic in a series of recent articles.
Read MoreA recent Seattle Times housing column tackled a topic that is an important key to understanding our local housing market: zoning. As the article outlines, though 69 percent of Seattle’s residential plots of land contain single-family homes (which is about average compared to the nation’s 50 largest cities) it “generally devotes a lot more of its housing to single-family homes,” which is putting more pressure on a city struggling with affordability amidst rising demand.
Read MoreThough the winter months have historically given way to slowdowns within the Puget Sound real estate market, there was no sign of a slowdown in February 2018, as home prices in Seattle and on the Eastside reached new benchmark values. As Seattle Times reports, “Seattle’s median single-family-home price hit $777,000 in February, $20,000 more than the previous all-time high set just a month prior,” while on the Eastside, “the median cost of a house was $950,000, or $12,000 more than the peak price from two months ago.” According to Northwest Multiple Listing Service data, home prices in every Puget Sound county increased by at least 15%, with many setting record high values.
Read MoreA recent Seattle Magazine article asks readers, “What would Seattle look like if I-5 was covered?” The question comes as the initiative, which was first introduced to Seattle Public Parks two years ago, was given a $1.5 million feasibility grant by the Washington State Convention Center to explore how Lid I-5 may come to life. If approved, it would improve existing infrastructure and expand the city’s space to build housing, public parks, streets, and more – all over top of Interstate 5.
Read More
