Spring has sprung with the official start of daylight savings time. What will you do with your extra hour? We have some ideas!
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Realtor.com® just released their 2019 housing forecast, outlining what buyers, sellers and homeowners can expect as we say goodbye to 2018 and welcome the new year.
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It might be hard to believe, but we are edging ever-closer to the new year and 2019 will be here before we know it. The start of a new year signals change and as we prepare what this one will bring, Seattle Times dove into the top four technological trends that are making—or are set to make—an impact on the real estate industry. From modular housing opportunities and automated parking systems to a whole new level of amenities, explore those five trends and the resounding impact they may have on the Emerald City’s future.
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Amazon is drawing closer to making a final selection for HQ2 as many are speculating that the company will select not one but two locations for their new headquarters. The two cities that seem nearest to the finish line are Crystal City, Virginia—which is located just outside Washington D.C.—and Long Island City, New York, as executives have made trips and secured high profile meetings with city officials.
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Statistics from the third quarter of 2018 are in and Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty has analyzed the data with a look at the latest market trends in Seattle, the Eastside and Bainbridge Island. While previous reports this year continued along the same narrative—of anemic inventory and meteoric home price growth—this quarter brings a different story, as home price appreciation leveled off and buyers found more options on the market.
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Though the Seattle-area real estate market has decidedly been in favor of sellers for the past couple of years, buyers felt a bit of relief in July, as inventory increased for the third consecutive month. As Puget Sound Business Journal reports, the median sales price for July 2018 was up just 5-percent on a year-over-year basis, a stark decline from the 18-percent surge from the spring sales season. The root cause comes down to inventory, as there were just over 5,000 homes and condominiums available for sale last month, marking “a remarkable 48 percent more than July 2017.” After three months of inventory gains, supply is now higher than it’s been since early 2015.
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Many of us on the Eastside have slowly noticed the influx of Limebike and Ofo bicycles for rent on the Eastside, a product of the dockless bike share programs that have cropped up throughout the city of Seattle and now on the Eastside, with Bothell implementing a program, and Bellevue and Redmond close behind. Now, as Kirkland Reporter outlines, the city of Kirkland is the latest Eastside enclave to consider starting a bike share pilot, as it was the topic of City Council debate in early July.
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As a recent Seattle Times article proclaims, “Sound Transit rail stations could help solve our housing crisis,” as each new LINK light rail station will afford the opportunity “to create vibrant, walkable mixed-use communities with significant amounts of new housing and reduced dependence on automobiles.” The $60 billion investment in improving transit and building new infrastructure to support the expanding light rail system marks the largest transit investment in the history of our region, and as the Times points out, “by 2040 we will have light rail connecting Everett to Tacoma and Seattle to Redmond and Issaquah,” which will provide unprecedented and seamless connections around the Seattle metro region.
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The Seattle area real estate market is in dire need of home inventory and some relief has come for buyers, as the Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported that real estate brokers added 14,524 new listings to the market in May, which was the first time this figure has topped 14,000 since May 2008.
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A recent feature published by New York Times outlined the challenges many first-time buyers are facing in real estate markets around the nation, as starter home supply dwindles and prices increase. In areas beyond the Puget Sound, homes are selling quickly, especially when they are smaller and lower-priced, and “seasonal demand is increasing as usual, but buyers are finding that there is a lack of new listings.”
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In our current real estate cycle, in which we have a completely tilted supply and demand curve (where 80,000 people are moving into King County annually with only 8,000 new units being built) the bidding wars have gotten a little out of hand. Given Seattle’s hot real estate market, I have met with sellers who have posed the following question: Why go with a full-service broker when there will be multiple offers anyway? Does marketing matter?
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Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty’s acclaimed Research Editor and Data Analyst, William Hillis, has assembled a year-over-year review of eight key counties and 29 regional markets around the Puget Sound. In addition to in-depth market analysis, the report includes the “Condominium Conundrum,” Seattle’s stellar performance on the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index, the effects of Chinese capital controls and Canada’s restrictions on foreign buyers, landmark sales on the Eastside, and more. I have compiled a selection of key highlights including trends to watch, to spark a conversation so we may outline the implication for homes in your city.
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Indeed.com recently released their 2018 report on “The Best Jobs in the United States” and in a set of results unsurprising to Seattleites who have become accustomed to the influence of two particular industries in recent years, the technology and construction industries dominated the list. Though Indeed recognizes that there is a confluence of factors that contribute to what makes a job ideal, they narrowed categories down to two factors: 1) jobs with a minimum baseline salary of $75K and 2) jobs that have seen significant growth on Indeed.com within the past few years.
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llowing the announcement that British Columbia is increasing their foreign buyer tax on home purchases from the current rate of 15-percent up to 20-percent, King 5 News reported that the move “may create more demand from wealthy Chinese investors and homebuyers who are looking to purchase property in Washington state.” Adding to demand amidst anemic inventory supply, particularly in downtown Seattle condominium stock, however, is causing some worry.
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