Housing Spotlight – Seattle, WA
Your guide to market trends in the coolest cities
Demographics
Population: 684,451
Median income: $80,349
Homeownership: 55%
Property
Seattle, WA | National Average | |
Median sales price | $700,000 | $260,000 |
Median days on market | 24 days | 68 days |
Active listings | 3,719 | 1,397,257 |
Features
Avg. annual weather: 52.7° F / 37.1” rain / 5.9” snow
Walk score: (out of 100) 73
Transit score: 57
Bike score: 63
Attractions:
Space Needle
Pike Place Market
Waterfront
Experience Music Project Museum
Chihuly Garden and Glass
Museum of Flight
Olympic Sculpture Park
Seattle Underground Tour
Random fact: Legendary rock band Pearl Jam’s first public performance took place at Seattle’s Off Ramp Cafe on October 22, 1990. The band, which was named Mookie Blaylock at the time, played several songs that would later appear on their debut album, Ten, including “Alive” and “Even Flow.”
Breakdown: The largest city in the Pacific Northwest, Seattle is known for its coffee, music and, yes, rain. While winters can be downright gloomy, summers in the Emerald City are gorgeous. And the landscape is stunning, as the city lies between two bodies of water (Puget Sound and Lake Washington) with picturesque views of Mt. Rainier on the horizon.
Seattle’s economy is booming thanks to a wealth of jobs in the industrial and technology sectors. The Port of Seattle, which runs the city’s seaport and airport, hopes to add 100,000 jobs over the next five years for a total of 300,000 port-related jobs in the region. Seattle is also home to a pair of tech giants, with Amazon’s headquarters located downtown and Microsoft based in nearby Redmond. Expedia, Facebook and Google have or will have considerable presences in the city, while Redfin and Zillow are also headquartered in Seattle.
These factors have resulted in an increased cost of living, though that’s hardly curbed the desire to call Seattle home. It’s been the fastest-growing city in the U.S. since 2010 and the population is projected to grow by nearly 200,000 over the next 20 years. The demand for homes in the metropolitan area, coupled with its growth, has resulted in a thriving real estate market that is among the nation’s hottest. According to a Seattle Times report in December 2016, “In Greater Seattle, home costs have increased 59 percent since bottoming out in 2012, and are up 7 percent compared with the old high in 2007.”
Seattle has it all—beautiful scenery, an abundance of professional opportunity, a waterfront location and a comfortable pace of life. Living downtown won’t come cheap; however, if the city and its real estate scene continues to flourish, owning a home could be a sound financial investment while allowing you to live where you want in the meantime.
Sources:
US Census Bureau, 2015
USClimateData.com
Walkscore.com
Zillow.com
TripAdvisor.com
Trulia.com (https://www.trulia.com/real_estate/Seattle-Washington/)
RollingStone.com (http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/flashback-watch-pearl-jam-perform-black-at-their-first-concert-20120924)
SmartAsset.com (https://smartasset.com/mortgage/what-is-the-cost-of-living-in-seattle)
Seattle Times (http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/data/80000-median-wage-income-gain-in-seattle-far-outpaces-other-cities/; http://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/seattle-home-prices-hit-700000-for-first-time-after-doubling-in-five-years/; http://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/seattle-keeps-crown-as-nations-hottest-housing-market-for-2nd-straight-month/)
Realtor.com (http://www.realtor.com/local/Seattle_WA)
Northwest MLS
ErikStanford.com (http://www.erikstanford.com/days-on-market-list-sale-price-ratios)