Seattle housing market bubble

[GunnyGene]

In addition to all the other problems in Seattle (firearms laws, traffic, etc.), here's yet another reason to not move up there - you can't afford it. This story from the Seattle Times last month.

For the first time since before the recession, the entire central Puget Sound region — from Pierce to Snohomish and Kitsap counties — has set records for median home prices. And Seattle, which has been setting records every month, is on the verge of a once-unthinkable milestone: $1 million for the typical house across the entire area around Capitol Hill and northeast of downtown.

Monthly home-sales data released Tuesday show just how little escape there is for people priced out of the costly Seattle and Eastside markets. Pierce County’s median house cost topped $300,000 for the first time, while Kitsap County, which has similar home prices, surpassed its old bubble peak from 2007. And Snohomish County’s typical house is nearing half a million dollars.

Seattle’s new median price for a single-family house is $729,000, an extra $7,000 from a month ago and up 13.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

Buyers are getting nailed at both ends of the price spectrum.

Seattle is about to get its first big million-dollar neighborhood: Median prices have reached $997,000 for the area centered on Capitol Hill and Madison Park, stretching from Interstate 5 to Lake Washington and from Interstate 90 to the 520 bridge. That’s up an extra $100,000 from a year ago.

The Queen Anne/Magnolia area isn’t far behind, at $900,000. (The data don’t drill down further; some smaller neighborhoods near the water likely surpassed the $1 million mark earlier.)

And in the cheapest part of town, in Southeast Seattle, prices soared an astounding 31 percent from a year ago. Even cheaper areas around the county, like Enumclaw and Des Moines, had similar increases.

At Windermere Real Estate in Belltown, managing broker Jed Kliman is bullish on the “super intense” market continuing.

“My personal and professional opinion is we are not in a bubble,” Kliman said. “Everybody is asking about that, it’s on everybody’s mind.” But he noted that Seattle is the fastest-growing city in the country for population, while the number of homes for sale is at historic lows — a sign of an underlying supply-and-demand imbalance. “I don’t see any of that changing. I do believe things will keep trending in the same direction.”

More: http://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/no-escape-for-priced-out-seattleites-home-prices-set-record-for-hour-drive-in-every-direction/

 

[Slenk]

Seattle is not the only on . Spokane area is almost as bad ,as well as Coeur d Alene , Idaho .
fixer uppers starting over $200,000.
And now they have raised taxes on assessed value.

 

[contender]

It happens in many places. Locally,, in Asheville NC,,, housing prices are soaring,,, rent is out of reach for many, available housing is low. As such,,, prices are climbing up.
It has to do with the local "flavor" of these places.
Often,,, full of liberals,,, and their styles of living. Asheville has it's new industry,,, "craft beer." It's now called "Beer City" and people flock here for the home brew crafted beers.
Add in the street people, (buskers are what they are called,) pan handlers, the "River Arts District" & the town is quickly becoming flooded with people wanting to live here. Housing is at a premium.
Even in my job,, I see it. I've seen "normal" houses,, where they were a 2-3 bedroom house,,, that have been added to & subdivided into small apartments. Build an addition,,, and divide part of the house & rent it out to two different tenants. Add in "vacation rentals" where folks rent their homes out on short term leases, (weekends, or weekly) & make enough to pay for the house.

Where I do not see such high prices is towns,,, where the local economy is based upon manufacturing or agriculture.

But in these high cost places,,, MANY folks buy who truly can not afford it. They live paycheck to paycheck, & eat cheap foods to be able to afford the house. Mortgages are steep too.

There is a bubble. But it will take the economy folding to where arts, crafts, & non-essential stuff is cut out by the general populace. To where going out for a $5-$8 craft beer on tap isn't affordable. Where trolling the art district & paying hundreds of dollars for some high school drop-out's interpretation of "art" isn't affordable. It'll take cities realizing the infrastructure can no longer afford all the people with their hands out expecting government to assist them. Sadly,,, it will take a major economic change to bust the bubble. Remember the Great Depression? The end of the Gilded Age?
Too many in those places live in a credit world & are gluttons.

 

[DGW1949]

While I understand the supply and demand aspect which Mr. Kliman mentions in terms of that particular area, I would have to ask him if he's priced the required appliances and furniture these days, which BTW, will cost the same no matter where the house is that they're bought for. Or for that matter, what a new truck cost to haul it in, or even a set of new tires for an old truck.

Yeah, I'm purty-sure of it;
Inflated prices is the symptom.
Our constantly devaluing paper currency is the actual problem.
All else is merely clutter..."high demand" or no...Plus, as Contender has pointed out, none of this stuff is exclusive to Seattle.

DGW

 

[GunnyGene]

Yeah, I'm purty-sure of it;
Inflated prices is the symptom.
Our constantly devaluing paper currency is the actual problem.
All else is merely clutter..."high demand" or no...Plus, as Contender has pointed out, none of this stuff is exclusive to Seattle.

DGW

That's true. And the usual result is what we see in many 3rd world countries big cities. A wealthy, high income, high cost of living center surrounded by slums. Mexico City, Caracas, Rio, Beijing, Mumbai, and many others around the world all exhibit this "donut" shape.

 

[Big Old Boy]

Nashville Tn is the same way it's reported that 100 new families a day are moving in to the area not enough homes for everyone. And more traffic than you can imagine.the only good thing is no state income tax as yet, but it is still a free state with good jobs available to those that are willing to work.

 

[GunnyGene]

Nashville Tn is the same way it's reported that 100 new families a day are moving in to the area not enough homes for everyone. And more traffic than you can imagine.the only good thing is no state income tax as yet, but it is still a free state with good jobs available to those that are willing to work.

I lived just North of Seattle - in Mukilteo - from 1985 to 2000. I've been telling people this was coming and to get out of major metro areas for the last nearly 20years. I reckon not many of them listened.

 

[LDM]

Seems like wherever Kommiefornia refugees relocate they bring the problems that made them leave with them. They change their location but not their mindset and history repeats itself.

 

[Bull Barrel]

Thats because they dont think they were the problem. It was everyone else.

"We are the ones we have been waiting for".

 

[Colonialgirl]

It happened in Orlando, FL; The house my ex-spouse and I bought in 1985/86 for $91K would NOW sell for $300-350K.

 

[pisgah]

Simple solution -- just wait for the next volcanic eruption/earthquake/tsunami (take your pick). There'll be bargains galore.

 

[wolfsong]

Seems like wherever Kommiefornia refugees relocate they bring the problems that made them leave with them. They change their location but not their mindset and history repeats itself.

What a crock of BS.

 

[Rick Courtright]

Seems like wherever Kommiefornia refugees relocate they bring the problems that made them leave with them. They change their location but not their mindset and history repeats itself.

Hi,

I didn't notice that you publish where your little part of paradise is. Trying to hide it from the outside world, or is it spelled Scheisse Stadt for a reason? A lot of CA's problems came from towns like that. People couldn't make a living, came here for jobs, brought their "ways" with them, screwed us up, and now they're trying to "go home." With those same ways. Sorry 'bout that.

This was the best place in the country to live until we passed about 15 million population. Now we've got 40 million. Counting on fingers and toes tells me we could ship 25 million back where they belong, which is NOT necessarily south of the border, and I don't know anyone who'd miss 'em!

Rick C

 

[caryc]

Don't think I' want to go to Seattle. I watched a series on Netflix that took place in Seattle and I don't think there was one scene in the whole series when it wasn't raining.

Does it ever stop raining there?

 

[gasbag]

Don't think I' want to go to Seattle. I watched a series on Netflix that took place in Seattle and I don't think there was one scene in the whole series when it wasn't raining.

Does it ever stop raining there?

At the moment they have had 40 consecutive days without rain.
Temps in the 70's and 80's. 50's at night.
It is #36 on the list of cities in the US that have the most rain.
It rains a lot in the spring and in the fall.
Summers are nice.
Well, they would be if it wasn't Seattle.
What a big dirty smelly crowded dangerous expensive place to live.
Other than that, nice place.
I moved away 15 seconds after I retired.

 

[GunnyGene]

Don't think I' want to go to Seattle. I watched a series on Netflix that took place in Seattle and I don't think there was one scene in the whole series when it wasn't raining.

Does it ever stop raining there?

At the moment they have had 40 consecutive days without rain.
Temps in the 70's and 80's. 50's at night.
It is #36 on the list of cities in the US that have the most rain.
It rains a lot in the spring and in the fall.
Summers are nice.
Well, they would be if it wasn't Seattle.
What a big dirty smelly crowded dangerous expensive place to live.
Other than that, nice place.
I moved away 15 seconds after I retired.

And the traffic really sucks. :shock:

 

[wolfsong]

It's a nice place to live, but I wouldn't want to visit there...

 

[powder smoke]

Bet dollars to doughnuts that a lot people will loose thousands when the bubble burst!
Only a matter of time. Move to the country a better bang for your buck!
Life style is a great perk also. Let them have the city life, it's not for me! ps