Those of us who have been here know just how quickly the housing market and economy changed around Seattle. We've been in a market where housing prices are high, inventory is low and bidding wars are the norm for so long it's hard to remember a time when Seattle was just another mid-tier major city trying to scrap by. According to the Wall Street Journal, those days are probably never coming back.
With high home prices, low inventory and heated bidding wars, Seattle is the new San Francisco.
In the metro Seattle area, home-sale prices rose 9.5% from 2014 to 2015, putting the median home value at $385,300, according to the National Association of Realtors. That’s below the limit for government-backed loans for the area, which currently is $540,500. But Seattle buyers who want a dream home in a desirable neighborhood will probabl0y need a jumbo mortgage.
Seattle still lags behind San Francisco, where the median home value is $781,600, but buyers in both cities—many in the tech industry—are competing for a limited pool of properties.
The Stranger is calling is game over and fully expects us to become Vancouver any day now.
Lenders are seeing huge boosts in jumbo mortgages in Seattle, one even saying their median loan amount is $798,000. One real estate agent said seeing offers at 30 percent over asking price aren't unheard of while another says you can pretty much guarantee most homes on the market are sold within a month. As one buyer profiled in the piece put it, "We’re concerned if we wait too long, everything will be unaffordable. No matter what we end up buying, we’re not going to be 100% thrilled."
Yay?
· In Silicon Seattle, High Home Prices [WSJ]
· Seattle Is Pretty Much Game Over: We Will Become Another San Francisco and Vancouver [CS]
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