Seattle Real Estate Watch

Seattle Rents Increasing

This weekend, there was a big article in the Seattle Times about how much rents have gone up over the last year.  Due to more people moving into the area and many old apartments being converted to condos, there just aren't as many vacancies as usual.  This is driving up prices.

I guess this means that while housing is still unaffordable for many, renting may not be that much of a break either.  It's getting harder and harder to live on the median income in Seattle.  You're just out of luck if you make less...

"King County's average one-bedroom rent is $812. Two-bedroom units average $975. Both are roughly 7 percent more expensive than a year ago."

Here's a link to the online version of the article: "Real Estate: Apartment hunt will be tougher for renters"

Home Value 101

Whether you're buying or selling, it's important to know the value of the piece of property in question.  Home value is affected by several factors, and you must look at all of them in order to make an accurate estimate.  Primary factors determining home value are:

1. Location--Houses and condos in desirable areas command higher prices than identical properties in less appealing neighborhoods.
2. Property--This includes a number of factors such as size (square footage for both lot and home), age and style of the home, the number of bedrooms, construction quality, and the topography of the lot (including landscaping).
3. Condition--If the home is attractive and well-maintained, it will sell faster and has a higher value than a fixer-upper.
4. Extra amenities--People want luxury today, and extras like gourmet kitchens, master ensuites, walk-in closets, finished basements/attics, hot tubs, and outdoor living areas (fire pits, built-in barbeques, etc) will raise the value of a home.
5. Market Conditions--Local and national economic conditions will affect the amount people are willing to pay for your home.  Mortgage rates and current residential real estate demand will also affect your home's current value.

Source: How to Increase the Value of Your Home : Simple, Budget-Conscious Techniques and Ideas That Will Make Your Home Worth Up to $100,000 More! (and yes, the title is that long)

Seattle Most Over-priced City to Live In?

According to a recent article in Forbes, Seattle tops the list of most overpriced city to live in for 2005.  This is how they came by the stats: "We extracted the rankings for job growth, income growth and cost of living (which includes the cost of housing, utilities, transportation and other expenditures), then added to the mix a housing affordability index from research firm Economy.com."

It's interesting considering other articles that say jobs in Seattle are growing and will be strong in coming years, i.e. More Jobs Means Increase In Real Estate Growth.  Also, considering how pricey homes are in other coastal areas, Seattle doesn't seem so bad.  (As long as you're not a first-time home buyer with no equity to cash in on).  Oh well, I suppose it's good to be famous--infamous--for something.  Let's hope we don't make the list next year...

Quote from: Most Overpriced Places In The U.S. 2005

Seattle Housing Bubble?

It's hard to turn on the financial news without talk of housing bubbles.  Is Seattle among the markets that is over-priced?  There always seem to be experts to argue both sides.  There was an interesting article in the Seattle PI the other day: Hard work, hard times: A home and a dream lost that people thinking of jumping into the market now may want to read.  Among other things, the author writes, "Last year the state's Housing Affordability Index, a measure of the ability of a middle-income family to own a median-priced home, dropped to its lowest level since 2000, according to Washington State University's Center for Real Estate Research. At the same time, state housing prices hit record highs."

It makes you wonder who's going to be around to buy those $400,000 and up homes once interest rates go up.