All in Market
Check out the recent Redfin article we were featured in:
Micro Apartments: Are These Small Living Spaces Right For You?
Finding affordable apartments has become a challenge, especially as inflation continues to affect home and rental prices. This is especially true if you’re a first-time renter, like a student or a new professional. As prices continue to increase, people are looking for smaller apartments to stay within their budget. A popular option for many people is the micro-apartment.
With recent skyrocketing rents across the country and sizzling red hot real estate market the past few years, micro apartments and “compact” housing have gained a lot of attention these days. Many cities, including Seattle, have started to re-examine the need for building more micro apartments and to further increase housing density - as part of an overall strategy to address regional housing affordability crisis and growing home ownership demands.
While not as common in the United States outside of metropolitans like Manhattan - micro apartments and condos are widely popular in places like Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. To many people, living in a micro apartment is not only an economic necessity but also a lifestyle choice. There is a unique allure to the "micro" or "mini" way of modern living.
GeekWire recently published a number of articles as part of a 4-part editorial series to explore what’s fueling the rise of Bellevue.
It should not come as a surprise that Bellevue is becoming one of the fastest-growing tech hubs in the country. Amazon expects to have as many as 25,000 workers in its Bellevue offices - on par with the size of its second headquarters currently under development in Arlington, Virginia.
“Bellevue’s surge in popularity, pushed largely by the tech industry and encouraged by city leaders, is projected to result in a wave of growth unlike anything the city has encountered.”
Seattle Times recently reported that among the 50 biggest U.S. cities, Seattle is No. 1 for growth in 2020.
New data from the U.S. Census shows that between July 1, 2019, and July 1, 2020, Seattle had a net gain of about 16,400 residents, hitting a total population of 769,700. That translates to a growth rate of 2.2%. Seattle was also the fastest-growing city of the past decade with a growth rate of 2.2%,
Many other cities are growing but were behind Seattle. Fort Worth, Texas, ranks No. 2, followed by Mesa, Arizona; Austin; and Tampa. Major cities with the least growth in 2020 were: Long Beach, New York, San Jose, San Francisco and Baltimore.
For the first time since the financial crash, Manhattan, NY slipped from its ranking as the top spot for foreign investment in American commercial real estate. Seattle, WA jumped to No. 1. As reported in Seattle Times recently - investors from other countries spent about $2.5 billion on commercial real estate in Seattle over the last four quarters.
The Seattle area has seen multiple high-dollar office tower sales in 2020, even as the office market nationally has sagged amid uncertainty about whether office workers will return to their cubicles. Recently another Facebook-leased Spring District building, Block 24, sold for about $200 million to the Canadian firm Brookfield Asset Management.
Bellevue, WA made the top ten list based on a survey recently taken regarding best cities to live in in America. Bellevue received an A+ for overall Niche grade, A+ for schools, and 4.5 stars out of 5 stars.
Per recent report from Downtown Bellevue Network - information from Niche describes the city as having a lot of restaurants, coffee shops, and parks, as well as highly rated public schools, and many young professionals. Niche ranking are based on analysis of key statistics from the U.S. Department of Education and reviews.
Other findings include Bellevue ranked #3 for having the best public schools in America, #5 for best cities for outdoor activities in America, and #6 for healthiest cities in America.
Amazon announced last week it is planning to bring 10,000 more jobs to Bellevue, in addition to 15,000 new jobs already planned for the city city. To accommodate the continued job growth, the online giant has secured an additional 2 million square feet of office space in downtown Bellevue by leasing new properties from Vulcan: 555 Tower and West Main. This is in addition to Amazon's own Bellevue 600 project - a 27-story office tower with new retail amenities and additional green space open to the community.
Sales of previously-owned homes in the U.S. rose 24.7 percent between June and July to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.86 million, the National Association of Realtors reported last Friday. The percentage increase represented a record and sales volume was also the highest the U.S. has seen since 2006. A recent MarketWatch article analyzed the current national market and listed a number of important factors consumers should consider when deciding whether this is the right time to buy or to trade-up.
For those who have been following our red-hot local real estate market should not be surprised to hear home prices broke records in nearly every major Washington county last month. Homes are selling so quickly that 45% of buyers have made offers on houses they’ve never visited in person, according to research from Redfin. You can read the full report from Seattle Times and an interactive map showing price changes here.
Formerly the “Elev8” from developer Plus Investment USA, the Bellevue downtown 108th/110th Ave NE and NE 8th block was purchased by Stanford Hotels for a whopping $128 million back in 2018. The block is right next to the Bravern and diagonally across from the planned Skanska 26-story office building.
A recent article (subscription required) by Marc Stiles from Puget Sound Business Journal reports more and more businesses are now thinking of moving from Seattle to the Eastside.
According to the article, commercial brokerages like the Broderick Group have been getting inquiries from “smaller professional service firms and sole proprietors in Seattle that want to move to the Eastside due in large part to the $200 million-plus annual corporate payroll tax that the city council recently approved.”
According to Freddie Mac the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to a record low of 3.07% this past week. That is the lowest level in the nearly 50 years of the mortgage giant's survey. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 2.56%.
The Seattle area housing market in May continued to show resiliency amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, with increases compared to the previous month in new listings and pending sales. “The market has proved to be very resilient,” noted by Northwest Multiple Listing Service Director Mike Larson.
Is Seattle still a good market for real estate investors and homeowners? According to the latest report “Seattle Real Estate Market 2020 Overview” from Norada Real Estate Investments - the answer is yes. The Seattle-area job market continues to add new qualified buyers coupled with declining inventories which leads to multiple offers and bidding wars among buyers.
