From Jeanne Lang Jones and the Seattle Business Magazine
Only 3,900 new [buildable] lots are added annually…415,000 new residents to the Puget Sound area since 2012
Inventory is increasing, but it’s too little too late for Seattle Homebuyers. Inventory levels in Seattle have grown 54.7% since April 28th to a city-wide level of 764 homes for sale. On one hand, wow! Over 50% growth in inventory in the last 6 weeks! On the other… 764 total homes for sale is still not very many, in a city where the US Census Bureau estimates 704,000 residents (year ending July 1, 2016). That’s about 1 house for sale for every 921 Seattle residents.
Part of the problem can be found in one of the best written articles for WHY Seattle housing is where it is I’ve read in a long time. There are lots of reasons, but Jeanne Lang Jones from the Seattle Business Magazine takes a pretty in-depth look at two of the major reasons, one of which is simply a lack of new homes being built. The link to the full article is below, but basically the Washington Growth Management Act limits the areas where builders can construct new homes, and for better or worse, it’s too constrictive. Builders just don’t have enough buildable land near the city centers…and the land they can find, given the demand, it’s much more profitable to build townhomes or multifamily (condos/apartments). Bye Bye white picket fence and big back yard : (
On top of not enough land, institutional investors have purchased around 44,000 homes in the region in recent years. The lack of new homes + the additional demand from investors has Seattle as the tightest real estate market in the country per Realtor.com.
Again, if you have some time, I definitely recommend checking out the full article below
Full article by Jeanne Lang Jones: http://seattlebusinessmag.com/
I have a listing for a buildable waterfront lot on Lake Walker in Enumclaw. Send me a private message at wendy@c21nwr.com for more details.
Happy Investing!
No comments:
Post a Comment