Is Seattle slowly moving out of Silicon Valley’s luxury housing shadow? A metro-wide technology boom and a slew of wealthy foreign buyers are two strong factors driving the luxury market to the northwest. The city has experienced a 21% increase in tech workers between June 2014 and June 2015, according to Redfin, a Seattle-based brokerage firm. The area’s comparative affordability is also fueling demand: Many are leaving the exorbitant prices of Silicon Valley behind and heading north. Redfin has calculated that for every 1% increase in technology workers, there’s approximately a half percent increase in home prices. More: What’s Happening in Vegas? Luxury Sales are Rebounding Peter Orser, the acting director of the Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies at the University of Washington, reports that while the tech sector is a big market driver, other industries and companies like Boeing, Costco and Delta Airlines are also attracting affluent employees to the city.
A $3.389 million two bedroom, three-and-a-half bathroom condo in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle. View full listing. REALOGICS SOTHEBY'S INTERNATIONAL REALTY “Success builds on success,” says Orser. “Amazon and Microsoft are tech companies that are driving other tech firms to assemble here. It’s about talent --and the concentration of talent is not just about tech firms. Back office jobs like HR and accounting are generating all kinds of jobs at a frenzied rate.” Carrie Debuys, a Seattle-based real estate broker for Realogics Sotheby’s, says that another factor driving the luxury market is foreign buyers-- many from China. According to Debuys, interest in Seattle has increased as Canada’s housing market has been impacted by changes to their immigration policy. She recalls a recent Chinese buyer who purchased a $1.9 million family home in the Medina section of Bellevue, without stepping foot on the property. After looking at a handful of photos, the buyer was convinced to make the purchase for his daughter, who will be attending school in the area.
The view from a $2.65 million, two bedroom, one-and-a-half bathroom condo in downtown Seattle. View full listing. REALOGICS SOTHEBY'S INTERNATIONAL REALTY Debuys says executive technology workers are coming to the city and buying properties in the $2 million to $4 million range. She’s also seeing tech employees who have owned homes in the city for years “stepping up into larger, more expensive homes.” According to Orser, while demand is high, the housing supply in the city is extraordinarily tight. New listings in Seattle are snapped up within nine days, according to the June Redfin Housing Market Tracker. Only Denver property is moving faster, staying on the market for six days. More: Luxury Condo Market Heats Up in Houston As The Wall Street Journal reported, for luxury homes priced above $1.5 million in Seattle, the average price per square foot was $494, up 10 percent between May 2014 and 2015.
A $2.45 million five bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom home in the Washington Park neighborhood of Seattle. View full listing. REALOGICS SOTHEBY'S INTERNATIONAL REALTY Two Seattle area neighborhoods also rank in the top ten luxury markets in the country according to Redfin. (The survey excluded New York City.) Kirkland, with average luxury homes selling for $2.5 million, ranked sixth, while Bellevue ranked seventh, with homes selling for about $2.4 million. “When comparing Silicon Valley and what your dollar buys down there, with Seattle, we’ll win every time,” said Debuys.