Commercial Real Estate
Three Seattle Office-Building Sales Ranked Among the Biggest Deals in the Nation in 2018
The value of the downtown transactions exceeded $1 billion and included more than 1.7 million square feet of space
Seattle lays claim to three of the 50 largest office-building sales in the nation for 2018, according to commercial real estate blog Commercial Cafe. Thats the same deal count registered by Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, although the value of the deals in Seattle, at $1.13 billion, exceeded San Franciscos transaction value (three office sales…
Development in Seattles Urban Core Continues at an Explosive Pace, New Report Shows
Downtown employment is now at a record level while residential development is being driven by population growth in two booming neighborhoods
Downtown continues to lead development growth in the Seattle area, with a record dollar-volume of construction projects underway as of year-end 2018 a total of 66 projects valued at $4.8 billion, compared with 68 projects valued at $4.3 billion as of year-end 2017. The year-end 2018 tally, outlined in a new report by the Downtown…
Major Companies Including Starbucks, Amazon Back Changes to Washington States Eviction Laws
The corporations are lining up behind a bill in the state Legislature to extend the notification period for evictions.
The counsels of several of the Seattle areas largest and most influential companies are urging the state Legislature to pass a bill that would change Washingtons eviction laws. Senate Bill 5600 and House Bill 1453 would extend the notification period for evictions from three days to 14 or 21 days. Amazon Inc., Starbucks Corp., Alaska…
Seattle-Area Home Prices Plummet as Market Cools Off
Prices in October dropped 3.6 percent, pointing to a soft market in 2019.
This story originally ran on Redfin. The average price cut was $27,500, down from over $30,000 a year earlier On a percentage basis, price drops were the smallest weve ever recorded in Seattle at 3.6% Heres another sign that the housing market in the Seattle area is rapidly cooling off: The portion of home sellers…
Increase in Tech-related Jobs Creates Sustained Housing Demand
As Housing Trends Normalize, Tech Titans Continue to Drive Demand into Seattle.
Sponsored by Realogics Sensational headlines too quick to call for a housing downturn may face pushback from expansion in the tech industry. Seattle remains the top tech-30 market in North America, according to the CBRE Tech Report, with high-tech jobs expanding 26 percent over the last two years. Colliers Research is tracking nearly 6.5 million…
More Americans Are Leaving Coastal Areas and Moving to Lower-Tax Metros, But Seattle Is Bucking Trends
Trends haven't been consistent in high-tech, low-state tax, coastal Seattle
This story originally ran on Redfin. Taxes are three-times lower in the top-10 migration destinations than in the 10 places people are most commonly leaving. In the second quarter of 2018 people in expensive, high-tax coastal markets including San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. searched for homes in metros like Phoenix, Las…
Washington Embraces Cross-Laminated Timber
Washingtons cross-laminated timber industry takes its first small steps toward a greener construction model.
FAST AND STRONG: A warehouse in Altlengbach, Austria measuring 65 feet by 236 feet incorporates massive CLT panels and took only four months to build that annual figure is expected to rise by more than a million people each year. Photo courtesy Luft-Klima Luftungstechnik GMBH This article appears in print in the September 2018 issue….
Home Prices: What $1 Million Buys in Seattle vs. 14 Other Cities
"A million dollar home in St. Louis is almost three times the size of a million dollar home in Seattle."
This story originally ran on Redfin. Who wants to be a millionaire? To buy a modest home in some cities, you might have to be! In San Francisco and San Jose, one million dollars is the expected going rate. But if you travel inland, a one million dollar home in the midwest and south is…
Luxury Home-Price Growth Is Still Rising in Washington State Despite Slowing Down in the U.S.
Luxury homes are still selling faster in Seattle than almost anywhere in the country.
This story originally ran on Redfin. Despite Cooling in Price Growth, High-End Homes Sold Faster Than Ever Luxury Home Prices Are Up in Lower-Tax States Like Florida, Nevada and Washington Luxury home prices rose 5.2 percent year over year to an average of $1.9 million in the second quarter of 2018. This is lower growth…
Redfin CEO: Affordability Crisis May Have Reached a Breaking Point in Seattle
Plus: Nationally, home prices saw their smallest increase since December 2016
This story originally ran on Redfin. Inventory Declines Continue to Moderate; Number of Homes for Sale in June Down Just 6% Compared to June 2017 U.S. home-sale prices increased 5.7 percent in June to a median of $312,700, compared to a year ago. This is the lowest price growth since December 2016. At the same…
The Minority Home Ownership Gap Is Bad in the U.S. and Worse in Seattle
The home ownership rate for white people in Seattle is more than 65 percent, but for African-Americans in the metro region, the rate is below 30 percent.
Wealth and home ownership rates are major indicators of the racial inequality that continues to exist in America. The Washington Post reported earlier this year on the widening wealth gap between white Americans and minorities, saying, In 2016, white families had a median net worth of $171,000, compared with $17,600 for blacks and $20,700 for…
Hansens Sonics Arena Group Offers KeyArena Redevelopment Proposal
Plans include splitting KeyArena into two music venues and a theater to complement proposed SoDo arena.
The investment group led by Chris Hansen is adding a new element to its plan for a new NBA/NHL arena in the SoDo neighborhood: redeveloping KeyArena in Lower Queen Anne to make it an indoor-outdoor concert venue. The Sonics Arena Investment Group, which includes Hansen, former Seattle SuperSonics executive Wally Walker, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson,…