Back in February, I wrote about Zillow’s prediction that Seattle, Washington would be one of the hottest housing markets in 2016. Turns out they were right. Seattle has generated a slew of headlines this year, mainly due to the rapidly rising home prices in the area.
Well, here we go again. The city is now expected to be one of the hottest markets in 2017, as well.
Seattle One of the Hottest Housing Markets in 2017?
Economists and housing analysts are beginning to offer predictions for 2017, and the Seattle real estate market is once more standing out from the pack.
Veros Real Estate Solutions, a California-based company that specializes in property valuations and analytics, recently published a real estate market forecast for major metro areas across the U.S. In their view, the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metropolitan area could experience the biggest home-price gains from June 2016 to June 2017 (among metro areas that were analyzed).
According to their report, published on July 11:
“The top forecast markets are showing appreciation in the 10% to 11% range with the Pacific Northwest and Colorado having a lock on 8 of the top 10 … Seattle, Wash. (+11.2%), Portland, Ore. (+11.1%), Denver, Colo. (+9.9%) and other metropolitan areas in these same vicinities appear very strong over the next year.”
This outlook is based on the company’s latest VeroFORECASTSM, a quarterly forecast for the national real estate market that covers the 12-month period ending June 1, 2017.
Home Prices Now Higher Than Ever
In June, house values in Seattle rose to a new all-time high. According to a recent report from ATTOM Data Solutions (the parent company of RealtyTrac), the median home price in Seattle rose to $385,500 in June of this year — the highest it has ever been.
“Home prices in the greater Seattle area continue to appreciate above average rates,” said Matthew Gardner, chief economist at Windermere Real Estate. “This is clearly an indication of not only continued faith in the housing market, but also the buoyancy of the regional economy.”
Population growth has a lot to do with this. Seattle’s bustling job market — and its booming tech industry in particular — are luring the young and upwardly mobile from elsewhere in the country. This increases demand for housing, at a time when supply is limited. Home prices tend to rise under such conditions.
According to a recent article published by Sammamish Mortgage, a Bellevue, Washington-based mortgage company: “Despite a recent uptick in construction activity, there just aren’t enough homes on the market [in Seattle] to satisfy the current level of demand.”
It’s that supply and demand thing again.
Zillow’s Forecast for 2017: Additional Gains
The real estate information company Zillow has offered another prediction for the Seattle housing market in 2017. But it’s a bit more modest than the double-digit price projection made by Veros (above).
In August 2016, the company published this statement on its website: “Seattle home values have gone up 16.7% over the past year and Zillow predicts they will rise 8.1% within the next year.” This is based on the company’s “Zestimate,” an estimate of current market value.
Here’s the bottom line to all of these stats and projections: Seattle, one of the hottest real estate markets in 2016, is expected to continue sizzling in 2017.
Disclaimer: This story contains predictions and forecasts for the Seattle housing market in 2017. Those forward-looking statements were provided by third parties not associated with our company. As a rule, the Home Buying Institute does not make claims or assertions about future housing conditions.