Seattle Expecting a Housing Shortage by 2010
Channel 2 news broadcasted a story today about the future expected housing shortage in Seattle. This may come as a surprise to many people but what the locals don’t always pay attention to is what is really happening locally versus nationally. The story sited numerous reasons for the pending shortage including a consistent flow of people moving to Seattle. Jobs are still pretty good here. They also noted that many relocating to Seattle have not been able to buy yet because they can’t sell their home elsewhere but once those homes sell they will likely be buyers here too. Seattle was also listed as being one of the top 5 cities for graduating college students to get a job and in 3-4 years, those ex college students will be wanting to buy their first condo or home.
Another reason is that not only is there less and less land to build on but the process to create a new development such as the Issaquah Highlands etc. is about 4 years and builders are finding it increasingly harder to get loans. In 2006 there were 14,339 project permits, 2007 11,798 and 2008 only 4,268. The projected demand in 2010 is for 106,814 new homes vs. the inventory of 66,066. So with the limited land to build, fewer permits being requested and loans harder for builders to get - it doesn’t look like that gap will be filled anytime soon which will result in prices moving up higher and too many people chasing too few properties - yet again.
written by: Kerri Sheehan-realtor, Keller Williams
