We’ve been reading a lot of articles lately about how Seattle’s growth is slowing. Take these, headlines, for instance:
- Seattle’s frenetic growth may actually be slowing down (KUOW)
- The housing market in America’s most expensive cities is imploding (BoingBoing)
- Nation’s housing market may be headed for biggest slowdown in years (The Seattle Times)
- Is the housing market finally slowing down? (HousingWire)
- Washington state no longer has the nation’s fastest-climbing home prices (The Seattle Times)
If you just read headlines, this looks huge. A slow market! Low growth! Market imploding!
But although all these articles are true (except for the “imploding markets” one), the headlines alone don’t provide perspective.
Growth is slowing, but Seattle is still growing, and it’s still growing fast. One year ago, 74 people moved to Seattle each day, according to the Puget Sound Regional Council, whereas now, just 46 people move here each day. “Just” 46 each day.
The market isn’t warming up as quickly as it was, but it’s still getting hotter—and it was scalding already. Home-price growth has slowed to 8.4 percent, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service—but since when is 8.4 percent growth anywhere close to actually being slow?
As most of these articles go on to explain, this slowdown is far from a reversal. Housing prices aren’t dropping, and Seattle’s isn’t shrinking. In any other time, based on the current real estate conditions, we’d say home prices are shooting up and Seattle is booming. Perspective matters.
It’s still a seller’s market, and buyers still face a difficult road. Fortunately, we’re here to help.
