Housing Affordability Returns to Washington!

Amidst the gloom and doom that has been around the housing and real estate picture, here’s another good news. An independent research group studied housing affordability here in Washington. The results?

Current home prices, interest rates and other local conditions bring affordability to 1999 levels! What does that mean? While home prices dropped back to 2005 level, it’s much easier to afford a home now than in 2005!

Here are a few great points from the report:

1. There is no national housing market! Aggregated averages don’t really show what’s going on in locally in WA. So don’t get disturbed by national data as the housing situation in Washington appears to be better.
2. Washington did not experience massive overbuilding! While it’s hard to believe (we all know that new home construction was booming), it turns out there was much more building activity in other states (CA, FL, NV). WA didn’t attract builders too much because of high lot prices and… the rain. :). The outcome? Comparing to other states, Washington doesn’t have that much extra inventory.
3. Washington has moderate foreclosure rate! There fewer foreclosures in WA than other major Western States. That means that there’s less “shadow inventory” accumulated here to drag the market down in the future.
4. The Great Recession affected Washington less! Due to lower than national unemployment (almost an entire point) and strong economy potential, it’s expected that in 2010 personal income in WA will grow 4.1 percent vs. 1.6 percent at the national level. Wow, another surprise! I hope your salary reflects that as well :).

The report is very easy to read and contains great graphs that illustrate the facts. The full housing affordability report is available on WA Realtor’s website. (Courtesy of Michael Luis and Associates, an independent research firm).

Latest Seattle Price Reductions:

Showing properties 1 - 4 of 500+. See more city of Seattle real estate.
(all data current as of 5/20/2012)

1. $214,000 : 201 Galer St, Unit 326, Seattle
   
   1 bed, 1 full bath

   Home size: 728 sq ft

   Year built: 1908

   Parking spots: 1

   Days on market: 2
   
2. $960,000 : 1104 Alki Ave SW, Seattle
   
   3 beds, 1 full, 2 part baths

   Home size: 1,980 sq ft

   Lot size: 2,880 sqft

   Year built: 1979

   Days on market: 134
   
3. $960,000 : 1100 Alki Ave SW, Seattle
   
   2 beds, 1 full bath

   Home size: 2,010 sq ft

   Lot size: 3,360 sqft

   Year built: 1960

   Parking spots: 1

   Days on market: 134
   
4. $960,000 : 1001 Alki Ave SW, Seattle
   
   3 beds, 1 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,060 sq ft

   Lot size: 3,600 sqft

   Year built: 1915

   Days on market: 134
   

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.