Buy low... Sell high... What Seattle neighborhoods have the greatest headroom and momentum for home value appreciation? (Spokane: top neighborhoods)

[treuphax]

Buy low, sell high. (Even if there are no immediate plans to sell in the next few years.)

Isn't that what every homebuyer hopes for?

The top neighborhoods may still appreciate, but their value may be mature and grow more slowly. Getting into a neighborhood before it peaks and gentrification is in full bloom would make the most sense. Other neighborhoods with intractable problems may stagnate or deteriorate instead.

What areas are most promising in this respect? Share opinions about development and trajectory of riding the wave of gentrification...

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by treuphax

Buy low, sell high. (Even if there are no immediate plans to sell in the next few years.)

Isn't that what every homebuyer hopes for?

The top neighborhoods may still appreciate, but their value may be mature and grow more slowly. Getting into a neighborhood before it peaks and gentrification is in full bloom would make the most sense. Other neighborhoods with intractable problems may stagnate or deteriorate instead.

What areas are most promising in this respect? Share opinions about development and trajectory of riding the wave of gentrification...

A few thoughts come to mind:
1. Some of this depends on where we are in the real estate cycle. Despite what some real estate agents say, real estate doesn't always go up. Over the long haul it usually does, but there will be periods where it goes up, and then periods where it's flat or goes down. Usually, towards the end of the up periods, "lesser" neighborhoods will increase in price more than the other neighborhoods, before the market turns flat or goes down. Before the crash of 2007, South Seattle and South King County were going gangbusters, and then when the crash hit, those areas went down the most. Right now that seems to be repeating. As houses have become unaffordable for a lot of people, and with limited inventory, the so called "ghettos" are appreciating the most.
2. Some areas get special treatment. if you'd bought a house in South Lake Union 20 years ago, you'd have made out like a bandit. The Central district always had nice old houses and is close to downtown, so it was just a matter of time before it became gentrified and expensive. it's gotten there, but is still somewhat less expensive than other popular Seattle neighborhoods. Right now they're building the First Hill streetcar line at the same time they're replacing the huge Yesler Terrace housing project with mostly market rate housing. The nearby area should become more expensive. So, the east end of the International District, the West end of the Central District...there is a largely residential area just east of Rainier Avenue heading up the hill towards 23rd. That would be the kind of place you're looking for.
3. Two things that I always view as signs are where the gay community is going, and where artists are going. As well as whether there are new independent coffee shops and microbreweries. So...the town of Burien has the artists, the independent coffee shops and the microbrewery. I'm not aware of a gay presence, but wouldn't be at all surprised. Burien has seen a fair amount of gentrification, but is still seen as slummy, which is good from an investment standpoint. It's a quick drive into downtown Seattle, and has Puget sound. White Center has the coffee places. microbreweries, artists, and hipsters, but is even thought more of as a ghetto. It is currently part of unincorporated King County, which limits it's appreciation for now, but the county is trying hard to rid itself of it's unincorporated areas, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it annexed by the city of Seattle.

[skiffrace]

Forget Seattle - you missed the bus already.
The real estate agents and current owners will obviously tell you otherwise - they play the Greater Fool Theory game with you.
Looking for market with growth potential: look in Boise, Spokane, Corpus Christi (but not Austin, too late already as well) or Salt Lake City instead. Even the neighboring Portland, though already pricey, yet still noticeably cheaper than Seattle, has better growth potential.

[JBVirtuoso]

Originally Posted by skiffrace

Forget Seattle - you missed the bus already.
The real estate agents and current owners will obviously tell you otherwise - they play the Greater Fool Theory game with you.
Looking for market with growth potential: look in Boise, Spokane, Corpus Christi (but not Austin, too late already as well) or Salt Lake City instead. Even the neighboring Portland, though already pricey, yet still noticeably cheaper than Seattle, has better growth potential.

Those are all tiny cities in isolated areas with weak job markets. I don't know exactly what the OP has in mind, but it seems a bit silly to move somewhere just because it has cheap housing. There are a hundred other factors that are way more important. And it's not like there's a limit on how high housing prices can go, so it's reasonable to expect that Seattle housing will continue to appreciate. If New York and San Francisco are any indication, there's actually quite a bit of room for prices to keep rising.

[Hemlock140]

No one can predict the future, but some of the factors that affect the rate of increased value are those given by Ira. Smaller cities without a big local job base may have increases too but they are less likely to be sustained. In the Seattle area with so many big and growing employers, and limits on new developments farther out due to the growth management act, the most likely way to benefit financially is to get in early on an up-and-coming neighborhood and hope it continues the trend.

[skidamarink]

I have faith in Greenwood appreciating in value in the near future.