how expensive will seattle the seattle metro be in 10 years? be honest (real estate, lawyers)

[civic94]

I personally moved here in 2000 because its cheap to live here. i came from a place that is much more expensive.


now, due to the lack of land to build, zoning laws, Microsoft, amazon, expedia, boeing, and now the chinese from china are buying up the eastside (im not being racist, my ethnicity is chinese) how expensive will this area be in 10 years? will it be on par with Boston, San Fran, DC, LA, new york? throughout the last 5 years i have seen quite some gentrification in the CD, beacon hill, SLU, capitol hill, etc. I don't think its a bad idea but it prices people out.

my friends from Boston, new york, and San Fran, are struggling. even if they are doctors, if their kids or grand-kids cant get a high paying job, they will die seeing their offspring struggling, which is never good. Just being in a super high COL area is never good unless you have money or a very good job.If housing prices continue to rise its no good for anyone, unless your an owner and want to sell, then relocate to a cheaper area.

your thoughts? estimation of what the median house price is in Seattle will be?

[Hemlock140]

It won't catch up with those other, more expensive cities, they too will go up at at least the same rate. Unless one or more of those major employers goes away completely from the area I would expect that over the next 5 years it will end up higher than before the crash, at least 2006 prices. In 10 years it could be much higher than that, especially in the areas with great schools. We could never afford to buy the house we own now at the current value, having bought 20 years ago with a big does payment is a big advantage. On the other hand, we do see people in their 20s and 30s buying $500,000 homes now, including one of our kids and one of my employees who just bought a West Seattle triplex. We are also seeing children of friends in the SF Bay Area moving up here to take jobs because it's more affordable. A few that moved to SF from here have come back within 6 months-year.

[flyingsaucermom]

I think if it's happening here, it's happening in all the other higher COL cities and even beyond.
I have associates in Texas that are reporting a housing boom too. They are finding it difficult to get the house that they want because well-priced inventory moves as quickly there as it does here. Of course, I see the homes and I gawk at just what kind of home I could get there.... It'd feel like celebrity status!

[PrincessoftheCape]

I think the ultimate factors in determining the expense of a region are its physical limitations. At the end of the day, Seattle is built in an area without a lot of expansion potential. The mountains and the sound combine to preclude sprawl as seen in a place like, say, Phoenix, or Denver. What's more, the lack of a bridge connecting Seattle to the islands (something that, IMO, should be seriously considered), limits things all the more. People keep flooding this region, and we will run out of space to accommodate them.

[beautifulseattlehomes]

I can't speak to all the other areas but Manhattan where much of my family lives keeps going up and up. Around 2009 on the Upper West Side, a convertible three bedroom in a nice building went for between 1.7 to 2.2 and today you are lucky to find the same thing for less than 3 million and all cash buyers from overseas have flooded the market making competition fierce...of course the Wall Streeters have the cash to go head to head but doctors, lawyers, not so much! It is actually kind of crazy when you think about it...so in a nutshell, we won't catch up to that insanity but we will become prohibitively expensive to many in ten years. Seattle is a highly desirable place to live and people are going to keep coming!

[mike62pp3]

You can gather from everyone's perspective that, yes, there will be an increase in the cost of living but it is all relative as the rest of the country also increases in cost. In general, Seattle has always been cheaper than the bigger cities like New York and San Francisco. While things may seem expensive here, when compared to other cities we actually have it quite nice

[civic94]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

It won't catch up with those other, more expensive cities, they too will go up at at least the same rate. Unless one or more of those major employers goes away completely from the area I would expect that over the next 5 years it will end up higher than before the crash, at least 2006 prices. In 10 years it could be much higher than that, especially in the areas with great schools.

I believe once a the median price of a house in a seattle address hits 800k, thats when many people will seriously think about relocating. maybe to spokane, portland, tacoma, or somewhere else. I believe within 10 years time it might get there. Seattles economy is very good compared to the rest of the country, as there is many big companies in this area that pay very well, and of course, then there are services that cater to those employees of those big companies.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by civic94

I believe once a the median price of a house in a seattle address hits 800k, thats when many people will seriously think about relocating. maybe to spokane, portland, tacoma, or somewhere else. I believe within 10 years time it might get there. Seattles economy is very good compared to the rest of the country, as there is many big companies in this area that pay very well, and of course, then there are services that cater to those employees of those big companies.

Perhaps, but salaries here for the kind of jobs that can afford the median priced home are also going up, and are higher in general than the cheaper cities you mentioned.

[branh0913]

Boston is already cheaper than Seattle. At least according to anything I've read. Boston doesn't have an insanely high cost of living on average, but I'm sure the upper tier neighborhoods may cost a pretty penny.

[jjinla]

Look at the taxes in Boston before making that statement. 50% of every dollar I made living in the NE went to the Feds, state, tolls, real estate and school taxes, etc.