Will rents ever come down? (Seattle, Bellevue: transplants, apartments, rental)

[Seattle4321]

Is there anyway rents and housing prices could go down in the near future? What about rent control? What do you guys think about the high rents?

[Flightoficarus87]

Rents down in the near future? Only if the job growth/economy were to suddenly crash, and/or a large increase of housing supply is able to be added to the city/area on short notice.

Unfortunately, with the way things are looking, it probably isn't going to get better any time soon. Less restrictive zoning laws/subsidies for developers to build new affordable housing is probably a better long-term solution than rent control to keep prices in check. As it stands now, there simply isn't enough housing to meet demand from all the incoming transplants, and those moving here for high paying jobs are able to price out locals of more modest income for housing.

[CityWok]

I think once builders (notably downtown apartments/condos/suites) can catch up to the demand, it would help the prices in certain areas. It's all relative, but in some areas already this has helped. For example, I've heard some people say Bellevue has some amazing deals on apartment living.

If you prefer a house, then I'd say it depends on the area. Kirkland and Woodinville I think are stabling off now, as many of the jobs are going to downtown Seattle, and those areas are close to city, but not ideally close enough, compared to Bellevue, Issaquah, etc.

So if you can master the traffic, you should start seeing some more reasonable prices in those nicer areas now. I'm seeing some houses there rent for what they did back in 2008. Bellevue and Capitol Hill are the inverse.

[Seacove]

I don't think Kirkland and Woodinville are cheaper to rent at all. I saw a home in a nice area rent for $3500. over a year ago and those prices have not gone down since. Kirkland is well-located and even the slightly shabbier areas are still going to have high rents. Even Bothell is going up and that used to be the economical choice. From a pricing standpoint, Lynnwood is the new Bothell and Lynnwood is far less charming than Bothell. There's just not a lot of rental inventory for people that want to rent houses rather than apartments.

[CrazyDonkey]

It's a matter of artificial scarcity. The tighter the supply, the higher the prices (or rents). Escalating housing prices/rents serve the purposes of developers, homeowners, and politicians/officials (the latter due to increased taxes from higher property values).

In the past, periodic "Boeing busts" helped keep housing prices/rents affordable. In future, it'll take a Microsoft or Amazon bust (or both) to have a similar impact. Could happen...