Are We In a Real Estate Bubble In Washington/Puget Sound Region?

[ShowMeBryan]

Originally Posted by flyingsaucermom

If you broke even at $140k I’m not sure how you could afford more than a mobile home here. BTW some are really cute. There is one for sale nearby that I would buy in a heartbeat except it’s a one bedroom and in a 55+ community

That's why we're going to wait on purchasing ANYTHING for a few years, at least. We are getting rid of debt and saving. At least with my job we are basically location-independent with the exception of the need of being within about an hour of a decently-sized airport.

[WestGuest]

People are sheep and most flock to the same place. SW Washington is tranquil, especially scenic and not near as expensive as the other areas mentioned.

[pnwguy2]

To the op’s question, likely no. The trend to work from home is likely to continue. I am not sure after COVID goes away this changes. Perhaps some will go back to their offices, but some won’t. This will slow office construction in big cities and perhaps bring a recession or worse to the economy. Many are predicting a bad recession in ‘22. These things are predictable so get prepared.

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by freepelican

That's useful for other people but I should have clarified in my original post that I do not want to be anywhere near the city center. In fact, if I were to buy in Seattle, it would most likely need to be in the northwest portion of the city and I'm looking at places north of Seattle, probably close to the sound itself, although the railroad situation and the plane situation has put a damper on that.

Escalating prices, especially in desirable areas, can cause sellers to delay selling in hope of even higher prices, while buyers desperate to buy bid prices even higher. With WFH during the Pandemic becoming a permanent trend, such workers seeking to buy are sopping up available supply outside the Seattle metro - Aberdeen-Hoquiam is one of the hottest real estate markets in the country.

If new to the area, you might look at renting for a year.

What do you mean by "the railroad situation and the plane situation"?

[Greytraveler]

I am late to posting but IMO it is about supply and demand. Where we now live, people who wanted to move and live here and being able to work remotely have done so. Homes here that were being bid on and selling in hours after being listed are no more. Several in the hood have been for sale for weeks with no offers. I expect it could end up being the same as time goes by. I have been searching around Mount Vernon, Whidbey etc. and there are quite a few homes on the market that are empty plus some showing price reductions. Some significant. I am going to wait and see. Good luck.

[margaretBartle]

Originally Posted by freepelican

That's useful for other people but I should have clarified in my original post that I do not want to be anywhere near the city center. In fact, if I were to buy in Seattle, it would most likely need to be in the northwest portion of the city and I'm looking at places north of Seattle, probably close to the sound itself, although the railroad situation and the plane situation has put a damper on that.

Be sure to go north of Seattle, not to North Seattle.
The city leaders are moving the criminals, homeless and skid row denizens to north Seattle. This is a permanent change that will last for decades. If you go north of Seattle, like to Kenmore, Montlake Terrace, Shoreline, Innis Arden or further north, then that would be OK.

[freepelican]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

What do you mean by "the railroad situation and the plane situation"?

The railroad runs right along the sound, affecting every park/access on the sound along the way, plus interfering with the towns themselves in terms of major noise pollution, traffic issues, ferry issues, emergency services not being able to get to people, viewshed degradation, and potential disaster if one derails and they're getting worse, more frequent, and carrying more oil and coal. It is a major problem that most realtors don't seem to want to admit even if you directly ask them about it, let alone pointing it out.


The plane issue is from Boeing planes and military planes that are so loud they literally hurt your ears... you can't hear the news if it's on and you have to interrupt your telephone conversations. My cat runs and hides almost every time... sounds like a military invasion. There can be several an hour, starting very early, and I'm told if you purchase a nice house on one of the islands, you may have to deal with that all day and night at certain times of the year.


In short, it is RIDICULOUS and something really should be done about it. Need some federal laws/oversight/enforcement to address it in a real way. Moving away from fossil fuels will help as well.

[Gabor25]

Getting back to the question posed by the original post:

We have been in the home buying/selling market since May of 2021.Our search has been limited to Whatcom county i.e. Bellingham,Ferndale , Blaine.

At the present time late (September and October of this year),there is a definite downturn in the prices of the housing market.Not much, perhaps 2 to 5 percent, but it's there.

Whether this slight drop will persist into next spring is uncertain.That depends on mortgage rates and inventory.

The wild card is the continuing influx of high equity California residents to our area that destabilize the market.