Source: US News —
For decades, Seattle has been synonymous with some of the brands that call it home – Starbucks, Amazon, Microsoft (headquartered in nearby Redmond, Washington) are just a few.
Seattle is even home to national real estate brokerage Redfin and real estate information company Zillow.
With so many major companies that make technology and widespread industry domination part of their business, it’s no surprise that the Seattle housing market has earned the reputation of a high-priced place to live.
Using information from the U.S. News Housing Market Index, we’ve compiled the information you need to get a grasp on the current state of the market. Read on for details of how Seattle’s housing market has changed in the last year and what you can expect in 2023.
How the Seattle Housing Market Changed in 2022
Permits for new construction of single-family homes in 2022 declined significantly compared to 2021 – by 36% year over year as of November 2022, the most recent month available at the time of publication.
Despite some ups and downs, the number of building permits of single-family homes in the Seattle area has been on a rapid downward trend since May 2022, when permits reached their peak of 788. The Seattle metro area approved 1,243 single-family housing permits between September and November 2022, roughly at 35% decline compared to the same time period in 2021.
Multifamily housing permits for buildings with at least two units experienced a 17.4% decline year over year in November 2022, but that decline is in large part due to a surge in permit activity toward the close of 2021. January 2022 started with more than 2,140 permitted units, a nearly 50% increase compared to January 2021.
Seattle Housing Supply and Demand
The Seattle market has 1.9 months of housing supply as of November 2022, based on Redfin data, which is lower than the 2.7 months of housing supply for the entire U.S. housing market. This puts Seattle’s housing market squarely in a seller’s market, with few homes on the market compared to demand.
