I wa in Japan during their long deflationary spiral. It wasn’t til years later that I even knew they were in one.

No way you could tell while you were there. Things seemed hunky dory.

It’s one reason that I can’t figure out why people are so “scared” of deflation.

I don’t know, maybe they weren’t as big of shopaholics as they’d been in the 80’s but the stores were still full.

You got me.???

Although these condos cost a lot now, the same units may be cheaper in the future. These units could very well become the middle-class housing that Seattle needs.

Now they have a big chunk o’ ching in the bank, a condo downtown, and they eat out every night because: #1 They can afford it. #2 Construction of the Whole Foods in South Lake Union isn’t finished yet.

Well done, B Boomers~! I’d probably have done the same thing.

Or maybe it’s the young’uns who are freaking out because they feel the need for a foot in the door to RE, and they’re not willing to wait to see if prices will come down.

IMO it’s probably both groups.

It’s like having your own private hotel room in the city.

From a tax standpoint, I can see why the city would want this – units that bring alot of revenue, but don’t use much in services.

It has the feeling of a fad, so I doubt these places will remain unused forever, and the buyers probably won’t sweat selling them at a loss.

These people are less than 10% of the population, but hold 40% of the wealth (just read that recently).

This doesn’t mean I think there’s an unlimited “well” of people waiting to buy $1m condos. It’s just that 11,000 units isn’t as much as it might seem, given how many people there are moving into Seattle or buying second homes to be near their kids, etc.

At any rate, I also don’t particularly care if big condo developers go bankrupt through over-building or have to sell many units for a loss/zero profits :-)

Where are these 11,000 “wealthy” Seattle condo buyers coming from? The same was said about many inflated coastal markets, with the assertion the wealthy will somehow absorb overdevelopment. Just look at San Diego or Las Vegas. They built–but did those “wealthy” buyers come?

There are only so many “wealthy” people to live in condos (cough, cough). That’s a worn-out pitch from condo “investment” seminars, now defunct but somehow still ringing true to hopeful ears.

So these must be for the working rich, but there just aren’t that many of those.

We certainly have our share of lawyers, architects, biotechies and the residual .comer, as well as Group Health and the Fred Hutch.

There may be a couple of realtors, mortgage brokers, and developers downtown too. ;)

But I just don’t see that many jobs that provide silly-money to spend on high-end condos. The health sciences just don’t attract that many high-end posititions, and from my experience they aren’t into the status associated with downtown living. Mostly family types that are conservative with their money and thinking about a comfortable retirement and a quiet, family-oriented neighborhood.

Color me confused as to who the buyers of all these condos is going to be.