local real estate news, statistics, and commentary without the sales spin.
It’s been a while since we took a look at how rents are comparing to home prices in the Seattle area. Both home prices and rents have been climbing quite a bit in the Seattle area lately. We would expect this with a booming local economy, but if home price gains been significantly outpacing rent…
With home prices approaching or even exceeding their 2007 peak levels in parts of the Seattle area, there has been renewed talk about whether we’re in another housing bubble or not. This week I’d like to go back to the same data I used in 2005 and 2006 to definitively recognize the bubble at a…
Local home prices gone from undervalued to overvalued in just a year. In January 2013, Seattle-area home prices as measured by the Case-Shiller Home Price Index were four or five percent below where local per capita incomes would suggest they should have been and one percent below where rents suggested. By December 2013, massive gains…
There have been a few stories in the Seattle Times recently about the rapid rise of local rents: August 24: Soaring rents force lifestyle changes September 23: Local apartment rents continue climbing So I thought it would be a good time to take a look at how rents are comparing to home prices, since they…
By request, here’s an update to my table of housing stats for the top 30 largest cities in the country. Actually this time it’s the top 31, since Las Vegas got ousted from #30 by Oklahoma City the last time I did this list (in late 2010). Also of note: Detroit’s ongoing dramatic decline in…