Seattle finally cools...

No, we're not talking about the weather. We're talking about the housing market. We've given up the crown after more than 2 years as the hottest housing market in the nation. While home value growth has slowed across much of the nation, in Seattle our home value growth has slowed enough to drop us from 1st to 12th according to Zillow.

In 2017, Seattle home prices were appreciating at more than 14% a year, but in 2018 we're averaging 9%. Seattle is still doing great! Historically, the rate of annual appreciation in the Seattle area is 5.5%. 9% growth in housing prices, which is 3x average growth in salary and wages, still means Seattle is a sellers market and the slowdown is really only a slight market adjustment and not a huge cool down as many have predicted.

So, what's the reason for the slowdown? Some say the millennial home buyers can no longer afford the higher real estate prices in Seattle and our inventory has finally started meeting some of the customer demand. In addition, rental rates are increasing much slower than the past few years, putting less pressure on renters to buy. Rents are only increasing .3% a year in 2018 as compared to the 5% increase in 2018.

If you're looking for the hottest market, check out Vegas! It might be a gamble, but homes are appreciating faster in Vegas than anywhere else in the nation.