Trends
For data-driven stories, to appear under “Trends” menu

Space constraints are, of course, part of the reason for micro-housing’s meteoric rise in Seattle and many other West Coast hubs, where land for new development is limited and affordability is low.

HomeSmart’s yard signs will now have QR codes and NFC (Near Field Communication) tags allowing home shoppers to access property details.

Homes that are professionally staged not only attract more attention from potential buyers — they also sell faster and for more money, according to data from the National Association of Realtors’® 2025 Profile of Home Staging.

Given Seattle’s median home price of $888,951 and a maximum loan amount of $312,522, homebuyers need a down payment of $576,430 in order to afford monthly mortgage payments.

Despite the deceleration, the company, formerly known as CoreLogic, expects prices to rise another 4.9% over the next year.

The National Association of REALTORS’® Pending Home Sales Index rose 6.9% in March, compared to economists’ expectations of a smaller 1% gain.

Many of the priciest new listings this month are waterfront properties, including a $5.7 million home floating in Lake Union and a $4.3 million condo houseboat at Roanoke Reef.

The pace of sales rose 7.4% compared to February, topping analyst estimates by a large margin.

Given the city’s median annual household income of $208,630 for married couples, they have to spend 52% of their yearly earnings on mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance and other related costs.

The surprisingly large decline in the pace of housing starts comes as builder sentiment remains depressed by tariff worries and high prices.

The average apartment completed between 2015 and 2024 in Seattle is only 649 square feet. That’s about 57 square feet smaller than units built pre-2015.

The Seattle suburbs are home to all 10 of the most expensive properties sold last month, led by a $13.1 million estate on Mercer Island.

A majority of millennial home buyers would choose a smaller home if it offered better amenities, according to a new report from National Association of Home Builders.

“Each interaction indicates buyer interest in that home, and listings with higher engagement levels tend to sell faster and at or above the list price,” Zillow Senior Economist Kara Ng explained.

“In a plot twist, baby boomers have overtaken millennials — the largest U.S. population — to become the top generation of homebuyers,” said Jessica Lautz, NAR’s deputy chief economist and vice president of research.

The annual report surveyed agents in the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate network to find out how they’re helping clients get their homes ready to list.