Amid great fanfare the Seattle Condo Expo was held this past weekend. The event provided a great opportunity for potential buyers to get a feel of the upcoming condominium projects in the downtown & Bellevue areas. And, many of the presentations provided useful and insightful information about the future of Seattle’s condo market.
For consumers a good voice is another consumer. Matt has excellent recaps of the presentations from the condo expo on his Urnblivn.com blog.
Matthew Garnder on Seattle area economics and forecast
Blaine Weber on High density housing trends
My thoughts about the expo can be found here.
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May 21st, 2007 at 4:46 pm
I understand the great benefits to dense city living. I am all for the idea of having 50 people above me and 10 below. My question is where do the people that make more than the limit for low income and less than comfortable wages for the 53 floor with a view? I’ll tell you…No where in the city of Seattle unfortunately these monstorous skyscrapers are pushing the working poor out of the city. Too bad, I would have liked living in one of the projects going up I am sure. Anyone want to buy me one haha!
May 22nd, 2007 at 12:59 pm
Nick - That’s an excellent point you bring up. Most of the new construction are catering to a small segment of society with higher than average income levels. And, it leaves out a significant number of potential homeowners from in-city living, including many of the people who work in the downtown core.
One successful project, Moda, offered lower price points (smaller size units) and they nearly sold out their 250 during their first weekend of sales (note: price per square foot was about $500, on par with some of the higher-end condos). This is possibly the most realistic model for developers in order to accommodate the regular working class.