‘An impossible dream to own a home in Seattle’: KIRO hosts debate luxury home listing surge as high taxes take center stage

Luxury home listings above $2 million in King County surged nearly 84% from Jan. 1 to May 14 compared to the same period last year, according to FOX 13. An agent with Huntington and Ellis told the media outlet the number one group moving to Nevada shifted from California to Seattle.

While the report cites high taxes as a major factor in pushing people out of Seattle, KIRO host Spike O’Neill said it “reeks of piling on.”

“If you look at a demographic that has the ability to own a luxury-level home and relocate, I think you’re probably accomplished in the twilight of your life,” he said on “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “Maybe you already were in a position where, look, it’s retirement time. These people aren’t selling their luxury homes and moving to Iowa or Connecticut or Virginia.”

Meanwhile, KIRO fill-in host Mike Lewis wasn’t so sure, saying the surge in listings could be driven in part by Washington’s tax policies, not just retirement.

“It seems to me that what’s going on here is what people have suspected for a long time,” he said. “There is this idea that if we cut taxes for people making a lot of money, they will, in turn, invest that money into maybe expanding their business, employing more people, doing whatever it takes, that money flows back into the economy and raises the boats, all boats. The studies have shown that that’s not always true. In fact, in many cases it is not true. What people tend to do is sock it away.”

‘It’s not an equivalency game’: KIRO host questions Seattle’s tax structure

Mike questioned why the tax system favors top earners who already pay a lower percentage, and pushed back on the idea that a surge in listings means homeowners are actually leaving.

“Everything out there that we buy, every single thing, milk to a new car, you know what — it costs the same for me as it does for someone who’s a billionaire, but it’s a much higher percentage of my earnings,” he said. “It’s not an equivalency game. So making a tax structure that imagines it’s an equivalency game has always been kind of silly. A surge in homes being listed, which is where we started this whole discussion, does not mean a surge in homes being sold.”

Mike said he’s still shocked that he owns a home in Seattle.

“I’ve been lucky, big time lucky,” he said.

Spike shared that he’s watched his children’s dreams move farther and farther away from Seattle.

“My oldest is recently married. They’re in their mid-late 30s, the couple, and they think it’s an impossible dream to own a home in Seattle,” he said.

“It is for many people,” Mike replied.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to John Curley weekday afternoons from 3 – 7 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Follow @https://twitter.com/jcurleyshow