Sky-high homes: 2 percent of Seattle renters plan to buy in next year

What’s the effect of soaring Seattle home prices?

Only two percent of renters in the local area plan to buy this year, more than five times fewer than the national average, according to a new survey sponsored by Zillow.

The national percentage of renters who say they plan to buy a home in the next year fell from 12.1 percent to 11.4 percent in the first six months of this year, and a smaller percentage of those surveyed said it was a good time to buy. The percentage of those surveyed who believe people who have recently bought a home will be better off in 10 years fell from 61 percent to 59 percent.

The Zillow Housing Confidence Index (ZHCI) is derived from the U.S. Housing Confidence Survey (HCS), which polls 10,000 homeowners and renters about housing market conditions, expectations for the future and their attitudes toward homeownership in 20 of the large metro areas in the United States. Zillow sponsors the ZHCI and HCS, which were developed and are maintained by Pulsenomics LLC, an economics research and consulting firm.

Seattle rose from number 10 to number two for housing confidence overall, and those surveyed expressed higher expectations for the housing market in the future. The Zillow study showed Seattle homes have appreciated 6.6 percent in the past year, yet agents report double-digit appreciation in many neighborhoods.