Consultants find spooky pricing for Seattle-area housing

Analysts from John Burns Real Estate Consulting reported that the 2012 and 2013 housing markets were like a kid gorging herself after a huge night of trick-or-treating.

Economic conditions were set for a solid recovery and the market seized the opportunity.

Fast forward to the present, or “the comedown after the sugar rush.” Housing fundamentals in most markets are slightly softer. Investor demand has slowed, construction volumes have increased, and affordability has waned. Price appreciation has let up on the gas pedal, and new home community sales rates are now lower than a year ago in most markets.

What did the company find spooky about the Seattle area?

“Declining affordability and rising land prices and construction costs spooks builders,” according to Burns’ analysts. “Home purchases in Seattle’s A locations such as the East Side suburbs are already limited to the elite few who can afford them, and the market’s expansion northward into Snohomish and southward into Pierce continues to manifest itself in rising land and home prices in these traditionally more attainably priced”communities.”