The City of Seattle is growing at one of the fastest paces in the entire nation and it’s not slowing down. Our member, Tim Lenihan, one of the great experts on Seattle Real Estate will reprise his talk of last year on the prospects for the future of Seattle.
Tim has been in the Seattle real estate market for over 18 years as a top performing real estate broker… AND a University Sunrise Rotarian for 18 years as well. He was Windermere Real Estate’s top producing broker for many years and recently left Windermere after 15 years to start up his own Brokerage, Modern Den Real Estate + Development in March of 2020 (terrible timing). He manages this growing boutique brokerage of 11 brokers while still running his own top real estate practice. In addition, he co-owns a development company focused on building high end traditional style homes within the City of Seattle. When he isn’t working, he loves spending time with his family, wife Celeste, and two boys Rocco and Mercer (who now are 9 and 11 for all of you who have been here for a while).
Program Notes by Scott Jamieson:
Tim reviewed various demographics that showed that our real estate market is still “hot” despite increasing interest rates and a significant decline in the stock market. He reported that in the greater Seattle market, home prices have increased by a staggering 25% in the past 12 months. He indicated that this is not a sustainable situation and will be influenced, as before, by interest rates, the stock market, inflation and (normal) seasonal trends. This phenomenon was caused by supply and demand forces, with low inventory and high demand, low interest rates and an abundance of available capitol, especially in “tech industry” real estate shoppers. While he sees signs of a softening market, a real estate “bubble” is unlikely. He sees the upcoming “adjustments” as not only normal but healthy for the market overall. Tim briefly explained other issues (and problems) regarding zoning, especially in traditionally single family neighborhoods. He also briefly reviewed the likelihood of a softening of the rental market. He remains “bullish” on the Seattle market in general but expressed that the 10 year meteoric rise in home prices (and rental rates) will not continue.
Here are the notes from his prior presentation in March 2021:
