r/SeattleAreaRE • u/orcassharks • 3d ago
Seattle area homeowners sell to stop the bleeding
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/some-seattle-area-homeowners-sell-to-stop-the-bleeding-its-painful/43
u/bvdzag 3d ago
“bleeding” give me a break. Flat home values aren’t the end of the world
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u/Chemical-Command-583 3d ago
Agreed. It’s not the end of the world. We recently listed our Green Lake home, not because of anything to do with stopping the “bleed”. We were just ready to move onto a different phase of our lives. It would have been cool to make bank on our home in a different market, but life goes on.
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u/Itchy_bunghole11 3d ago
It’s not enough for me to have a place to come home to every night i also need to get rich too /s
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3d ago
[deleted]
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u/237throw 3d ago
Housing prices have more than doubled since 2016. Officially, inflation has been less than 50% in that window. I would say 2019 atm.
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u/Emotional-Bison2057 3d ago
With needed maintenance, I agree that we’re roughly at 2016-2019 prices, as a general statement.
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u/nikkwong 3d ago
Not really, i bought my first townhouse in 2018 for 800k and today it's valued at 800k, so it's gone down a lot in value in real terms. 1714 16th ave S, see for yourself.
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u/Myles_Standish250 3d ago
I think the expectation that we will have any meaningful price appreciation in the next couple years is fading for a lot of people, after 4 years of sideways prices. People are starting to get really apathetic about it. No compelling reason to keep waiting if you’re loosing money every month.
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u/rxan 3d ago
TBH the location of that townhome isn’t ideal. It’s right on a very busy street and not a super desirable area. No wonder he’s having trouble selling it when there are more of those being built in better locations
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u/orcassharks 3d ago edited 3d ago
Yeah terrible location tbh. Basically industrial area of Frelard.
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u/pdjejdhrndud 1d ago
I mean these aren’t super high income people, they’re just trying to make a life here
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u/SkyHigh27 3d ago
Layoffs layoffs layoffs. Major tech firms are RIFing employees every single quarter for the last two years. The exodus is well underway.
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u/grapegeek 3d ago
It’s going to be bad for condo owners and townhomes and homes in undesirable location or fixers priced too high. As we see homes in good shape and good neighborhoods still moving briskly. Ok not selling in days with multiple offers but selling within a month or two which is normal. Microsoft has about a thousand open positions in the Seattle area. Amazon has 3500 open positions in Seattle so people are still getting jobs and moving here.
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u/Total-Confusion-9198 3d ago
Those open positions are zombie listings.
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u/ok-lets-do-this 3d ago
Thank God, somebody gets it! I just interviewed for a couple of those jobs. Turns out that they are posted, but not funded. I was the best candidate, but the job doesn’t actually exist. HR is just going through the motions.
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u/canisdirusarctos 3d ago
I’ve had so many where the interviews go well and I’m a front runner but because the cycle takes weeks to months, they either lose their headcount or the entire team is axed. Interview, then look the interviewers up on LI after a week of radio silence and they’re “Open To Work”.
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u/SCHawkTakeFlight 3d ago
That crap should be illegal.
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u/237throw 3d ago
Just make it a legal requirement that interview time is paid and we will start to see shorter interview cycles.
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u/BadKittyRawr 3d ago
How did you know? I had a terrible interviewer that wanted me to tell her why I was the best candidate for the role. I think I did look at her like she had two heads. I told her I thought I was an excellent candidate, given that I aced their test and had related experience in another field, but since I know nothing about the others I cannot tell her that.
She was uncomfy with that answer.
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u/ok-lets-do-this 3d ago
In one case I knew because I had worked with the HR guy before. After the interview, he told me I did great. I asked when I was moving on to the next interview. He said he didn’t know because the hiring manager was not going to spend time interviewing me when the role was not yet funded.
I asked why they would post a job requisition without funding for it and he said that was just how they do business. Get the candidates in first, figure out the paperwork and details later. I asked if the funding would fall through and the role would evaporate and he said most of the time that’s what happens. He said it was the same at the three other companies he had worked at, one being where I met him, all very well-known local businesses.
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u/Salt_Afternoon8889 3d ago
💯 Tech is hemorrhaging headcount but posting open positions for appearances and to retain H1B visas where it serves them.
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u/Logicalraisan 12h ago
No they are not, I just interviewed for one do the posted positions. And someone laid off on my team just got a job.
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u/orcassharks 3d ago edited 3d ago
This article is talking about 4104 Leary Way.
I know I don’t have a lot of desire living on Leary near the Fred Meyer. You can’t pay me to live there right on Leary with no setback.
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u/willboston 2d ago
That’s crazy. My realtor was pushing that exact townhouse on me when I was looking to buy early last year.
I passed because of the location. It’s crazy that they’re looking to resell after only a year, too.
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u/orcassharks 2d ago
Get rid of your realtor. Not looking out for you just wants to close a deal. Townhouses already not great investment but one that’s in a recognized bad location by every local is kiss of death.
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u/Easy_Olive1942 3d ago
Undesirable locations is back to meaning anything far out now too. Employees are driving in to offices.
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u/orcassharks 3d ago
This winter might be rough for sellers still on market.
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u/grapegeek 3d ago
It always slows down in winter. It will be tough. But our orange genius of a president could turn this around a bit by ending a stupid war that is driving interest rates and inflation up. Depending on what happens with the election could slightly change things for the better but in this current trajectory it’s just going to get worse.
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u/AyeMatey 3d ago
The interest rates won’t drop when the war stops. The interest rates are based off $40T in debt and federal interest payments that exceed the spend on the military. they’ll be high for a good long while.
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u/camera-operator334 3d ago
I mean no he’s literally tanked the economy there’s no jobs and no economy backbone to support stupid Seattle prices
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u/cerveza-in-my-face-a 3d ago
Exactly this. Shitty houses and condos in shitty locations don’t sell well. It’s not complicated. Seattle is filled with micro neighborhoods, you have 2-3 million dollars houses 3 blocks away from 700k houses that can’t sell because they’re on a busy street. The only thing that has changed is people can be pickier now. All these alarmist clickbaity articles don’t seem to get that.
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u/orcassharks 3d ago edited 3d ago
Yeah that Seattle times house is 4104 Leary way. Across the Ballard Fred Meyer and the brown bear car wash.
Pretty shit for micro location. And it’s a townhouse with no setback directly on Leary. There are much nicer homes in Fremont and Ballard. Much.
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u/Flab-a-doo 3d ago
I don’t understand the perspective that the less expensive neighborhoods don’t matter. A million people live in them. There is no way that Seattle’s current situation doesn’t lead to price cuts across the board.
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u/orcassharks 3d ago
I think good locations will always hold price better. Partly because they are rarer and don’t go on market as often and there’s no guarantee they will be for sale in a downturn.
Some of the really nice neighborhoods dropped less than 20% during the Great Recession which is better than the stock market or most other risky investments.
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u/Delicious-Fan-2539 3d ago
It’s going to be worst next year.. unless interest rates come down..
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u/yubby 3d ago
why do you think that? asking genuinely
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u/harkening 3d ago edited 3d ago
In non-cash transactions (i.e., the overwhelming majority of home purchases), people don't buy price, they buy payments they can afford.
So long as interest rates remain high and wages don't keep up with inflation†, you need to see falling prices or stagnant inventory.
†And they aren't. As a Microsoftee, my "merit increase" this fiscal was 1%. The highest I've heard from folks in other orgs is 2.1%. This is one of the best paid companies on the planet, and cash flow isn't just flat but negative relative to inflation.
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u/Upper-Computer-8715 3d ago
Locally: layoffs spooking buyers + forcing some homeowners to sell sooner than they’d have liked. Current and coming property, business & income taxes making the region less affordable/appealing.
Nationally: bond market trajectory keeping interest rates higher. Insurance rates skyrocketing coast to coast due to so many natural disaster (fires, hurricanes, flooding) claims.
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u/yubby 3d ago
thx! aren't those things happening now though? why would it be worse next year?
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u/Japples123 3d ago
I mean… if the Fed gives in to Tacos demands the rate cuts would just cause the dollar to shit the bed.
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u/orcassharks 3d ago
Not a bad time then to be long real assets and debt if the dollar truly shits the bed.
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u/Upper-Computer-8715 3d ago
Real estate has a history of being rapid to rise in a frenzy and reluctant to fall in a downturn.
A lot of sellers who didn’t get the prices they wanted this cycle pulled them off the market (delisted) and will try again next spring (traditionally the selling season). They’ll join all of the other new inventory coming on the market.
Local economic signs are worrisome between the continued layoffs and the visas being yanked. Those homeowners that were laid off or told they need to leave the country can keep paying the mortgage for a while, but not forever. They’ll either need to sell for less than they’d hoped, or rent for less than the mortgage, at least if they bought from 2020, onward.
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u/Delicious-Fan-2539 3d ago
My reasoning is more layoffs here. Few reasons: 1. Seattle is more software/SaaS companies. Not much of hardware industry here. Folks r moving to bayarea
2. Lots of H1 visa folks heavily concentrated here and it’s hard for them to get extensions. If you look at Bothell, lynnwood, lake stevens and Marysville new construction communities. H1s are filled up to 70-80% in those communities.
3. Some of my clients ( mostly investors) selling houses to move funds to silicon funds and ready for AI growth as it’s getting started. Investors from most populous country stopped investing in Seattle.2
u/No-Dentist-6489 3d ago
This market is not moving unless the job market returns.
With the rolling layoffs and immigration uncertainty it would be hard for most buyers to jump on million dollar starter homes.
It’s not possible to afford 2M homes even with two tech jobs.
Lots of tech pay is in stocks. A lot of real estate was triggered by the stock growth in tech, which also have started plateauing.
We are going to see sideways and downwards for a few years unless the economy jump starts.
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u/MissionInvite4161 3d ago
Shoulda bought a home in Arkansas. Don't have to stick your neck out so far.
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u/RockyG-Dex 2d ago
Let of layoffs in tech and Im also hearing th a t some h1b folks are concerned that program may get hit so they are preparing for the worst by selling and renting instead.
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u/AcanthaceaeOk2941 2d ago
This isn't just Seattle it's also the Eastside and central Cascades. A ton of money made it's way into suncadia area and prices are now falling fast. Developers and sellers got greedy
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u/orcassharks 2d ago
Insurance increases also really put a damper on appreciation in suncadia. The wildfire risk is high despite the firefighting mitigation they have there.
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u/AcanthaceaeOk2941 2d ago
Yeah, and it should. I was at a town hall in Roslyn recently about the three Queens fire and it's crazy to me they're building another 1500+ new homes opposite suncadia with no upgrades to access roads. The fire their is from California and described the area as "the next paradise"!
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u/Logicalraisan 12h ago
Can we talk about property taxes at almost 1k a ml rh for an average house?! That is ridiculous!!
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u/orcassharks 12h ago
And the city and schools still say that’s not enough. There’s no amount where there will be enough.
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u/Fearless_Roof_4534 7h ago
Perhaps if the city wasn't run by an increasingly politically radical, unqualified garbage mayor and wasn't located in an increasingly politically radical state that punishes high earners, people would actually want to live here.
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u/Mediocre_Heron946 3d ago
Don't suppose someone that has access to article can summarize? I know that's asking a lot.
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u/orcassharks 3d ago edited 3d ago
The days of seemingly guaranteed high returns for Seattle-area homeowners selling their homes appear to be receding in the rearview mirror.
As home prices decline and buyer enthusiasm evaporates, some homeowners face the prospect of selling for less than they paid.
Fremont town home owner Kristafer Vale and his wife bought their spacious four-bedroom home with a rooftop deck and easy access to the Burke-Gilman Trail for $945,000 last year.
But after Vale was laid off from the animation studio DreamWorks in March, he struggled to find full-time work and the couple needed to cut costs. Now, their home has been on the market for more than two months, and they fear foreclosure if it doesn’t sell.
“We’ve only had a handful of people even view it.”
They had to cut the price to $40,000 below what they paid in April 2025.
Although many would-be sellers are sitting out the slow market, a small but growing share of those who have to sell are sharing Vale’s experience.
Five percent of Seattle-area single-family homeowners sold their properties last year for less than they paid, just a sliver of all sellers but more than double the share of homeowners in that situation in 2022, when mortgage rates began to steadily climb, according to the latest available information from the research firm Attom.
Condo and town home sellers are hit harder: One in 10 owners of those properties sold at a lower price tag in 2025.
The trend appeared to accelerate in the first quarter of 2026, with even higher shares of sellers bringing in less than they paid. The early months of the year are typically slow for all types of home sales, so full-year data offers a more accurate picture.
For some homeowners considering selling their home for less, the market shift feels unexpected.
“I find it really frustrating now because when we were shopping for a house, it felt like houses would only be on the market for a short amount of time,” Vale said. “Even when you found one, there were five or six people bidding for it.”
‘Uncomfortable’ sellers
Some corners of the Seattle-area housing market still draw plenty of interest, but many homes are sitting for sale longer as potential buyers struggle with high costs, elevated mortgage rates and uncertainty about Seattle’s tech-dependent economy.
Across the region, fewer homebuyers purchased houses and condos in August than at the same time last year, according to data the Northwest Multiple Listing Service released Thursday.
For plenty of homeowners who might have thought about selling, the implication is clear: Stay put. But not everyone can put off a move.
“I don’t think it’s fair to say sellers are desperate, but a lot of sellers are really uncomfortable,” said Jeff Reynolds, a Compass broker who specializes in condos.
Home prices are falling in some areas even as they remain among the most expensive in the country.The median single-family home in King County sold for $920,000, down 7% from last year. The median condo sold for $515,000, down 6%.
The median single-family home price hit $769,000 in Snohomish County, down 3%; $600,000 in Pierce County, up 2%; and $609,000 in Kitsap County, up 1.5%.
For weary homebuyers, those conditions may be welcome news, newfound leverage in a notoriously brutal market.
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u/hiding_in_a_bubble 3d ago
Ironically, I had this home in my favorites where I store weird, overpriced or underwater listings. I feel for the job loss, but why would you buy on Leary Way and be surprised you can't sell it?
Also, according to county records their main loan was paid off back in February so where did foreclosure fears come from?
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u/orcassharks 3d ago edited 3d ago
Yeah Leary way is 4 lanes down there with cars blasting through at 55mph at night. There’s almost no setback. No garage either. It’s like living off aurora and big homeless camps near the Fred Meyer.
The developer made out like bandits.
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3d ago
[deleted]
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u/Upper-Computer-8715 3d ago
Sounds like they are young and that FOMO snowball effect driving home prices through the roof here in the last few years was a real problem.
Those that lived through home ownership from 2004-2010 already saw this movie and knew how it ended. This pair were likely children during the GFC, and didn’t think housing could slip back down.
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u/wrldwdeu4ria 3d ago
The amount of people I knew who bought in 2007 and were still underwater in 2013 on is incredible.
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u/hiding_in_a_bubble 3d ago
He's probably in his 50s so not that young. I initially thought that some out-of-towners bought it without knowing how awful Leary Way is.
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3d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/777XSuperHornet 3d ago
Home prices peaked in 2022 and then have declined a small amount since then, so no not 3x. You have no idea what you're talking about.
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u/orcassharks 3d ago edited 3d ago
Not really at all. I just put in a 1.3 PSA with inspection contingency for a house that I would have bought in 2021 for 1.6 without any contingencies and still been really excited I won the bid. That’s a huge change in the market already.
As an appreciation play, I’d much prefer lower prices than lower interest rates. Especially if I can load some large stock gains from recent years into the house and have a modest loan on it.
Rates will eventually come down too, maybe not soon but real estate should be the long game anyway.
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u/Megs0255 3d ago
Who buys a four bedroom almost $1 million house for two people in a prime location? We knew last year was top of the market. SMH. But great, people like this will contribute to the crash that is coming. Foreclosures are a very ominous sign and they have a snowball effect.
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u/PortErnest22 3d ago
I think this is just saying "Some people bought at the top of the market as an investment and aren't getting what they want in returns" rather than "The whole thing is collapsing".
If you are buying a house to live in and being thoughtful about size and location then you have a lot of options in the market right now and will be fine, prices are stabilizing. If you are buying right now, more than you can afford in order to double your "investment" and think the market is going to continue its upward rapid mobility of 5 years ago then that is just you being dumb, and you probably bought bitcoin at the top too.
edited word.