With the fall season finally upon us, the behavior of the housing market is like the range in outdoor temperatures: somewhere between warm to cool. There’s a lower overall volume of home sales than in recent years, but at the same times buyers are moving quickly and assertively on highly desired properties, despite higher interest rates. Although these interest rates could make it more difficult for sellers to see significant price gains in the near future, the high demand for homes after a prolonged inventory drought in our region is likely to keep buyer activity on accurately priced listing ..read more

Commercial office leasing in Seattle has been experiencing a downturn since the pandemic shifted many companies to hybrid and remote work. While some companies have mandated returns to the office, others have “right-sized” into smaller buildings to suit their needs for less physical space. With many companies moving away from large offices, some commercial towers are now candidates for a second life as apartment buildings. The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) has determined that around 11% of office buildings across the U.S. are suitable to be converted to apartments. In Seattle, 91 ..read more

Seattle Met put out a great new article on restaurants to try for those special moments in your life when you want to go big. Here is their list of fancy spots to hit up, but be sure to click below to read the entire article where they give their synopsis and notes on each fabulous location. Cafe Juanita in Kirkland Ascend Prime Steak and Sushi in Bellevue Tomo in White Center (photo above is from our visit to Tomo) Takai by Kashiba in Bellevue Canlis in Queen Anne Off-Alley in Columbia City Copine in Ballard Niku Niku in Northgate 84 Yesler in Pio ..read more

As summer draws to a close, the local housing market remains somewhat unsettled. This is due to persistently high interest rates that have caused buyers to pause and sellers to hold onto their pandemic-era mortgage rates, as well as low inventory increasing competition for the available listings. Sold home prices in some areas have begun to see year-over-year price increases in relation to the slowdown that hit the market at the end of last year. Windermere’s Chief Economist Matthew Gardner remarked on this trend. “Historically, the number of homes for sale slows in August,” he said. “Where sa ..read more

The Emerald City is a hub for both well-known tech companies and new startups, with no trouble attracting the necessary talent to these ventures. In fact, a recent study revealed that more graduates in technical fields are moving to Seattle than to any other major city. The study looked at migration patterns from February 2022 to February 2023, and found that Seattle had the highest percentage of in-migration for tech workers with three years or less of experience. At 15.2%, Seattle led the country, followed by Austin at 9.7% and San Francisco, at 9.1%. Seattle was also the second most popular ..read more

My favorite season is here! Spoooooooky season. Here’s some fun events around town. The Great Pumpkin Beer Festival Harry Potter: Magic at Play, an interactive experience Candlelight Concerts: A Haunted Evening of Halloween Classics  Hilloween Día de Muertos Festival at Seattle Center Boo! Seattle music festival  An Evening of Monsters and Mayhem, costume party This is Halloween, burlesque musical at The Triple Door The Seattle Chocolate Haunted Factory Experience Scary Movies, showing at Central Cinema Georgetown Morgue Haunted House and Escape Rooms The post Spoooooky Season appe ..read more

The dog days of summer are upon us, and along with stifling heat comes a sluggish market. High interest rates and a dearth of available inventory are driving prices up and slowing sales across the region. One major contributor to the low supply of homes is the phenomenon of homeowners protecting their sweet pandemic-era mortgage rates of 3-4%. Rather than selling and having to manage interest rates that are currently in 7% range, they are choosing to stay put. This means homes that otherwise might have been on the market this time of year are also staying put, and would-be buyers are competing ..read more

The pandemic changed a lot about daily life, including work. To keep employees safe, many businesses pivoted to remote and hybrid work arrangements, allowing their employees to work from home. Although the pandemic is largely behind us, around 12% of employees across the country are still fully remote, and 28% have a hybrid schedule split between their homes and offices. With remote work still very much the norm in many industries, WalletHub has released a study ranking the best states to work from home. Washington came in ninth place, behind Delaware, Utah and Maryland in the first three spot ..read more

As the fall approaches so does Seahawks season! Here is the 2023 schedule, including, for the first time in franchise history, a game on Thanksgiving day. They have 3 prime time games and the season kicks off on Sunday September 10th. Seahawks scheduale The post Seahawks Season is About to Kick Off appeared first on Urban Marco ..read more

This summer’s local housing market is seeing low inventory feed higher prices, putting the squeeze on would-be buyers. June is typically the month where home prices reach their apex, and last month was no exception as King and Snohomish counties’ prices neared the peaks seen during the sugar high of the pandemic market. Approximately 80% of recent transactions have been in the more affordable and mid-price ranges, which are nearly sold-out at the moment. Because of this, multiple offers and offers over list price were more prevalent in June’s closed home sales than at any other point this year ..read more