With technology giants such as Facebook, Amazon, and Apple continuing to expand in the Seattle metropolitan region, growth in the six-county Puget Sound area, encompassing King, Kitsap, Pierce, Skagit, Snohomish, and Thurston counties, remains strong, according to third quarter data from Metrostudy.
As of Q3 2019, over 68,000 jobs were added for the year, the majority of those being created in King County with 43,965 and Snohomish County with 15,095. Year-over-year job growth shows the six counties adding 88,384 jobs, which increased the job growth rate to 3.8% for the second consecutive quarter.
“The tech sector continues to see strong employment growth numbers with Amazon, Facebook, and Expedia advertising more than 21,000 jobs,” says Todd Britsch, Metrostudy regional director for the region. “There is over 8 million square feet of office space with leases already signed or owned between Facebook and Amazon coming online in 2022 and 2023. Apple will also become a presence in Seattle over the next few years, adding 2,000 jobs to the new Seattle campus.”
With such strong job growth, annual apartment completions have remained high since 2012. The existing market-rate apartment stock in Seattle totals 342,461 units, with cycle-to-date completions at 72,594 units, according to Q3 data from RealPage. The Seattle metro ranks fifth in the country, behind Dallas, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Houston, with the greatest number of units currently under construction at 18,557.
Of the various submarkets, the urban core—consisting of the downtown, South Lake Union/Queen Anne, and Capitol Hill/Central District areas—leads the charge, with just over 40% of units delivered in these areas, says RealPage. South Lake Union/Queen Anne, located north of downtown, added over 11,100 units since early 2010, growing the existing base by 68%. Meanwhile, cycle completions of nearly 10,100 units in downtown Seattle grew the base by 47.3%.
Looking ahead, developers seem to be moving away from the South Lake Union/Queen Anne area. Instead, construction has increased downtown. Almost 21% of what is currently underway in the market overall is rising in downtown Seattle alone. Roughly 3,800 units are under construction, set to grow the existing base by another 2.7% in the near term.
Although average rents in the area aren’t the highest in the country, the city ranks 10th on the list of most expensive metros in the nation. Renters should expect to pay $1,864 monthly rent on average, according to RealPage. Plus, rents are up 52.9% since early 2010, compared with the national growth averaging around 36%, and the city may experience 2.8% average annual rent growth between 2020 and 2021.
“The market is doing quite well across the board,” continues Britsch. Housing analysts predict the area will see continued job growth and good in-migration through 2025. Even with a possible looming recession, Britsch believes “Washington state should skip right over the top,” due to the high forecast job growth for the coming years.
