Seattle-area house values are rising once more following the primary drop in additional than a decade final yr.
King County introduced this week that residential property values have elevated about 10% on common throughout the county since 2023. The rise, a partial indicator of what owners might anticipate their tax invoice to appear like subsequent yr, marks a return to some stability on the heels of a turbulent few years.
Property values shot up within the overheated early years of the pandemic — together with unprecedented spikes of greater than 40% in some areas of the Eastside from 2021 to 2022 — then declined final yr because the market quickly cooled.
The cooldown was the primary substantial property worth decline in King County because the 2008 Nice Recession. Regardless of excessive mortgage charges curbing market exercise, residential values have now rebounded some. Industrial values are a extra blended image, with workplace buildings taking a major hit as many employees stay distant.
“It’s all a part of the continued market correction that we’ve seen occur over the past couple years popping out of COVID,” stated King County Assessor John Wilson.
Residence values elevated in most Seattle neighborhoods the county has information for therefore far, starting from a 6% improve in Leschi to six.5% in Queen Anne and Capitol Hill, 12% in Wedgwood and practically 14% in Laurelhurst. Values dipped in only one neighborhood, the realm overlaying Mount Baker and Seward Park, by 2.5%.
Seattle apartment homeowners are prone to see smaller worth will increase than single-family owners, and a few apartment values in downtown Seattle have declined as these properties see much less competitors from patrons, Wilson stated.
Residence values climbed extra steeply on the Eastside than in Seattle, with will increase of 23% in Bellevue’s Lake Hills neighborhood, 19%-21% in several elements of Redmond and 18% in Woodinville.
Householders in different close by counties may also anticipate upward developments.
The worth of the typical residential property in Pierce County elevated by about 6% over the past yr, in line with the Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer’s Workplace. Residence values shot up probably the most in Orting and Eatonville (practically 8%) and least in Fircrest (lower than half a %).
In Snohomish County, residential property values elevated a median of about 5% from 2023 to 2024. Property values, together with residential and industrial properties, elevated most in Darrington at practically 10% and least in Mukilteo at 2%.
Some King County industrial property homeowners will see dramatic drops in worth. Most industrial values remained flat from a yr in the past and industrial values elevated as a lot as 10%, however workplace constructing values plummeted as many individuals continued to work remotely.
The values of enormous workplace values dropped 30% from final yr on the Eastside and as a lot as 40% in downtown Seattle, Pioneer Sq. and South Lake Union. Wilson stated emptiness charges, decrease rents and shorter-term leases are introducing uncertainty within the workplace market and driving down constructing values.
The workplace market downturn has been a number of years within the making as many workplaces stay absolutely or partially distant. Solely about half as many individuals are working in downtown Seattle workplaces as in 2019, in line with Could foot-traffic information printed by the Downtown Seattle Affiliation.
Earlier than the pandemic, tech corporations snapped up workplace house in Seattle, shrinking the downtown emptiness fee to only 5.5% in early 2019, in line with the industrial actual property agency Cushman & Wakefield. The image is much totally different in the present day: About 29% of downtown Seattle workplace house was vacant within the first quarter of this yr.
The Eastside has fared a bit higher however continues to battle: The workplace emptiness fee climbed from 6% in early 2019 to 17% this yr.
Seattle’s highest workplace emptiness charges had been in Belltown, Queen Anne and downtown, in line with first-quarter information from the industrial actual property agency Colliers. On the Eastside, Issaquah, downtown Bellevue and areas alongside the I-90 hall similar to Factoria and Eastgate noticed the very best emptiness charges.
Vital declines within the worth of 1 kind of property — for instance, workplace buildings — can shift extra of the monetary burden to different taxpayers. The county is not going to know the dimensions of that shift till it has completed valuing all properties, however “we don’t anticipate it will likely be a big shift,” stated King County Chief Deputy Assessor Al Dams.
Industrial property values in Pierce County elevated a “reasonable” 3%, in line with the Assessor-Treasurer’s Workplace. Workplace buildings usually misplaced worth whereas the worth of retail house stayed comparatively flat.
In Snohomish County, the typical industrial property worth elevated simply 1%.
Property taxes 2025
What do greater property values imply for subsequent yr’s tax payments? Although it might appear counterintuitive, house values are usually not the first issue behind the price of your property taxes.
Washington counties use a “budget-based” property tax system, that means assessors basically have a look at the tax income owed to numerous native governments, then divvy that quantity up amongst taxpayers primarily based on property values.
Counties can solely improve the quantity of property tax income they gather by 1% every year, plus the worth of latest building, except voters approve levies to generate extra tax {dollars}. Meaning native tax measures for issues like colleges, parks and fireplace departments are normally the first issue driving tax payments up.
County assessors will proceed issuing property valuations all through the summer season. Some property homeowners, together with older folks and people with disabilities, might qualify for reductions on their property taxes. Property homeowners may also enchantment a county’s assessed worth of their property.