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Ten years in the past, if you happen to needed to purchase a house in downtown Seattle, it got here with a steep price. The median residence value downtown was about $570,000 in 2014, round 26% greater than the citywide median of $452,000.
For lots of parents, the downtown life-style was well worth the expense. “Walkability” was all the trend again then, and that’s what downtown supplied — you possibly can stroll to work as a substitute of sitting in visitors. Seattle’s bustling retail core, and plenty of of its cultural choices and occasions, had been proper at the doorstep.
Downtown continues to be walkable, however chances are you’ll not care as a lot. There’s probability you’re working from residence and commuting merely isn’t a problem anymore. Downtown buying isn’t what it was once, with many empty storefronts. And maybe for the reason that pandemic, you’ve gotten into the behavior of staying residence extra and are much less prone to benefit from theater, films, museums and live shows.
That will clarify, not less than partially, why downtown properties not command a premium. Whereas residence costs have gone up downtown since 2014, the costs elsewhere within the metropolis have elevated a lot quicker. The median residence value in downtown Seattle final yr was $745,000, about 12% decrease than the citywide median of $845,000.
This pattern is just not distinctive to Seattle. In response to a brand new report by actual property knowledge agency Property Shark, the flip from a downtown that was dearer than town as an entire, to at least one that was cheaper, has occurred in 9 of the nation’s largest cities since 2014.
The others are Portland; Los Angeles; San Diego; Denver; Albuquerque, N.M.; Dallas; Chicago; and Kansas Metropolis, Mo.
Amongst these, Kansas Metropolis skilled the largest hole in value change between downtown and town as an entire. From 2014 to 2023, Kansas Metropolis’s downtown median residence value elevated by about 39%, whereas the citywide median value elevated by 122%. That’s a distinction of about 83 proportion factors between the downtown and citywide value will increase.
In Seattle, the downtown median residence value elevated by about 31%, whereas the citywide median elevated by about 87% — that’s a niche of about 56 proportion factors, which ranked seventh among the many 9 cities.
Even in most giant cities the place this flip hasn’t occurred, downtown residence costs have nonetheless lagged behind citywide residence costs. Among the many 41 areas within the report — 39 cities plus Manhattan and Brooklyn in New York — residence costs grew at a quicker price citywide than downtown in all however 10.
There have been even two cities the place downtown residence values have declined since 2014. In Chicago, the median value downtown was $269,000, down $57,000 from 2014. In Washington, D.C., the median downtown was $620,000 final yr, down $9,000 from 2014. To be clear, these greenback quantities weren’t adjusted for inflation.
This pattern could also be one signal that the “again to town” motion of the 2010s, largely fueled by millennials and empty nesters, has misplaced steam.
There was just one metropolis the place the flip in costs was reversed — in different phrases, properties downtown had been cheaper than the citywide median in 2014 however had been dearer final yr. And it might be a shock.
In San Francisco, the median residence value downtown soared by 87.5% from 2014 to 2023, in contrast with a citywide improve of 41%. Within the course of, the downtown median went from $74,000 decrease than the citywide median to $265,000 greater.
Among the many 41 areas within the report, downtowns had been nonetheless dearer than town as an entire in 24. Seattle was among the many 17 the place this was not the case in 2023.
Philadelphia had the most costly downtown relative to the remainder of town. The median value downtown was $839,000, in contrast with simply $210,000 citywide. On the reverse finish of the spectrum, Fresno, Calif., had the most cost effective downtown. The median final yr was $173,000 in contrast with a citywide median of $360,000.
For Seattle, Property Shark outlined downtown as town’s central enterprise district, reasonably than the larger downtown space.
Seattle’s downtown median residence value of $745,000 final yr was seventh highest, down from sixth in 2014. Seattle’s citywide median of $845,000 ranked fifth highest final yr, up from sixth in 2014.
The most costly downtown was San Francisco’s, with a median residence value of $1.5 million. The most affordable was in Tulsa, Okla., at $113,000.
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