The Seattle / Bellevue multifamily real estate market continues to be one of the strongest in the nation due to incredible employment growth which continues to propel rapid population growth. Major area employers including Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks, Costco, T-Mobile, Weyerhaeuser, Nordstrom, PACCAR, Expedia, Facebook, Google, Boeing, Zillow, and several others. Major expansions have been recently announced by Facebook, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Apple - bringing thousands of new jobs to the Seattle / Bellevue area over the next several years.
The Puget Sound is now home to approximately 2,139,000 jobs, after adding almost 430,000 jobs (a 25% increase) over the past 10 years (Bureau of Labor Statistics). According to Marcus & Millichap, 2019 experienced a 3.4% increase in year over year job growth -- the strongest four quarters of job gains in more than two decades, well outpacing the United States at 2.3% during the same period. The Puget Sound Regional Council (“PSRC”) projects that the total employment base in the Puget Sound will reach 3,391,000 jobs by 2050 which will continue to push record population growth in the region and increase demand in the multifamily market.
High education levels and an incredibly talented workforce continues supporting a rapidly expanding economy benefitting from strong wage growth -- up 4% over last year, which is tied for the 2nd highest annual growth rate in the United States. Since 2007, the Puget Sound has experienced 24.9% wage growth, outpacing the US average of 15.1% over the same period (PayScale).
Supply in the Seattle / Bellevue market has continually fallen short of demand, which is evidenced by consistent year-over-year increases in rents coupled with high market occupancy, despite consistent delivery of additional multifamily units to the market. Since 2010, multifamily rent growth has averaged 6.7% annually, while occupancy levels have consistently remained above 94% (Yardi Matrix).
Escalating land and construction costs for new development require increasingly higher rents to make new apartment projects viable. Combined with difficult permitting procedures and geographic constraints common to our region, it will be nearly impossible for new housing development to keep pace with anticipated demand in the region. If PSRC’s population forecast is correct, 830,000 new households by 2050 equates to a need in excess of 27,500 new housing units delivered every year for the next 30 years - an extremely challenging target.
Anticipated job and population growth will keep demand for multifamily strong for years to come.
Per SEC regulations, our investors are expected to be accredited investors. Please note as of December 2019, the SEC is exploring updates to the rules below. We will keep investors informed as to any changes to the rules below:
Please see Rule 501 of Regulation D of the Securities Act of 1933 (Reg. D) for a full definition of an accredited investor.
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