Seattle Is the Nation's Hottest Housing Market… Still

Can you count to 15?

That's how many months the City of Seattle has worn the increasingly heavy crown of hottest U.S. housing market. The median home in Seattle now costs more than $718,000, a 16.2 percent rise over the last 12 months according to Zillow. The Seattle-based real estate company does predict the city's massive gains to simmer down to just 5.7 percent over the next 12 months.

Still, 15 months is an impressive streak. And that got us thinking—which streaks have we beat as the nation's fastest-growing residential market in the country, behind first- and second-place losers Las Vegas and San Francisco?

Lance Armstrong recorded seven straight Tour de France victories from 1999 to 2005. I forget what happened after that.

Retired NBA center Chris Dudley once missed 13 straight free throws in a row, one of which included an air ball.

Pro surfer and Baywatch alum Kelly Slater won 11 world surfing championships, including five in a row from 1994 to 1998.

Okay, maybe we're not quite at legendary status yet, but hey, give it time.

The Seattle-based epicenter of explosive home prices has for some time been distributing its affluent ash across the region, covering the greater Puget Sound landscape with extravagant home prices and happy homeowners—and despondent home buyers. But that's life in the Pacific Northwest right now.

Even while Amazon looks to expand its lush landscape and make traffic stand still elsewhere, plenty more workers will be testing our rich soil in the coming months and maybe years, though they'll be paying a hefty price for a spot in our Emerald garden.

Where might one find their dream home in the foggy future?

MBAKS member Quadrant Homes, for one, is looking to build 63 single-family residences near Laurelhurst on the 17.8 acres currently housing the Talaris Conference Center. If all goes according to Quadrant's plan, the homes would be hot property, with individual lots averaging 5,500 square feet upon which homeowners could enjoy high-end residential living and easy access to everything.

While we wait, we can keep counting months and finding new records to compare to…

A LEGACY OF BUILDING IN THE PUGET SOUND

Bellevue-based BDR Companies provides investment, development, and home construction in the Puget Sound area. With highly respected backgrounds in the residential development community, BDR executives have been recognized with major industry awards, including national Gold Nugget Awards for building excellence, Builder of the Year (twice), more than 100 industry-wide MAME Awards, and numerous Built Green recognitions.

Todd Bennett is the founder and president of BDR Companies. Prior to that, he was a principal in Bennett Homes for 30 years. In his current role, Todd puts together developer partnerships for BDR’s residential building projects. “Our partnerships mostly build homes. We have two groups: BDR Homes for homes priced under two million and BDR Fine Homes for homes priced over two million.”

MORE THAN 20 YEARS IN THE MBA HEALTH TRUST

Between Bennett Homes and BDR, Todd has been a member of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBA) for 34 years (once serving as President) and the MBA Health Trust for 21 years. “MBA’s health insurance is a big benefit for us,” says Todd. “We’ve used the Trust from the beginning. All of our employees are on our plan now. We’ve always been able to provide good coverage for them. And it’s affordable for us.”

SIGNIFICANT COST SAVINGS

The MBA Health Trust has provided Todd and his companies with consistently lower premiums. “We’ve looked at other health insurance providers, but we’ve never been able to get the same combination of cost savings plus benefits,” he says. “The MBA plan has consistently been 10-15 percent less cost, even with the big increases in health insurance premiums since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.”

REGENCE BLUESHIELD “KEEPS IT SIMPLE”

Regence BlueShield is the MBA Health Trust’s insurance partner, and Todd has had good experiences with them over the years. “The Regence plan is flexible. So far, we haven’t had a hitch at all on who we can use and what’s covered—even with large medical issues. Regence has covered most everything so far and kept it simple.”

MBA MEMBER BENEFITS ALSO INCLUDE BUILDER ADVOCACY

In addition to the MBA Health Trust, Todd’s long membership in the MBA has helped his business in other ways. Todd says the MBA has a very strong government relations group. “A great benefit to MBA membership is the advocacy role the MBA plays,” he says. “We get a common voice in the industry. Local municipalities listen to the MBA. That’s a primary benefit from a builder standpoint. The MBA gives the builders more of a collective voice. It’s very powerful. The MBA has helped get code changes that benefit the home building industry adopted, for example.”

CITIES LISTEN, PROCESSES ARE EXPEDITED

Todd cites challenges with some cities and how the MBA interceded. “We were having slowdowns with building permits and the MBA got involved and arranged a meeting with city officials. This got the process moving forward quicker.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Sharon Couts
Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties
425.499.1723

Bellevue, Wash.—November 14, 2016—Seattle was recently named the “crane capital of America” by a Seattle Times article, with 58 cranes currently in operation, an increase of 38 percent in the past year. And these numbers don’t even include cranes located in Bellevue and elsewhere in the Puget Sound area. With more cranes, more possibilities exist for accidents. That is why, beginning in February 2017, the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBA) and Buildsafe Solutions will be offering free two-day Qualified Signal Person Certification for Mobile Cranes classes. The classes are made available in thanks to a $127,688 grant from State of Washington Department of Labor and Industries’ Safe and Health Investment Projects (SHIP) program.

“We are excited about receiving this grant,” said Shannon Affholter, executive director of the MBA. “Construction site accidents have a huge impact on the construction industry, families, and for anyone affected. We want to prevent accidents. These safety classes teach us how to run equipment properly and keep everyone safe.”

The trainings are free to employers and employees in the construction industry and provide 16 clock hours as well as crane certification. Topics will include crane management, high risks, crane foundations, load charts, range diagrams, crane dynamics, rigging oversight, and signaling, and will provide for a mobile crane signaling protocol and certifications required by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries.

About the MBA

Founded in 1909, the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBA) has grown to become the largest residential home builders association in the United States. With 2,800 member companies, the MBA is dedicated to membership value, government advocacy, financial stewardship, and promoting the residential building industry in the Puget Sound Region. The Association and its members address many of the concerns and issues affecting the residential housing industry. If you are looking to buy, build, remodel, or maintain your home, trust the MBA for industry professional referrals and practical information to get the job done. mbaks.com

ABOUT THE SHIP PROGRAM

The goal of the SHIP program is to identify, fund, and assist with the implementation of safety and health projects designed to eliminate workplace injuries, illnesses, and fatalities, because one injury, one illness, one fatality, is one too many.

###