Housing Occupancy
For many, home ownership represents the American Dream.
Property ownership is often used as a proxy to represent
permanence and community stability.
With 739,926 housing units recorded in 2006, 439,250 (59.4%)
units were occupied by home owners. This is slightly down from
the 2003 rate of 59.7%.
Source: Claritas 2006 Update (Census
Tract Level)
North King County
- Owners: 38,910
(72.0%)
- Renters: 15,128
(28.0%)
- Represents the
highest owner occupied region
East King County
- Owners: 123,273
(69.3%)
- Renters: 54,544
(30.7%)
South King County
- Owners: 151,589
(62.6%)
- Renters: 90,526
(37.4%)
Seattle
- Owners: 125,478
(47.2%)
- Renters: 140,478
(52.8%)
- Represents the
lowest owner occupied region
Number of People in a
Household
Accounting for 63.4%, one and two person households represent
the majority of King County housing accommodations.
Source:
Claritas 2006 Update (Census Tract Level)
Median Home Value
The median home value was recorded as $481,000 in July 2007
up from $429,495 in February.[1] The median depicts the
point where ½ of the units are at a higher value and ½ are at a
lower value.
It is often telling to see the distribution of housing prices
within the regions. On the accompanying chart, South King County
stands out as having a steep concentration of housing with few
extremely low or extremely high end homes. In contrast, East
King County ramps up steeply at a higher rate than other regions
then shows two spikes in the concentration of housing values and
tapers off with more homes valued over $1,000,000 than the other
subregions. The following specific patterns stand out:
- North King County,. South King County and Seattle show
the concentration in housing prices peaking in the
$200,000-$299,999 range. Countywide this category accounts
for 28.9% of housing values.
- East King County records a slightly later peak with
$300,000-$399,999 representing the high point with 24.5% of
its housing stock.
Source: Claritas 2006 Update (Census
Tract Level)
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Housing Units
King County grew at a rate of 7.6% in housing inventory between
2000 and 2006. North King County grew at 7.1%, East King County
led with 10.1%, South King County increased by 7.2% and Seattle
grew by 6.4%.
Source: Claritas 2006 Update (Census
Tract Level)
Residential Building
Permits
East King County and South King County are expanding their urban
footprint to previously undeveloped land. New, and often larger,
single family home building permits are high with multi-family
units going up but on a much smaller scale. North King County is
deceptive on the graphics because the number appear small but is
growing just slightly under the county average. In contrast to
the other subregions, Seattle is experiencing an explosion of
multi-family building growth as the City expands upward rather
than outward.
Source: WA Office of Management and
Budget as quoted by Puget Sound Regional Council, 2006
Source: WA Office of Management and
Budget as quoted by Puget Sound Regional Council, 2006
Source: WA Office of Management and
Budget as quoted by Puget Sound Regional Council, 2006
Source: WA Office of Management and
Budget as quoted by Puget Sound Regional Council, 2006
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[1] Rhodes, Elizabeth, Housing prices defy logic,
keep climbing http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=homesales07&date=20070807&query=home+sales |
