Tacoma and Seattle are America's Most Promising Housing Markets

This has been a hard week for everyone on the planet when it comes to economic news, so how about some good news? Or even GREAT news?

Puget Sound, specifically Seattle and Tacoma, has been placed at the top of yet another prominent list of Cities most likely to be the first to rebound from the housing crisis. We’ve been finding ourselves at the top of these lists for the past few years. Just a few weeks ago Washington was home to 5 of the Wall Street Journal’s “Top 10 Housing Markets that Will Rise This Year.” Tacoma has been singled out by Moody’s, CBS Money Watch, Chicago Tribune, etc.

Despite the gloomy picture for the national economy and housing market, residents of that city, on Washington’s Puget Sound, are in for a 25% increase in home prices by spring 2013, according to a report released Tuesday by Fiserv Inc. Another strong market is expected to be the Palm Bay and Melbourne area on Florida’s eastern coast (up 18%). Gains of about 10% are expected in Seattle, Tucson, Ariz. and Memphis.

David Stiff, Fiserv’s chief economist, says cities like Tacoma and Seattle have strong, diverse economies and should fare well over the next two years. Areas like Palm Bay-Melbourne, Tucson and Memphis were hammered by price declines but now are seeing strong interest from investors, Mr. Stiff notes. – Wall Street Journal

A 25% increase in housing prices by Spring of 2013 would be music to everyone’s ears. The more interesting part of the article comes at the very end, where they not the foreclosure inventory (the main force behind the decline in housing prices) has started to peter out.

This month’s stock market declines, the battle over the federal debt ceiling and the European debt crisis have deepened Americans’ pessimism and may dent home sales. But Mr. Stiff notes that home prices are far more affordable now that the housing bubble has burst.

In most metro areas, home prices —when compared to household incomes — are at pre-bubble levels. In addition, the inventory of unsold homes and the number of new foreclosures is finally shrinking.

“The amount of foreclosure inventory hitting each market is going to slowly decline this year and start to be less of an impediment to price appreciation,” Mr. Stiff says. – Wall Street Journal

If you are looking to buy a house in the Puget Sound Area, this news combined with this weeks record low interest rates might have created the perfect opportunity for buyers. You can search for houses here or contact us to find an agent!