Cites Realogics Sotheby's International Realty Research
In an article from Janaury 22nd, Marc Stiles of The Puget Sound Business Journal reports that, “All-cash buyers dominate region’s luxury home market,” as “nearly two-thirds of the people who bought high-end homes last year in the Seattle area paid cash.” In the feature, Stiles citesRealogics Sotheby’s International Realty (RSIR) research which found that the most expensive sale of 2015 was a waterfront estate on Mercer Island at $13.8 million.
Stiles likewise describes that in these cash deals, “thirty-nine percent of the buyers were from overseas, primarily China.” This finding aligns with a recent article in The Seattle Times that included RSIR’s market research and found that luxury sales have increased in the area thanks to the presence of tech executives and foreign buyers. Of particular interest was that RSIR found that the distinctive waterfront neighborhood of Newport Shores in Bellevue attracted 13 sales during the past two years that exceeded $3 million and 86% of the surnames on these newly recorded titles appear to be on Mainland Chinese origin. There were no such sales in 2011, 2012 or 2013.
In response to this steady rise of Chinese nationals arriving to the Seattle/Bellevue metro area, RSIR and Tiger Oak Publications recently released a 92-page, all-Mandarin magazine called Seattle Luxury Living, which generated a front-page article in the Seattle Times and was a featured story on the Perspectives blog by Sotheby’s International Realty®.
This recent slough of news pieces also comes on the heels of Palace Magazine’s recently published special report that added Seattle to its list of top markets sought by Asian homebuyers. “We are proud to represent our region within this elite publication and be included amongst our peer markets,” said Dean Jones, President and CEO of RSIR. “There is now little doubt that Seattle is on the map overseas and I believe this wave of foreign direct investment is just getting started.”