How bad is the condo shortage in Seattle? People are camping out in line to reserve them
Being immersed in the local real estate market, I find the lack of supply unavoidable on a daily basis and a primary conversation point when people ask me "how's the real estate market in Seattle?" Particularly, the condo shortage in Seattle has been getting more and more severe with the lack of new development. Still, every once in a while I see something that makes me do a double take and takes the shortage to a new level in my book.
Da Li Development recently rolled out the reservation process for KODA Condominiums, a planned 17 story downtown development with 203 condos, giving people the opportunity to reserve a unit for a $5,000 refundable reservation deposit. The event was planned for 11AM, and by 8PM the night before, people were already lining up.
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Approximately 300 people attended the debut, and 95% of the 203 units quickly 'sold out' with an additional 80 2nd and 3rd position reservations (in the event the first position reservation does not follow through when the official pre-sales begin to occur (planned for Summer of 2018).
So let's summarize that... they sold out the reservation pre-sale of the actual pre-sale, and they had people camping out the night before to do so.
I'm not sure I could come up with a better way to illustrate the condo shortage in Seattle...
A quick background into the lack of condo developments being built...
Developers have shied away from building condos in Seattle and outlying areas due largely to liability imposed/created by the Washington Condominium Act as well as local municipalities placing added permitting rules and restrictions on the development. Without getting into the politics of it, and to put it in a nut shell, there's simply more financial risk and burden for developers of condominiums compared to apartments - that's why apartments are getting built and why there are so few new condo developments planned.
