Seattle has experienced a "hot" housing market as of late, and has garnered national attention as Rebecca Troyer from The Puget Sound Business Journal reports that "Seattle is the fourth-best U.S. city for homeownership since the market bottomed in early 2012." What contributed to the recognition? As Troyer writes, not only has Seattle "experienced an 8.8 percent increase in job growth and 9.9 percent increase in average wages in the past three years. Unemployment has dropped by almost 42 percent and home values are up almost 30 percent."
Sotheby's International Realty® Releases 2015 Website Statistics: Reports 30% Increase in Website Traffic Year-Over-Year
Executives of Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC released website data for 2015 that indicates record breaking traffic with a 30% increase in website visitors year-over-year. With a great focus on creating the best possible user experience, sothebysrealty.com continues the brand’s tradition of revolutionizing Luxury Real Estate in the digital space. As Jon Meschke, Vice President of Affiliate Services – Pacific Region U.S./Western Canada describes, “it was the highest traffic year in the history of Sothebysrealty.com with over 14M visits to the site and just under 30M property detail page views. Both are new records for our website as traffic continues to increase quarter over quarter.”
The General Website Traffic for 2015 Is As Follows:
- 1,170,532 average monthly visits
- 900,690 average monthly unique visitors
- 6,228,161 average monthly page views
- 48% of visitors from outside the U.S.
The report outlines that December 2015 saw the most traffic, with 1.6 million visits, which represents a 91% increase compared to December 2014. As the report describes, “these results demonstrate the impact quality listing content–including HD property videos, quality controlled HD property photos, photo captions, location descriptions and property descriptions–can make in driving traffic to sothebysrealty.com and exposure for your clients’ properties.”
Meschke also pointed out that in analysis of the “top referring sites, Sothebys.com, the auction house web site, is the number three referring web site over to SIR.com” – an exclusive Sotheby’s advantage built upon the brand’s trusted 271-year heritage.
To be sure, Sotheby’s International Realty® made great strides with the website in 2015, as last spring marked the launch of the newly redesigned SIR.com, which was built to showcase the network’s listings in an immersive and visual way that is unique to the industry. Read More >>
The redesign was followed by numerous accolades, as SIR.com was recognized by the Web Marketing Association for the “2015 Outstanding Website WebAward” and by W3 for the “2015 W3 Gold Award.” Read More >>
Further, SIR.com, when compared in a Global Website Ranking, consistently garners among the highest number of visitors on a month to month basis:
State of the Market: Realogics Sotheby's International Realty Compares Region's Affordability to Other Pacific Rim Cities
Not so Bad — Seattle MSA is Effectively Twice as Affordable Compared to Vancouver, BC
It’s a new year, and that means that market pundits will review the year-end statistics. Despite the news from media headlines about meteoric increases in home prices around the Seattle metro area, we may actually still be undervalued. That’s the view of analysts at Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty (RSIR), who have been studying the data for their year-end report. When dividing the median home prices (what we need to pay) into the median household incomes (what we earn), we find that the Pacific Northwest remains relatively affordable in comparison with the other West Coast gateway cities of Vancouver, BC, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
Even upon isolating the specific market areas to include all housing types (condos, townhomes, co-ops and single-family or detached homes), RSIR found that the Seattle Metro Area (Seattle-Bellevue-Everett) and both the cities of Seattle and Bellevue are still far more affordable than their West Coast peers in the U.S., and certainly less expensive than the Vancouver, B.C. region.
“It’s a function of relatively high incomes in the region while corresponding home prices have not escalated as much as they have in other West Coast markets,” said William Hillis, RSIR’s Research Editor and Publisher. “That said, I do believe we will be playing catch-up now that we are experiencing increased demand from foreign nationals, and that we will start seeing more renters become homebuyers in the years ahead.”
Hillis notes that Vancouver, San Francisco, and Seattle have long experienced foreign direct investment from Asia, mostly from China, and as such have become a “hedge” city. In hedge cities the local price of real estate is not just influenced by local income or population growth, but by external demand forces like international homebuyers. Perhaps the most shocking revelation is that the benchmark value of a detached home in the Vancouver metro area is now $1.248 Million—up 24.3% in one year according to a new report by The Vancouver Real Estate Board and as reported in the Vancouver Sun (January 7, 2016).
Furthermore, if you isolate the single family market in Vancouver the effective cost of ownership is just shy of Hong Kong—the most expensive real estate market in the world.
“Clearly, Vancouver is one of the most unaffordable markets in the world based on prevailing incomes, but its residents are global citizens—just like London, New York City and Hong Kong,” adds Hillis. “Even though prices here are rising, the Seattle area can and does attract similar buyers without as much of an affordability gap, offering its renowned quality of life with better prospects for capital appreciation. These are all reasons why we’ve become more favored over the more typical, more expensive West Coast gateways.”
To be sure, the Seattle/Bellevue area has witnessed a significant rise in international home buying, especially from China. A year ago, China Daily accurately prognosticated the market demand by Chinese nationals hinting that Seattle may be “globally undervalued” (“Fengshui in Seattle: City’s real estate draws Chinese”).
In response to the trends, RSIR has played a leading role connecting homebuyers on both sides of the Pacific Ocean with their Asia Services Group (ASG) – a team of brokers specialized in the languages and logistics when working with a foreign buyer. The group recently sponsored the region’s first all-Mandarin magazine called Seattle Luxury Living as published by Tiger Oak Publications. ASG also built a custom WeChat app with adSage targeting the WeChat social media platform’s subscriber base of 600 million (and growing) in China and around the world. RSIR executives recently released a video documentary on the trends for foreign direct investment and immigration called East Meets West.
Nowhere locally has the influence of foreign buyers been more evident than in West Bellevue (NWMLS #520), where 2015 ended with a median home price of $1,080,000, according to NWMLS data. That’s a 17.4% increase from 2014, and nearly 88% higher than the 2011 median home price of $575,900.
Hillis believes the recent turmoil in China’s equities markets will only drive more emigration and foreign direct investment to North America, especially to rising markets like the Seattle/Bellevue metro area. The recent corrections in the Shanghai Stock Exchange and regulations on housing reminds Chinese nationals that their economy (and their personal investments) are very much influenced by the government.
“We’ve been discovered,” said Hillis. “Global wealth is always flowing to emerging markets, and considering the relative value and lifestyle proposition we offer, it isn’t surprising that more and more foreign buyers are drawn here. Real estate in America is considered a blue-chip investment that you can enjoy. You can’t live in a stock portfolio.”
NOTE: Information was obtained by sources deemed reliable but cannot be guaranteed. E&OE.
Sotheby's International Realty Affiliates Ring the Closing Bell at the New York Stock Exchange
Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC, whose parent company is Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE: RLGY), rang the Closing Bell at the New York Stock Exchange yesterday to celebrate its 40th anniversary milestone in the luxury residential real estate brokerage business. Philip White, president and chief executive officer of Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC, was joined on the podium by members of theSotheby’s International Realty network for the bell ringing ceremony.
“I am very proud of the journey we have taken together with our global luxury real estate network to bring the brand where it is today,” said White. “The Sotheby’s International Realty brokerage network was built to connect the finest independent residential real estate companies to the most prestigious and discerning clientele in the world,” said White. “We are honored to be celebrating this milestone by ringing the Closing Bell at the New York Stock Exchange.”
The Sotheby’s International Realty network currently has more than 18,000 independent sales associates located in approximately 825 offices in 61 countries and territories worldwide. Each office is independently owned and operated.
To mark the event, Philip White additionally appeared on CNBC’s Closing Bell to discuss the luxury real estate market.
What's Next: Your Monthly Event Calendar
I am thrilled to bring you this month's event calendar! Your comprehensive guide, take a peek at what’s going on! From Christmas Jazz at Seattle’s Town Hall and an Outdoor Skating Rink at Redmond Town Center to the opportunity to Meet the Artist at the Bainbridge Island Art Museum, here’s what’s happening around the sound: