Pacific Northwest Real Estate Investment Market Report: December 2020
In the first quarter of 2020, the construction industry added more than $900 billion to the U.S. economy. Then, we saw the effects of COVID-19, which caused the construction industry to lose $60.9 billion in GDP and approximately 6.5 million jobs. This disruption led to trends like remote work and social distancing, as well as higher construction costs, shifts in resources, and cash flow disruptions. Still, despite the uncertainty of the times, some trends seem to be rising to the surface as we close out the year. Here are five construction trends you will want to pay attention to.
Five construction trends for 2021Market Activity
Median home prices are still on the rise in the Seattle market as people continue to look for more space and privacy. From September 2019 to September 2020, the metro area’s median home value has increased by 9.3 percent, according to Zillow. With that, the number of newly registered businesses also posted historic increases in Q3, rising by 49 percent over the last quarter. For comparison, the last 10 years of economic recovery from the Great Financial Crisis saw an average quarterly growth of 1 percent, according to Colliers International.
Market Activity
According to Colliers International, Portland’s employment rate continues to increase, even with corporate restructures (Nike) and a continued lack of hospitality and food service recovery, which has restricted growth. In the final days of September, Oregon had a 72 percent increase in the number of individuals filing for unemployment insurance year-over-year. Zillow reports that the Portland metro area’s home values have increased by 6.6 percent from September 2019 to September 2020. This is the largest annual growth since November 2017.
Market Activity
Over the last 12 months, Boise’s home value appreciation rate has been near 10 percent. In the last quarter, the appreciation rate was nearly 2 percent, which represents an annualized rate of 8 percent. Zillow predicts that in the next 12 months, home prices in Boise will increase by 8.5 percent. With that, over the last 12 months, Nampa home values have increased by 14.7 percent, and Meridian home values have gone up 11.5 percent.
