The newest hub in home purchases is Seattle, WA, where Chinese immigrants to tech executives have been snapping up houses at a record pace. In a report from Bloomberg.com, the latest demand for homes for technology workers and executives which could not be served has resulted in prices at being above market rates.
One example is the case of former MLB pitcher Jamie Moyer, who just recently sold his Tudor mansion with seven bedrooms. Amongst the amenities included in the home is a saltwater pool and a batting cage. The buyers were a Chinese couple who paid $3.2 million. The couple in turn, rented the home out to a group of Amazon.com Inc. staff members.
According to the buyer's agent in the Moyer sale, Realogics/Sotheby's International Realty's Lili Shang was quoted as saying, "We will be like San Francisco in five years. It's a new era."
One of the major causes of the influx of technology related workers and their families is because Seattle is the home of software behemoth Microsoft Inc as well online retailing giant Amazon.com Inc. In a report from wsj.com, a number of other technology related firms have set up shop in the area. These include retailer Best Buy, Chinese online retailer Alibaba and cable firm HBO. A number of other companies, namely Google, Facebook, Twitter and Hulu, are also in suit to expand operations in the area.
The overall Seattle housing market is steady. The prices for luxury real estate properties are on the rise as the average price of a square foot of house property stood at $494 in May 2015. This is a 10 percent hike from the same period in 2014.
The major influence in the rising prices of homes is the hiring of technology workers in the firms with a Seattle corporate address. According to a report from seattle.curbed.com, quoting Redfin, "For every 1 percent increase in technology workers, there's a roughly half percent increase in home prices above and beyond the national rate of appreciation." As of 2015, there has been a 21 percent growth in worker headcount in Seattle and alongside it is a 12.7 percent growth in home prices.
