This picture was taken on the corner of Denny Way and Fairview Ave today. The blue skies are reflected on the Olive 8 luxury hotel and condo tower downtown in the middle of the picture. The olive8.com website reports that floors 19 to 27 is sold out and that 15 units were sold since the start of the year albeit at a reduction of up to 40% below pre-sale prices in 2007. (Yikes). Elsewhere, in Bloomberg Businessweek – it is reported that Seattle is at the top of the list of cities in the country where apartment rental rates have dropped (see below).
From Bloomberg Business Week article Feb 11, 2010 re: cities with the biggest drops in apartment rental rates –
No. 1: Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash.
Average monthly rent: $1,023
Annual drop: -13.8%
Q4 2009 drop: -3.5%
The Seattle area, home to companies that include Microsoft, T-Mobile, and Amazon, saw rent plummet as the unemployment rate rose to 9% (133,300 people) in December, from 6% a year earlier, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The vacancy rate in 2009 was 6.4%, up from 5% in 2008.