BY THE NUMBERS

>> The percentage of homes purchased and flipped among all Q2 sales in the U.S. stood at 8.2%, according to ATTOM Data Solutions, making it the third-highest rate since the statistics were first tracked in 2000. The high mark of 9.6% was set in Q1. However, our region of the country is on the opposite end of the fix-and-flip market, with Seattle (4.3% of all sales in Q2) and Bremerton (4.0%) among the bottom five markets for this activity.

>> The portion of average U.S. wages required to purchase a median-priced home has fallen to 30.0% from 30.9% in Q2, according to ATTOM. The figures remain above the 28% ceiling lenders like to see when issuing a mortgage and is well above the 23.4% level established in Q3 of 2021. Only 16% of all U.S. counties in Q3 experienced wage growth exceeding home-price appreciation, with King County among them.

>> The average size of a home in Washington is 2185 sq. ft., the 10^th largest among U.S. states, according to a survey. Washington’s average price per sq. ft. is $336. Utah has the largest homes on average at 2800 sq. ft. and Hawaii the smallest, 1164 sq. ft. Seattle’s average size home is 1460 sq. ft., or $659/sq. ft., according to the survey, with Colorado Springs at the top of the size list among U.S. cities at 2760 sq. ft.

>> Seattle is 17^th in the nation among major cities for highest ratios of people moving in vs. those moving out. That’s according to data from MoveBuddha, a price-comparison service for people seeking moving services. Seattle had 1.14 people moving to the city for every one person leaving through Q3 of 2022. Seattle to New York City was the fifth-most popular route for all movers, while Chicago to Seattle was seventh. Tampa had the highest move-in ratio (1.84 to 1), followed by Orlando.

>> Kirkland is the third-best city to live in the U.S., according to a survey published by Money. Atlanta and Tempe, Ariz., beat out our Eastside city in the rankings, which looked at economic opportunities, quality of life and diversity. The median household income for Kirkland is $130K and median home prices are about $1.49M.

>> Four West Coast states are the most expensive places to buy a home in the U.S, according a report from homebuyer.com. The site used median household income data and median home value to determine which states are the most and least affordable to buy a house. The findings show Washington is the fourth-most expensive state to buy a home. It follows Hawaii, California and Oregon. Iowa was the least expensive state to purchase a home.

>> On a similar theme, Seattle has the third-highest percentage of residents (60%, or 581K people) paying at least $1500/month for rent. The Emerald City trails only San Francisco (71%) and Miami (62%) for largest percentage of higher rents, according to a report from helpadvisor.com. Washington ranked fourth among all states paying at least $1500/month (48%). California, New Jersey and Hawaii were essentially in a statistical dead-heat for highest percentage among states (53%).