Skyrocketing home prices in Seattle have made it the third most expensive city in the country.
The city falls behind San Jose and San Francisco, the Seattle Times reported. And, when looking at broader metro areas over the last four years, Seattle has surpassed the Boston, New York, Washington, D.C. and Stamford metro areas.
In 2014, the Seattle region was the 11th most expensive place to own a home, the report said. Now, it’s the seventh — with an average home price of $487,600. San Jose, San Francisco and Honolulu are the top three. Los Angeles clocks in at fourth place, and New York in ninth.
The report highlights the broader issue of housing affordability, which last quarter fell to the lowest level since late 2008, according to a previous report. In May, the median price of a previously owned homes rose to a record $264,800.
Starter homes, too, reached the highest prices in a decade. In the second quarter, first-time buyers needed nearly 23 percent of their income to afford a typical entry-level home — up from 21 percent a year earlier. [Seattle Times] — Meenal Vamburkar