Census Data Suggests a Shift from King to Pierce County

According to an article in the Seattle Times, Gene Balk examined recent census data surrounding an emerging trend that points to a shift from King County to more affordable Pierce county. 

Gene notes, "It's no secret that newcomers are pouring into King County from around the country and the globe.  In fact, we broke a record in 2014 for the number of new arrivals from out of the state, which I wrote about in my last column.  But could we also be witnessing the emergence of a countertrend – that of a growing number of folks fleeing pricey King County and heading south to Pierce?  New data on U.S. counties, released by the Census Bureau on Thursday, hints that this may be the case."  Click here to read Gene's full article.

The reporter's observations certainly support what we as Realtors are seeing here in North Tacoma on a routine basis.  Many of our new buyers are people moving to Tacoma from the Seattle area, and our last four North End listings have sold to folks from Seattle.  So… what does this trend mean?  Well, we're currently seeing an upsurge in prices and a significantly low level of home inventory in North Tacoma. (you can review those trends here).  Thats good news if you currently own a home here, but not such good news if you're in the market to buy this spring.