Seattle Multifamily's Still at the Top. Here's Why.

In the race between supply and demand, supply still hasn't been able to keep up with demand for Seattle multifamily—and that's going to be true next year as well. Our expert speakers will offer more details about the market at our Seattle Multifamily event, beginning at 8am on Nov. 23 at the Hyatt Olive 8.

Among our speakers will be Mack Urban CEO Paul Keller, who tells us his firm is focused on multifamily rental real estate investment along the West Coast, especially in gateway cities such as Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle. "We believe that the real estate rebound will continue in the coming year."

That's because in primary markets, Millennials have proven they like to live in authentic, urban settings, and empty nesters prefer downtown to the suburbs, Paul adds. "In areas with strong employment, cultural and recreational amenities, and an opportunity for transit-oriented development—you should expect to see more investment activity, not less." Pictured: Mack Urban's recently unveiled plans for 1001 John St, a 43-story residential tower in South Lake Union.

Another speaker will be Hunt Mortgage Group VP Jeff Ballaine (right), who tells us that demand for financing multifamily deals will "remain at the top of the heap" in greater Seattle in 2016, but that office will be a close second. Strong job growth is driving demand in the region, and the office markets in both Seattle and Bellevue are expanding rapidly, with a number of significant new projects planned next year. Here's Jeff with Opus Bank's Dan Borland at last year's multifamily event.

Even if the Federal Reserve pulls the trigger on an interest rate increase, it shouldn't slow things down, certainly not in strong markets like Seattle, Jeff adds. "The capital markets have anticipated the change for some time now, and has already factored it into its calculations. Also, as more lenders come back into the marketplace, we could see a compression of spreads." Come hear more at our Seattle Multifamily event, beginning at 8am on Nov. 23 at the Hyatt Olive 8. Sign up here.