Articles about Housing

AI wealth fuels San Francisco’s housing boom while tech layoffs weigh down Seattle

A new Redfin report reveals a sharp divide between the West Coast’s top tech hubs: as OpenAI and Anthropic fuel a housing resurgence in San Francisco, Seattle real estate stalls amid widespread job cuts across the regional tech ecosystem. Read More

Airbnb offering $750 to attract new hosts during World Cup in Seattle this summer

Officials expect an estimated 750,000 people to visit Seattle during the soccer tournament, and Airbnb says its hosts will welcome 23,000 guests in the city. Read More

Bill to tax short-term rentals returns in Washington state — along with Airbnb opposition

Senate Bill 5576 would allow counties, cities and towns to impose a tax of up to 4% on short-term rentals used by vacation guests on platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo. The bill failed to advance during the 2025 session. Read More

Seattle-area startup Govstream.ai raises $3.6M to improve city permitting processes using AI

The company says its technology answers questions, checks documents, compares plan sets, and helps move applications through review faster. Read More

Seattle to deploy AI to speed up housing and small business permit process

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell issued an executive order on Monday intended to speed the permitting process for housing and small… Read More

‘It’s price fixing’: Washington leaders target rent algorithm companies with lawsuit, legislation

As Washington state faces a persistent shortage of affordable housing, Attorney General Nick Brown and state lawmakers are targeting tech… Read More

Destination Spokane: How remote work and new arrivals are changing one tech community

SPOKANE, Wash. — The “great migration” got a head start here. Long before the rise of remote work spurred many… Read More

Are office-to-residential exemptions in downtown Seattle a friend or foe to livability in the city?

Editor’s note: This guest post originally appeared on Chuck Wolfe’s Resurgence: A Journey blog. Here’s a break from discussions and… Read More

Amazon giving $9M to Seattle-area organizations addressing needs around homelessness

Amazon is donating $9 million to six organizations in the Seattle area that are working to address the needs of… Read More

PNW climate tech execs launch real estate investment firm focusing on mass timber projects

Three former executives of the climate friendly housing technology company Green Canopy NODE have left to create Cambia Capital, a… Read More

Amazon investing $40M in Seattle and elsewhere to help moderate-income families afford homes

Amazon is investing $40 million to help moderate-income families purchase homes in the Seattle area as well as other regions… Read More

One-third of home sales are all-cash, the highest level in a decade, amid rising mortgage rates

The share of U.S. homebuyers making all-cash purchases hit a decade-high in April, with one-third of buyers bypassing mortgage loan… Read More

Seattle mayor reveals top ideas in potential plan to convert some downtown office space to housing

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s desire to potentially convert some of the city’s downtown office space into housing and other commercial… Read More

Seattle business and tech leaders call for bold corporate action on housing crisis

A new report commissioned by Challenge Seattle, a coalition of business and tech leaders, says more companies need to help… Read More

Backyard home manufacturer Abodu, backed by Redfin CEO, is launching in Seattle

Abodu, a Redwood City, Calif.-based startup that manufactures and delivers prefabricated backyard homes, is launching in the Seattle area. The… Read More

‘Keep Amazon out’: Protestors demand tech giant pull permit for potential warehouse in Seattle

The news: Community organizers at a rally Saturday in Seattle demanded that Amazon withdraw reported plans to build a distribution… Read More

Amazon invests $23M to build 568 homes in Seattle as part of affordable housing initiative

Amazon is investing $23 million to support the construction of 568 homes in Seattle as part of its Housing Equity… Read More

MacKenzie Scott gives $436M to Habitat for Humanity in largest publicly disclosed donation yet

MacKenzie Scott has gifted $436 million to Habitat for Humanity in the largest publicly disclosed donation since the billionaire Seattle… Read More

‘Things could get worse’: Amazon’s salary bump reignites housing concerns in Seattle region

The headline was like a punch in the gut to many dreaming of owning or renting a home in the… Read More

How disparities for women and minorities widened during the pandemic

The pandemic has hastened already-existing economic trends, such as the increase in remote work. But at the same time, it… Read More

Podcast

The new realities of real estate: Redfin CEO on tech, climate, housing, and the era of ‘a thousand HQs’

Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman joins us on this episode of the GeekWire Podcast to discuss the latest twists in the… Read More

Amazon commits $100M to help build affordable housing near Seattle-area light rail stations

Amazon is committing $100 million to help create up to 1,200 affordable housing units across the Puget Sound region as… Read More

Initiative seeks to force Seattle to fund homeless housing and then clear camps

In an effort to overhaul Seattle’s approach to its homeless crisis, a coalition of downtown business leaders and non-profit representatives… Read More

Amazon’s new $2B fund aims to boost affordable housing in Arlington, Nashville and Seattle areas

Amazon is committing more than $2 billion to affordable housing initiatives in the regions of Seattle, Nashville, Tenn., and Arlington,… Read More

Microsoft invests another $65M in affordable housing, including fund to reduce rents near its HQ

Microsoft detailed new investments in affordable housing around its Redmond, Wash., headquarters Thursday as part of a $750 million program… Read More

Fair housing groups file federal lawsuit accusing Redfin of ‘redlining’ minority communities

Seattle-based real estate tech company Redfin is facing allegations of discriminatory pricing practices and “redlining” in a lawsuit filed by… Read More

Longterm vision for Seattle-Portland-Vancouver mega-region will require a ‘consensus on growth’

Traffic as congested as Los Angeles? Housing as unaffordable as the Bay Area or New York? Climate emissions falling well… Read More

The future of tech hubs: Why some experts are optimistic, despite pandemic and looming taxes

Downtown Seattle and San Francisco have taken on the eerie quality of ghost towns as office buildings stand empty and… Read More

Dreaming of a new home? Zillow’s new ad campaign signals changes in real estate and marketing

A new ad from Zillow is a sign of shifting sands in the housing market. Called “Ready for a Change,”… Read More

Zillow report fuels talk of ‘mass exodus’ in San Francisco, but other markets not seeing urban flight

Zillow’s recent Urban Suburban Market Report opens by asking: Are people fleeing the cities for greener suburban pastures? The short… Read More