Let's talk about something that's quietly reshaping the Seattle real estate market: return to office.

I'm not talking about the construction traffic on I-5 — that's its own ongoing Seattle saga. I'm talking about the shift happening right now as major employers go back to five days a week in the office.

What We Saw During Remote Work

When companies went to three days a week, we saw a real behavioral shift in where people were willing to live. Buyers who would previously have never considered a 45-minute commute started looking farther out. Properties in more remote areas of King County, Snohomish County, and even further — places that were impractical as a five-day commute — suddenly became viable weekend homes or primary residences for people only making the drive two or three times a week.

We saw buyers stretch geographically in ways they wouldn't have before COVID.

What's Happening Now

That's reversing. Five-days-a-week is coming back at several of the major employers in our area, and we're already hearing it in client conversations: "I moved farther out than I wanted to, and now I'm sitting in traffic and it's not working."

The correction is coming. People who stretched their geography during remote work are going to start moving back toward proximity.

What This Means for Property Values

Location, location, location — the oldest rule in real estate — never actually went away. It just took a temporary break. And now it's reasserting itself.

Neighborhoods with strong proximity to major employer campuses — Mercer Island, Bellevue, Kirkland, the closer-in Seattle neighborhoods — are going to continue to command premiums. They already do. But the return-to-office trend is going to strengthen that demand further over the next year or two.

If you've been on the fence about buying in one of these areas because of price, this is the dynamic to understand: the price pressure isn't going away. The underlying driver — proximity to work — is only getting more important.

We watch this market closely and are happy to talk through what it means for your specific situation.

Watch the original video: https://youtube.com/watch?v=exptF9rm178