Sell Your Commercial Property Fast In Seattle, WA

Who rents in Seattle

Seattle is a majority-renter city. The 2020–2024 American Community Survey counts 754,195 residents and 363,466 occupied homes, of which 204,521 (56.3%) are rented. The median household income is $123,860, which helps the city carry a median rent above $2,000 a month.

Two institutions explain much of the demand. Amazon’s headquarters is spread across South Lake Union and downtown, and about 50,000 Amazon employees returned to Seattle-area offices when the company’s five-day in-office rule took effect on January 2, 2025, Axios reported. A downtown restaurant operator told Axios that foot traffic and sales rose soon after. The University of Washington enrolls more than 60,000 students across its campuses, including more than 33,000 undergraduates in Seattle. Graduate students, medical residents and staff at UW Medicine add a renter base that does not track the tech hiring cycle.

For a building owner, that mix matters. A tenant base split between salaried tech workers, university affiliates and service workers spreads risk across sectors. Leasing near South Lake Union and the University District still swings more with office attendance and the academic calendar than leasing in areas south of the city.

Rents and affordability

Seattle’s median gross rent, which includes utilities, is $2,030 in the 2020–2024 ACS. HUD’s FY2026 Fair Market Rents for the Seattle-Bellevue HUD Metro FMR Area, which covers King and Snohomish counties, sit above that median at every unit size from one bedroom up. Housing Choice Voucher payment standards are built from these figures, so they are a practical ceiling for voucher-backed leases in older buildings.

Affordability is tighter than the income figure suggests. In the ACS, 42.4% of Seattle renter households spend 30% or more of income on rent, and 19.7% spend half or more. That is lower than in many Washington cities, but it still means a large share of tenants cannot absorb big renewal increases. State law now limits how big those increases can be.

The apartment stock

Seattle is an apartment city by structure as well as tenure. Of 393,918 housing units in ACS table B25024, 202,651 (51.4%) are in buildings with five or more units. Large buildings dominate: 104,395 units are in buildings of 50 or more, about 26.5% of all homes. The small and mid-size segment is still substantial, with 20,529 units in 5–9 unit buildings, 29,065 in 10–19 unit buildings and 48,662 in 20–49 unit buildings. Detached single-family houses account for 36.8% of units. Duplexes through fourplexes are only 5.4%.

The median Seattle home was built in 1976. Many 10–40 unit walk-ups and courtyard buildings in Capitol Hill, the University District, Ballard and West Seattle are older still, and buyers price in seismic, envelope, plumbing and electrical work when they underwrite them. Newer mid-rise and high-rise buildings tend to sit in South Lake Union, downtown and along light rail. Units with a first certificate of occupancy within the past 12 years are exempt from the state rent cap, which gives those buildings different rent rules from the older stock.

Our Seattle page also covers south King County. Kent, Renton and Federal Way fall under the same King County assessor, but each city has its own levy rate, shown below. Everett, in Snohomish County, shares Seattle’s HUD FMR area but has a separate assessor and levy structure.

Property taxes on apartment buildings in King County

Washington has no special assessment class for apartments. The King County Assessor values property at market value, revalues every parcel each year and physically inspects at least once every six years under RCW 84.41.041. There is no per-parcel assessment cap, so a rise in market value flows into the tax base. Owners who disagree with a value can appeal to the county board of equalization by July 1 or within 30 days after the value notice is mailed, whichever is later, or within a longer county-set window of up to 60 days, per RCW 84.40.038.

The 2026 King County codes and levies list a total rate of $9.90845 per $1,000 of assessed value for most Seattle levy codes. Two Seattle codes inside the Highline School District carry $12.22112. The district detail shows Seattle Public Schools levies of $2.15308 within the Seattle total. On a building assessed at $5 million, the standard Seattle rate works out to about $49,542 a year. In south King County, Federal Way codes carry $9.29817, Renton codes range from $9.31646 to $10.57834, and Kent codes range from $9.45289 to $10.91843.

Sellers also pay Washington’s graduated real estate excise tax. For sales closing through December 31, 2026, the state portion is 1.10% up to $525,000, 1.28% up to $1,525,000, 2.75% up to $3,025,000 and 3.0% above that. On a $5 million sale, the state portion alone is about $119,075. Local REET is added on top. From January 1, 2027 the bracket thresholds rise to $551,000, $1,551,000 and $3,051,000, at the same rates.

Rent rules: state cap plus Seattle’s own ordinances

Washington’s rent stabilization law took effect May 7, 2025. Annual increases are limited to 7% plus CPI or 10%, whichever is lower, with no increase allowed in the first 12 months of a tenancy, according to the Attorney General. The Department of Commerce set the cap at 9.683% for 2026 and 10% for 2027. Exemptions in RCW 59.18.710 cover units with a certificate of occupancy issued 12 or fewer years ago and certain regulated affordable housing. The state still bars cities from enacting their own rent control under RCW 35.21.830.

Seattle adds procedural rules on top of the state cap:

• Notice. Any housing-cost increase needs 180 days’ written notice, double the state’s 90 days, per the city’s housing cost increase rules. Violations can draw penalties of up to $7,500 each.
• Relocation assistance. An increase of 10% or more within 12 months lets the tenant claim Economic Displacement Relocation Assistance of up to three months’ housing costs. Because the 2027 state cap is exactly 10%, a full-cap increase next year would trigger it.
• Registration and inspection. Every rental unit must be registered under RRIO, renewed every two years, and properties are selected for inspection every 5–10 years, according to the city. A unit that fails RRIO standards can be blocked from a rent increase.
• Move-in costs. Non-refundable fees are limited to screening and cleaning and capped at 10% of one month’s rent. Deposit and fees together cannot exceed one month’s rent, and tenants can pay in installments, per the city’s move-in rules.
• Just cause. Landlords need one of the causes listed in the Just Cause Eviction Ordinance to end a month-to-month tenancy or decline to renew a lease. Some causes require relocation payments of $2,000 or two months’ rent, depending on tenant income.

Deposit returns follow state law: an itemized statement and refund within 30 days of move-out under RCW 59.18.280, with up to twice the deposit at risk for intentional refusal.

What this means if you own a building here

Seattle buyers now underwrite three things more closely than before. The first is the in-place rent roll against the state cap: a building with rents well below market cannot close that gap quickly, because increases are capped at 9.683% this year and 10% in 2027, with 180 days’ notice. The second is compliance. RRIO registration, current notices, correctly calculated move-in charges and any relocation obligations are now part of due diligence. The third is the tax and transfer cost. With no assessment cap and a graduated REET that reaches 3% on the top slice of the price, both the buyer’s carrying costs and the seller’s net proceeds move with value.

Older 5–50 unit buildings in Seattle are still in demand where the rent roll is clean and capital needs are documented. Start with an honest NOI using our net operating income guide, then test pricing with the cap rate calculator. If you are trading into another property, the 1031 exchange calculator helps with timing. Skyline Capital buys 5+ unit apartment buildings in Seattle and south King County, from stabilized to distressed, and our seller page explains how we price an offer.