Lets examine the difference in renting an apartment versus a condo in Seattle. We’ll compare a 2 bedroom at Cristalla and a new construction unit at Premiere on Pine (8th and Pine).
If you are in the market for a rental there are a number of different buildings, floor plans, amenity packages and locations. In comparing these two rentals, you’ll see in our chart below, the rent per square foot is over a $1 more in the new apartment tower versus the condo tower. The apartment at Premiere is on the 34th floor but comes in at 400sf less than the Cristalla Condo.
The fundamental difference between renting an apartment vs a condo is that you deal with a management company versus an individual owner. Each has its pros and cons. One thing that has been very consistent over the last couple of years is that rents have gone up. The average rent in Downtown Seattle is $1,855.
According to data from the MID & DSA*,
"Downtown Seattle has 32,281 apartment units and 13,058 condo units. The average size of a Downtown apartment is 638 square feet and the average size of a condo is 913 square feet. The market vacancy rate for apartments in Downtown Seattle as of March 2014 was just 3.8 percent."
