Skip to main content

Could Amazon’s return-to-office policy be driving up rent?

caption: Amazon employees returned to work en masse in downtown Seattle Thursday after a companywide policy went into effect requiring most workers to be in the office five days a week.
Enlarge Icon
Amazon employees returned to work en masse in downtown Seattle Thursday after a companywide policy went into effect requiring most workers to be in the office five days a week.
Juan Pablo Chiquiza

In the weeks since Amazon has called employees back to the office five days a week, businesses surrounding the company’s Seattle headquarters have been celebrating the return of thousands of customers downtown.

RELATED: This is the day Amazon's 'return to office' policy takes effect

The cost to rent an apartment downtown grew 2.5% last month, the first year-over-year increase in more than 12 months, according to a new report from Redfin.

The median monthly rent for an apartment downtown was $2,000 in December. The uptick came as Amazon’s corporate workforce prepared to return to the office five days a week, under a policy that took effect the first week of January.

Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari said the findings came as a bit of a surprise because so many new apartment buildings are opening up in the area.

“There's a lot of supply coming on, so we were expecting rents to just continue falling,” he said. “But, obviously, this is a very dynamic market where there's a lot of job opportunity."

RELATED: Culture-building or cost-cutting? Amazon's return-to-office order raises questions, fears

Still, he said it was too soon to tell whether the uptick in rent is the start of a trend – and how much Amazon’s policy is driving it.

Although Bokhari can’t predict how return-to-office mandates will affect demand, he is confident the supply of new apartments will decrease in the coming years.

The abundance of new buildings coming online now is a product of low interest rates that were available when developers broke ground. Redfin is seeing a slowdown in new construction now that interest rates have climbed.

Why you can trust KUOW
Close
On Air Shows

Print

Print

Play Audio
 Live Now On KUOW
KUOW Live Stream
On Air Shows

Print

Print

Play Audio
Local Newscast
The Latest
View All
    Play Audio