Seattle residents say they are in ‘survival mode,’ selling homes as high prices squeeze middle class
Even one family with ties to one of America’s largest tech companies now says the numbers don’t work.
Facing rising costs on food, fuel, insurance and housing A family in the Seattle area She sells her house and downsizes as inflation continues to strain household budgets.
“There was definitely an absolute tightening in our spending last year,” Liesl Gatcheco said. he told the Seattle Times in an article by business reporter Jessica Fu published Tuesday.
“This is very stressful,” Gatcheco said. “I feel like I’m living in emotional survival mode.”
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Homes for sale in West Seattle neighborhood on June 18, 2024.
Inflation in the Seattle area “remained high” in June and continues to outpace the rest of the country, Fu wrote. Consumer prices In the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue region, it increased by 4.5% last year, down from 4.9% in April, but still higher than the 3.5% inflation rate in the United States.
According to The Seattle Times, Gatcheco is a self-employed esthetician whose “revenue has dropped as fewer clients are booking.”
husband works at Microsoft.
The cost of living in Seattle is causing some residents to move from the expensive city.
“This meant stability and even upward mobility,” Fu wrote. “Now it’s always worried about layoffs. Just last week, the company laid off 4,800 workers in its Xbox division and sales teams; It will lay off 15,000 employees in 2025. This year, the tech giant also offered voluntary buyouts to 7% of US-based employees.”
“Working in technology used to be a given, but it definitely isn’t anymore,” Gatcheco said.
Gatcheco and her husband, who has twin children, they are selling their house To downsize and “take control” of Crown Hill, a neighborhood of the city of Seattle, where her sister also lives with them in downstairs units.
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Dusty Wilson, a math teacher at Highline College in Des Moines, about 20 minutes from Seattle, said he and his wife, Charlene, are driving less and taking the light rail because gasoline is so expensive.
“We were always just drivers, and then gas got to $6 a gallon,” Wilson said.
Fu also reported costs. food in restaurants It rose 6.2% in the year ending in June.
“Obviously ordinary expenses like takeout and eating out are starting to feel more like indulgences, even for people who never expected to downsize,” Fu wrote.
Veronica Brown, 36, who works in technology“I’m not suffering for money in any way,” he told Fu.
But Fu wrote that Brown no longer ordered takeout after the total cost of his usual pad thai exceeded $40 when taxes, fees and tip were added. He had previously ordered delivery once or twice a month.
Brown said he is concerned about his ability to make larger purchases. buy a house.
“Our money doesn’t go that far,” Brown told Fu.
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Some Seattle residents say food costs at restaurants have increased significantly.
“Fu’s story shows why affordability and inequality remain among the most pressing challenges facing Seattle and why it is a priority for this administration. Mayor Katie Wilson is fighting for housing, child care and good jobs while expanding access to public benefits for Seattle residents,” a spokesperson for Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson told Fox News Digital.
The spokesperson went on to emphasize that Wilson’s office “has communicated” over the past six months. legislation banning certain “junk fees” He said landlords, especially big ones, are charging tenants, dropping unexpected tenant fees, speeding up the construction of new shelters to help “bring people into homes and transition into long-term housing” and “freeing up homes.” Seattle Public Transportation Measure Proposal “We’re providing a low-cost way to bring more and better public transportation to people over the next 10 years, the cheapest possible option.”
His office also said it “recommends strengthening access to public libraries by offering more physical books and e-books and keeping facilities safe, clean and well-maintained.” Seattle Library Tax, legislation passed for universal school mealsIncludes both breakfast and lunch so students don’t learn while hungry” and “supported the City Council changing eligibility for the City’s utility discount program, which qualifies lower-income residents and seniors.
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“We look forward to the next six months and coming together with our neighbors, families, immigrants, and workers to meet the challenges and keep Seattle a place everyone can call home.”
Original article source: Seattle residents say they’re in ‘survival mode’ by selling their homes as high prices squeeze the middle class
