Lynnwood, Washington

    The City of Lynnwood is enjoying some of the fastest appreciation rates in Puget Sound.  Known primarily for Alderwood Mall and the many, many surrounding stores, Lynnwood for many years was considered too far out of Seattle to be acceptable as a bedroom community.  It was the Shopping Center of Snohomish County. Now, with many apartments converting to affordable condo housing and some of the few available tracts of land left near Seattle being developed, Lynnwood is on the rise. 

     Lynnwood enjoys better traffic patterns than the average community around Seattle.  That's because of the shopping.  The city was planned around getting shoppers in and out easily.  Interstate 5 runs through it, with more lanes than downtown Seattle.  Interstate 405 turns into a state highway right at the Alderwood Mall.  The city streets are wide (to accommodate trucking delivery to stores) and have multiple lanes.  In a region where you can sit through 8 cycles at a stoplight before you move, having a town with outstanding traffic patterns is no small thing.

     Existing home prices averaged $333,000 at the end of 2005, a 15% increase over 2004.   New home prices averaged $400,000, a 17% increase over the previous year.  Existing condo prices averaged $183,000, an increase of just 6%.  However, new condos increased in value to $290,00 which was an increase of 34%.  2006 home and condo sales in Lynnwood are very strong, and appreciation rates should continue to be high.