"Given the recent changes in the California market, properties in Seattle are more in favor than they were before," explains Bosl. He cites the example of San Francisco, where apartments have suffered from the negative employment impact of dead or dying dot-coms. While Seattle has also been hard hit, Bosl says it was not dealt as severe a blow.

M/PF's Greg Willett appears to agree that Seattle has fared better in some respects in comparison to other major US cities. While Seattle demand has quieted over the past few years, he says, "The good news for Seattle is that cooler demand shouldn't damage market conditions too much since the apartment construction volume has not been especially aggressive."

According to CB Richard Ellis, the largest volume of apartment sales in the first half of 2001 was in the Southend, which hit $135 million. That total came from 21 transactions with an average cap rate of 8.96% and an average per-unit price of $58,490.

As for Seattle proper, the report says sales "reached $70 million in the first half of 2001, keeping pace with totals from the end of last year." The average price-per-unit there was $97,950. The cap rate here averaged 6.65%.

Eastside sales were sluggish, with a volume of $36 million coming in three transactions. The average sales price of $100,285 per unit translates to a cap rate of 7.71%. In the remaining key areas of Puget Sound, Snohomish County saw $47 million in sales, with averages of $67,865 per unit and a 9.02% cap rate. Thirteen sales in Pierce County totaled $33 million, with a per-unit average of $52,852. The average cap rate in Pierce was the highest in the region at 9.47%.