Seattle mandates smaller homes

Developers building new homes in Seattle will have to start thinking smaller which could end up adding green buildings to the city’s housing stock.

In early October, 2008 the Seattle City Council unanimously passed an ordinance limiting the size of homes built on smaller lots in an effort to keep home sizes in line with the look of surrounding neighborhoods. Aside from also increasing urban density, the new law may also help the city’s real estate market better weather the nation’s current economic storm.

Homes built on lots smaller than 5,000 square feet can now cover only 1,000 square feet plus 15 percent of the lot size. The standard assumption in real estate is that bigger is better when it comes to homes. But according to Ben Kaufman, a broker at Seattle-based GreenWorks Realty, which bills itself as the country’s first real estate brokerage focused on “green” properties, that’s not necessarily true in Seattle.

In King County, the median size for homes not certified by either Energy Star, Built Green or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards is 2,300 square feet. The median certified home size is 1,800 square feet, Kaufman says. Certified homes in King County sell at prices 5 percent higher than non-certified homes, according to GreenWorks Realty.

“It’s a flight to quality versus quantity and is about putting more into a smaller package,” Kaufman says. “In the long run, it brings up the value of the entire community.”