I qualify for an MFTE (Multi-Family Tax Exempt) unit -- a Seattle incentive program under which developers offer some percentage (generally 10 or 15%) of their units at capped "affordable rates" in exchange for tax benefits.
My neighbors paying market rates pay $1000 to $1200 more for the same layout.
I feel incredibly lucky, Affordable units are NOT easy to come by for those who qualify. I signed up for "pre-leasing" on a building that was going up in the Green Lake neighborhood and waited 18 months. And I can tell you, I am not going anywhere.
Anyway, in places like Seattle, that "typical asking rent of $1,910" wouldn't get you a studio in a decent location.
On Edit: Here's what AI (Gemini) has to say on the status of private equity ownership in Seattle:
In the Seattle/Tacoma metropolitan area, private equity firms own an estimated 53,452 apartment units, according to a report by the Multifamily Dive tracking multi-family housing. Across Washington state, watchdog data from the Private Equity Stakeholder Project indicates that institutional investors control about 9.2% of all apartment units.
Because private equity firms frequently buy, sell, and consolidate portfolios, a precise unit count restricted solely to the Seattle city limits rather than the broader metro region fluctuates frequently. However, to understand the local presence of these large-scale landlords, consider the following specific data points:
Blackstone: As the largest apartment owner in the United States, Blackstone has a strong footprint in Seattle, having assumed loans or purchased prominent local properties such as the 257-unit Polaris at Lake City, the 306-unit Polaris at Rainier Beach, and the 249-unit Thai Binh apartments, as reported by KING 5 News.
Single-Family Rentals (SFRs): In terms of individual houses, mega-investors who own portfolios of 1,000+ homes own roughly 15,000 houses across Washington
https://www.postalley.org/2025/06/21/who-actually-owns-washington-state-homes/
https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/banning-wall-street-owned-homes-would-have-big-impact-washington-experts-say/FKYGBXAFQJGC7K7M7U6F6HLI7A/
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