The Land That Wouldn't Sell: A Seattle Speculator's Frustration
In January 1899, a local real estate agent tried to sell two acres of prime city land for $200. The buyer refused, citing recent sales of similar lots for as little as $5 per acre—a stark reminder of the chaotic and deflating property market in early Seattle.
Two hundred dollars was refused a few days ago for two acres in the eastern boundary of this city. There are near five acres which last fall were bought for an acre. A month ago the two acres were bought for $100, and now won't have them.
A. Miller, whose property is at the east end of the town, intends clearing it up and planting it as a ray [farm/orchard].
This brief snippet captures the extreme volatility of Seattle's early real estate market. Just months prior, land prices were skyrocketing during the Klondike Gold Rush boom; by January 1899, that bubble had burst, leading to a crash where speculators who bought high found themselves unable to sell at even a fraction of their cost. It mirrors modern housing crises where affordability swings wildly based on speculative bubbles and market corrections.
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