Seattle-area home sales way ahead of last year, airport traffic way behind | Coronavirus Economy in charts

How is the local economy coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and its ripple effects? It depends on where you look.

Sales of single-family homes are roaring along, according to Northwest Multiple Listing Service data on 23 Washington counties. Despite the high level of unemployment and new hurdles in viewing homes, those who can afford to buy are rushing to take advantage of record low interest rates and perhaps relocate their households to new cities or suburbs.

Meanwhile, travel by plane remains far from its pre-pandemic heights, though it’s risen from the absolute lows of April. Passenger volume is barely one-third of its February level, although aircraft takeoffs and landings — which include cargo planes — are more than two-thirds of the earlier highs.

The job market, too, remains weaker than it was. And Seattle-area job listings have not bounced back as well as those for Washington state or the nation as a whole.

The formation of new businesses, as measured by newly issued tax IDs, also shows a sizeable discrepancy, in this case between Washington and the nation. Both are running ahead of last year’s pace — but the U.S. level is far ahead of the state’s comparable figure.