Seattle Bubble

Is downtown Seattle destined to become populated with nothing but luxury condos and low-income housing? If taxes and fees for building downtown keep going up, some see that as Seattle’s future.
As the Seattle City Council prepares to vote on reshaping downtown Seattle with taller buildings, a heated debate remains over how much residential developers should [...]

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While most home “owners” are nothing less than thrilled about skyrocketing real estate prices, mobile home owners are having the land sold out from under them as land owners cash in on Seattle’s bubble.
Our state is facing a mobile home space crisis. Exploding real estate prices are making the land too valuable for this moderate-to-low [...]

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Here’s an insightful headline from The Olympian: Renting may be better for first-time buyers. Yes, that’s “may be better.” Heh.
Is it better to rent than to own, particularly as the median price of a home in Thurston County keeps climbing and now approaches $250,000?
Renting offers the advantage of flexibility and a landlord who [...]

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Readers of this blog know that up-and-coming condos in Bellevue will cost $400k for 700ft², but what about up in Snohomish County? Well, your $400,000 won’t go much further, netting you a mere extra 100ft², and hopeful residents of Everett’s fancy new waterfront condos aren’t batting an eye.
But last week, Olsen said the condominiums [...]

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Another local mortgage firm has been shrinking lately. Mortgage Investment Lending Associates, Inc.’s staff has shrunk by roughly 17% since January.
Rising mortgage rates and the slowing housing market nationwide have caught up with Mortgage Investment Lending Associates Inc., which has reigned as one of the region’s fastest-growing companies.
Better known simply as MILA, the wholesale [...]

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Here’s a good one to chew on. Is Seattle’s housing market poised to become as ridiculous and unlivable as San Francisco? Could be…
The ripples of San Francisco’s housing crisis don’t stop at the city limits. When the working poor — receptionists, day care providers, retail salespeople and housekeepers, for example — flee the [...]

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