Seattle Bubble

Wow, Aubrey Cohen over at the P-I is really slipping lately. First he prints the prediction that Seattle will see “slight year-over-year price declines this spring or summer,” and now he has penned an entire article about Bill Fleckenstein’s “not-so-rosy” outlook for local real estate.
Like many economists and real estate professionals, hedge fund manager [...]

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Last Wednesday there was some great conversation about what people are experiencing as they are out there right now trying to find a home. I think it’s worth re-posting these comments on the front page, since they give a good feel for what the housing market is really like right now that you can’t [...]

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The latest PMI report (pdf) is out, and much to no one’s surprise, Seattle’s risk index has increased yet again.

Click to enlarge
Jumping 14 points from the fall to a total of 167, Seattle now boasts a PMI that is 2.6 times its Summer 2005 low of 64. Although Seattle’s Risk Index is still a [...]

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Here’s some interesting news. Apparently even double-digit appreciation isn’t enough to keep foreclosures from rising around here, much like they are across the country:
Following a national trend, Washington state’s mortgage foreclosures increased significantly last year, claiming 18,527 homes.
In the Seattle/Bellevue/Everett area, one in every 136 homeowners was displaced by foreclosure, as was one in [...]

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More bad news for local real estate lead-generation company HouseValues:
Amid a slumping real estate market, HouseValues Inc. is cutting 12 percent of its work force and closing its online lead generation business for mortgages.
Sixty employees are losing their jobs, all at the company’s Kirkland headquarters.…In a memo to employees, HouseValues Chief Executive Ian Morris said [...]

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Check out this absolutely delightful paid advertisement masquerading as a “guest editorial” in today’s Seattle Times. It’s penned by Mr. Samuel L. Anderson, the executive officer of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties.
The media have been all abuzz over the past year about the softening in the housing market.…At the same [...]

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