Seattle Bubble

Speaking of small business creating jobs: Snohomish Co. office space is currently showing vacancy at about 18%. In Lynnwood, the office vacancy rate is approximately 25-30%. Industrial space (read: Boeing & suppliers) appears firm.

Office space, meanwhile, remains harder to fill. Cushman & Wakefield and Colliers International commercial [...]

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Fact: As of 2005, Seattle area per capita income is the 15th highest in the nation (source).
Fantasy: “That pretty much says it all.” i.e. - Incomes in the Seattle area are so high, that it doesn’t matter how [...]

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Let’s play a game. It’s called “Spot the Fundamentals,” and the way we play it is by looking at some of the “fundamentals” to figure out which ones are responsible for our area’s high home prices.
The frequent condescending argument [...]

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Uh-oh…
Home prices go negative for first time in 11 yearsCase-Shiller price index shows prices falling in 17 of 20 cities in January
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — U.S. home prices continued to fall in January, with prices in 10 major cities now down 0.7% year-over-year, according to Standard & Poor’s and MacroMarkets LLC, which released the January Case-Shiller [...]

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Tacoma: Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to sell 1,500 high-end condos in 14 months:
Hundreds of new, pricey condominiums exclude young singles needed for a thriving city core, according to the author of a study analyzing the downtown housing market.
Builders and developers say land costs and water views push prices beyond the [...]

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Better be careful the next time you drive through Everett, you’re likely to get burned, the condo market there is so hot!
On paper at least, downtown Everett is poised for explosive growth.
Nearly 800 new downtown condos and apartments are in various stages of planning.
There’s a good chance some of the projects scattered across a dozen [...]

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