One common refrain lately among real estate agents desperate to put a positive spin on the local market is that potential home buyers in the Seattle area are just being frightened by all the bad national news on the housing market. The local market is doing just fine, and would be even better if only…
Tag: AP
Gregoire: “The economy is strong. Buy your home.”
Everybody’s pal Christine Gregoire gave a pep talk to the Washington Realtors last week in which she made some interesting comments. Gov. Chris Gregoire told about 400 Washington Realtors on Thursday that she has been working to meet goals the group has for transportation, affordable housing, education and quality of life. Gregoire, who spoke a…
Seattle Delightfully Immune to Housing Downturn
Another day, another syndicated Associated Press article reprinted in the Seattle Times with an abundant dose of rah-rah local cheerleading awkwardly thrown in by Elizabeth Rhodes (additions in italic): U.S. home prices drop for quarter; not so here. U.S. home prices marked a quarterly decline for the first time in 13 years in the third…
News Quickie: Government Revenues Sagging
Remember that slowdown in state revenues that we were warned about by our state’s chief economist ChangMook Sohn last year? Well guess what? It’s here! Washington’s construction industry continues to expand, but real estate tax collections are $18 million below expected levels. The state Revenue Forecast Council says taxable real estate activity in the past…
Prices in Seattle “Not Unthinkable Yet”
Hot on the heels of an unusually balanced report on the latest NWMLS home sales data, Aubrey Cohen comes back with another piece on the local market, this one full of non-sensical rationalizations for continued price gains. Ken Kam, of Honolulu, scoped out second-home possibilities during a Seattle visit last month. “It seems like it’s…