Seattle Bubble

A friend pointed me toward an interesting radio segment that aired on local public radio KUOW today: Should the Federal Government Bailout Banks and Homeowners?
You can listen to the full segment at the link above. Here’s a short excerpt from the beginning:

It seems that most of the people that called in were against a [...]

[Read more →]

Here’s a follow-up to yesterday’s condo re-version story. Just in time for the condo conversion mania to switch directions, while supply and demand do that thing they do so well, here comes the State Legislature to “fix the problem.”
Renters forced from their apartments to make way for condominiums would get more time to find [...]

[Read more →]

Looks like the City of Seattle is getting in on some of the home “owner” bailout action.
The City of Seattle is offering a helping hand to homeowners facing foreclosure.
The pilot program would offer $5,000 loans to 40 families.
Wow, $5,000, huh? That will let some overstretched buyer keep making their adjusted-ARM payments for about… six [...]

[Read more →]

Here’s a few quickies to start off your Monday morning.
First up, Seattle’s market got a mention in the LA Times on New Year’s Eve while I was cavorting about the country. Note that this was a week or two before the NWMLS statistics for December came out, showing a year-on-year price decline.
It’s the kind [...]

[Read more →]

As 2008 gets rolling, your lawmakers are getting back to the business of budgets and lawmaking in Olympia. Of course, with this being an election year you can expect to hear a lot of talk about “doing something” to address the latest hot issues that are on everyone’s mind.
So what is one of the [...]

[Read more →]

Foreclosures in King County spiked upward significantly last month, according to the latest report.
While the nation as a whole saw a notable drop in foreclosure filings last month, King County filings surged.
The county had 767 filings in November, up 127 percent from October and 93 percent from November 2006, according to RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif., [...]

[Read more →]