By The Tim on February 15, 2013
Here’s an excerpt from an a Q&A with the then-president of the Thurston County Realtors Association Bill Hutchinson that appeared in The Olympian in February 2008 (now available only behind their archive paywall): Q: Given where the market is today compared with a couple of years ago, what would your advice be for sellers and [...]
Posted in Features | Tagged 2008, Friday Flashback, Hutchinson, Olympia, Thurston
By The Tim on February 12, 2010
[Note: This is an opinion piece on a political matter. If that sort of thing offends you, it is recommended that you skip this post.] Christine Gregoire, January 2008: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” Gregoire said, quoting former President Franklin Roosevelt and referring to national recession fears. “It is a [...]
Posted in Economy, News, Opinion | Tagged Economy, Gregoire, legislation, Local Economy, Olympia, Opinion, politics, tax revenues
By The Tim on January 22, 2010
Washington State’s Chief Economist Arun Raha has been speaking this week about his expectations for Washington’s economy in 2010 and beyond, including his outlook for the local real estate market. Raha said the nation’s big banks are in better shape and are mostly back to normal in terms of lending money to customers with good [...]
Posted in Economy, Local, News | Tagged banks, Benbow, Boone, consumer-confidence, Economy, Everett_Herald, Local Economy, Olympia, Olympian, predictions, Raha
By The Tim on May 15, 2009
From today’s Olympian: Housing project in foreclosure Thurston Highlands, one of the largest proposed mixed-use developments in the state, has emerged as the biggest example of how the economic crisis has had a corrosive effect on development. Through its trustee, the project’s primary lender, Frontier Bank, has started foreclosure proceedings on the 1,250-acre property after [...]
Posted in News | Tagged developers, Frontier Bank, Kenmore, mixed-use, Olympia, Olympian, Woodinville
By The Tim on April 14, 2009
According to a pair of reports released yesterday, the real estate slowdown is still a serious drag on state and local revenues, thanks to significant sagging in real estate excise tax collections. From the latest state revenue collection report (pdf): Collections [for the March 11, 2009 – April 10, 2009 collection period] were $8.7 million [...]
Posted in News | Tagged Olympia, Seattle, tax revenues
By The Tim on February 18, 2008
Looks like that slowdown in state government revenues that Washington State’s chief economist ChangMook Sohn has been consistently warning us about really has come to pass. Sharp declines in predicted revenue from the real estate excise tax and a mild national recession have led the state’s top economist to downgrade his revenue forecast by $423 [...]
Posted in Local, News | Tagged Olympia, Sohn, tax revenues
