The Washington Center for Real Estate Research has released their data for the fourth quarter of 2007, and it finally has some good news for home buyers. According to the WCRER calculations, home prices in Q4 dropped 7% from the previous quarter ($472,000 to $439,000), which naturally edged the affordability index up slightly to a…
Year: 2008
Vote for Seattle Bubble (again?)
Just a quick note to remind you that Seattle Bubble advanced to round 2 of the little blog tournament they’ve got going on over at Metroblogging Seattle. They put us up against last year’s winner, but so far we’re actually slightly in the lead. Voting closes Sunday, so a little boost going into the weekend…
Detailed Study of Land Use Regulations & Home Prices
The big local housing story today is a study that was released recently by University of Washington Economics professor Theo Eicher. The thrilling title of the study is “Municipal and Statewide Land Use Regulations and Housing Prices Across 250 Major US Cities,” and it may be found (along with a number of related materials) here….
Interest Rate update
I’m seeing via various sources that interest rates are moving up. Today I’m reading that 30 yr fixed rates are around 5.75%. The yield on 10 yr bonds has been increasing lately. Have a good day.
Freddie Mac: 81% 4th Qtr. ’07 Refi’s exceeded original loan by 5% or more.
Frank Nothaft, Vice President and Chief Economist of Freddie Mac: “In the fourth quarter of 2007, 81% of Freddie Mac-owned loans that were refinanced resulted in new mortgages with loan amounts that were at least 5% higher than the original mortgage balances, according to Freddie Mac’s quarterly refinance review. The revised share for the third…