Here is your open thread for the weekend beginning Friday March 20th, 2009. You may post random links and off-topic discussions here. Also, if you have an idea or a topic you’d like to see covered in an article, please make it known. Be sure to also check out the forums, and get your word…
Year: 2009
Local Housing Oversupply Could Disappear by July 2010…
Good news everyone! The latest population estimates for King County have been released by the Census Bureau, and at the present rate of population growth, we’ll be able to use up all of our excess housing inventory by July of next year… …if all residential construction across the county completely ceased after July 2008, that…
Today: Fed announces $750 Billion to purchase Freddie & Fannie MBS.
Opinion: Today the Fed announced a significant plan to purchase an additional $750 Billion in mortgage backed securities from agencies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The proposal is hopeful in that it will stimulate the housing market and refinance business by producing exceptional mortgage rates lower than where they are today. Will this impact the…
The Stranger on Seattle’s Empty Condos
Here’s a great article on the vacant condo situation in Seattle in general and Ballard specifically from The Stranger’s Dominic Holden: Nobody’s Home “I think that there was some overanticipated demand that was probably not real,” says Matthew Gardner, a land-use economist and principal of real-estate analysis firm Gardner Johnson. He notes that, given the…
Local Unemployment Nearly on Par with National Rate
Washington State’s latest unemployment statistics came out yesterday, and King County came in with a staggering 8.0% unemployment rate. To put this in context, I created the following graph, which charts local unemployment back to 1990 (as far as I can locate data), and compares it to the nationwide unemployment rate as well as “official”…