At the rate that news stories are suddenly pouring in on the local housing downturn, you would think that the slowdown just came out of nowhere and surprised everyone. Now that the local press has finally woken up to reality about the housing market, there have been too many articles for me to cover each…
Author: The Tim
Tim Ellis is the founder of Seattle Bubble. His background in engineering and computer / internet technology, a fondness of data-based analysis of problems, and an addiction to spreadsheets all influence his perspective on the Seattle-area real estate market. Tim also hosts the weekly improv comedy sci-fi podcast Dispatches from the Multiverse.
News Quickie: Sellers Getting Desperate Out There
A pair of articles today from the Seattle P-I and King 5 News focus in on those poor, poor sellers that actually have to work to sell a home in today’s slow market. No longer are run-down shacks full of years of accumulated junk being bid up to ridiculous heights. Now, you actually have to…
News Quickie: Microsoft Might Not Save Us
Turns out we’re not the only ones that harbor some doubt about Microsoft’s ability to single-handedly shelter Seattle from a housing downturn. That exact subject was the topic of a recent Times editorial by Brier Dudley. Microsoft may not be minting millionaires anymore, but it’s growing at a time when Seattle’s glad for anything that…
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…
News Quickie: Foreclosures Decrease Nationally, Increase Locally
Aubrey Cohen has really been picking up the pace lately, with the new blog and an increased number of articles. One of his latest articles mentions that the rate of new foreclosures is actually recently increasing in Seattle at a faster rate than the country as a whole. Although the Seattle area continued to have…