Here’s the latest from Aubrey Cohen over at the P-I: Mortgages harder to get for local borrowers Lenders who previously approved mortgages to people with bad credit, no down payment and little or no documentation of income now are refusing loans if even one of those three factors is questionable. This is true even in…
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.
Case-Shiller: Seattle Stagnant in July
The prediction (emphasis added): When July’s housing stats came out last week, the most confusing piece of data was that despite skyrocketing local inventory and tightening lending across the nation, the median price still jumped up 2.3% from June, bouncing back into double-digit YOY territory at a 10.6% increase since July 2006. … I believe…
Zoning to Blame… Yeah, That’s the Ticket.
What’s to blame for the Seattle area’s out of control housing prices? If you read the local papers, you’ll hear all kinds of reasons. Booming local economy, running out of land, super-extra desirable climate, Microsoft/Boeing, you name it, they’ve claimed it (almost). The latest scapegoat: local zoning. “Local zoning is the No. 1 enemy of…
King County NOT Running Out of Land
For those that continue to insist that home prices around Seattle are high because “supply isn’t keeping up with demand,” I would like to point out the 2007 King County Buildable Lands Report. This is what the report has to say about building activity in King County from 2001 through 2005: King County gained more…
Subtle Headline / Photo Combo
From above the fold on today’s Seattle Times front page: Click to view pdf How soon do you suppose we can expect an article explicitly making the claim that is subtly implied by this headline / photo combo? Let’s play “predict the headline.” Here’s my guess: Soaring Loonie Strengthens Seattle Real Estate. Of course, the…