There’s been a lot of chatter since yesterday afternoon about treasury rates, mortgage rates, the yield curve, and so forth—and for good reason. Here’s a good write-up from Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis on what’s going on: Mortgage Market Locks Up Yesterday 10 year treasury yields went soaring and the mortgage market literally seized up….
Category: News
News, current events, etc.
News Roundup: Time to Rent, Tax Credits, Indices…
Here are a few relevant news stories that have popped into my inbox in the last few days: Money Magazine: When it makes sense to rent (Seattle is #1—woo!) Seattle P-I: Tax credit down-payment plan waiting for IRS Seattle P-I: Dueling indexes: How much are Seattle-area house values down? USA Today: Condo market fights to…
Case-Shiller: Seattle Price Drops Keep Gaining Steam
Let’s make our regularly scheduled monthly check on the Case-Shiller Home Price Index. According to March data, Down 2.0% February to March. Down 16.4% YOY. Down 22.5% from the July 2007 peak Last year prices fell 0.9% from February to March and year-over-year prices were down 4.4%. Here’s the usual graph, with L.A. & San…
News Roundup: Jobs, Everett Condos, Illusions…
Here are a few relevant news stories that have popped into my inbox in the last few days: Associated Press: Wash. revenue down, but recession may be softening Seattle P-I: Housing recovery depends on jobs, banker says Associated Press: Wash. unemployment rate stayed same in April Tacoma News-Tribune: Turning little boxes into living space Everett…
PSBJ: Local Banks Feeling the Regulatory Squeeze
Over at the Puget Sound Business Journal, reporter Kirsten Grind posted an interesting story today on their recently-launched BizTalk blog: Crackdown on HomeStreet Bank comes as a surprise Washington state regulators don’t seem to have much patience these days for our struggling community banks and are increasingly slapping them with cease-and-desist orders to force a…