I thought I’d lump a few “sign of the times” type of stories into a single post, since it gets old after a while constantly reading (and writing) posts that are basically just slight variations on the “the real estate market is slow” theme. Here’s another interesting piece from Kirsten Grind over at the Puget…
Category: News
News, current events, etc.
Official WaMu Layoff Count Announced
Photo by The Tim The official layoff count for WaMu was made public today. According to various news sources, JPMorgan Chase will be cutting 3,400 jobs in Seattle. JPMorgan Chase is laying off 3,400 Washington Mutual employees in Seattle, according to spokesman Tom Kelly. That’s more than 80 percent of the 4,300 people it employs…
30 yr fixed around 5%
Our resources tell us phones are ringing off the hook. I’m hearing rates for purchases and refi’s are anywhere from 5.25% to 5.125% at par. Earlier this year, I sent out an APB for people who are waiting for super rates. Here they are again. Let me know off-line if you would like a reference…
Rapid Rise in WA Bankruptcies
According to the Seattle Times, Washington State ranked 12th in the nation—up from 27th last year—for average monthly growth in bankruptcy filings between 2007 and 2008, with bankruptcy filings up 40% year-over-year. How is this related to real estate? You can probably guess… Across the state, declining home values and tighter credit have added a…
Estately Kicks RE Search Up a Notch
Locally-based real estate search site Estately kicked their technology up another notch yesterday, with the addition of past home sales information to every listing, as well as the expansion into Chicago and Long Island, New York. I’ve been consistently impressed with how much Estately founder Galen Ward has been able to do on a shoestring…