The Seattle P-I shares the tale of a local flipper who does more than the buy, sit, flip that has become popular with the real estate explosion. “Buy, fix, flip” actually sounds like an understatement for this guy: The living room of the old Ballard house is redolent with the scent of freshly laid oak…
Category: News
News, current events, etc.
Olympics To Blame For "Balanced" Market
Here’s a media report on February’s numbers from the Seattle Times, who says that "prices remain buoyant." The housing market around Puget Sound has slowed from its blistering pace of a year ago, meaning some sellers don’t get multiple offers and some have to lower their prices. But prices remain buoyant, with the median sales…
More Fuzzy "Affordable" Math
Yet another government-subsidized "affordable housing" project is going up downtown, with the Mayor and other high-rollers attending the big kick-off ceremony last week. Built to help address the city’s shortage of affordable homes, most of the building’s 19 new condominiums will be affordable to households earning less than 80 percent of the area median income….
HouseValues’ Value Drops
Despite Seattle’s resilience so far, the deflating bubble elsewhere around the country continues to affect businesses based in the Seattle area. The latest victim—HouseValues—took a hit last week. Last year’s booming housing market helped pump up 2005 profits at Kirkland-based HouseValues, but the company’s forecast for the current year led to a 28 percent stock-market…
Government-Funded "Affordability"
What’s the solution to ridiculously high home prices in Seattle? Why, government programs, of course! Some programs available here max out annually but others remain untapped, leaving thousands of dollars in assistance available to people earning as much as 80 percent of the $72,000 median household income in the Seattle metropolitan area. That currently translates…