Although cooling in the housing market may not have reached Seattle just yet, some of its effects are being felt here: Responding to the cooling housing market, Washington Mutual Inc., the largest U.S. savings and loan, said on Wednesday that it was laying off 2,500 support employees in its mortgage unit. The Seattle, Washington-based company…
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Follow-Up: State RE Spending Passes House
A few weeks ago, you may recall, a bill was being proposed in the state legislator to spend away much of the state revenue gained thanks to the real estate boom. Yesterday that bill passed the House. OLYMPIA — The House approved a $100 million expansion of the state’s housing program Saturday. The proposal would…
Housing Vs. Wages In Snohomish County
Here’s an article that goes into some detail on the subject of how much faster than wages housing prices have been rising, specifically in Snohomish County. The rapid rate of increase the last two years has raised eyebrows in the industry, Hokanson said. “Any time we get into double digits, we’re a little bit concerned.”…
Zillow-rific… Or Something
Yeah I know, I’m way behind the curve on this one (that’s what I get for starting a new job), but it doesn’t really directly relate to a bubble, other than perhaps being an interesting way to watch things go down. Anyway, as you surely know by now, the much-hyped, formerly super-mysterious, Zillow.com is now…
Plentiful Parking To Blame For Seattle’s Bubble?
Here’s an interesting tidbit from a mostly unrelated article (about getting people out of cars) in today’s Seattle P-I: Last March, Mayor Greg Nickels announced plans to reduce the number of parking spaces housing developers will need to provide in the Capitol Hill, First Hill, Pike-Pine and University District neighborhoods. The city’s Department of Planning…