Heh, remember this piece from April of last year? Homebuyers scramble as mortgage rates jump The era of record-low mortgage rates is over. The average rate on a 30-year loan has jumped from about 5 percent to more than 5.3 percent in just the past week. As mortgages get more expensive, more would-be homeowners are…
Category: News
News, current events, etc.
New King County Econ Blog: Housing is Risky, not Lousy
I received an email yesterday from Tom Goodwin, King County’s Chief Economist, pointing me toward a new blog that he has started to discuss economic issues in King County. The first topic: real estate. In his post, Is a Home a "Lousy" Investment? Tom takes on the recent Wall Street Journal piece A Home Is…
Weekly Twitter Digest (Link Roundup) for 2011-08-13
Claim: "Washington homes reach record affordability" http://goo.gl/yY5iU @WCRER via @RealEstatePI # Apparently homebuying demand to @Redfin hasn't been phased by the downgrade/market crash: http://goo.gl/3kEDH # $480 million sale of buildings in Denny Triangle: http://goo.gl/eQMUT via @SeattleTimes # Fannie/Freddie-owned foreclosures to be converted to rentals? http://goo.gl/ubrfU # Michael Hellickson keeps losing rulings, still without a real…
Friday Flashback: NAR Propaganda Montage
Here’s a little montage of commercials from the National Association of REALTORs® over the last few years. My favorite is the one with the family literally sitting on a fence. The last one isn’t technically a “flashback” since it’s currently airing, but the message that anyone who doesn’t buy a house must hate America and…
Weekly Twitter Digest (Link Roundup) for 2011-08-06
NAR TV spot I just saw: "America needs jobs, and housing creates them." Translation: if you don't buy a house, you hate America. # "Mortgage tax break at risk?" [I wish, but yeah right] via @SeattleTimes http://goo.gl/6QxEA # Some WA state banks post strong Q2 earnings: http://goo.gl/7tNkp via @PSBJ's @KellyGilblom # A "divorce-oriented real estate…