According to a post on Aubrey Cohen’s P-I blog Seattle Real Estate News, State may give buyer credit as temporary loan. First-time home buyers would get their $8,000 tax credit as a state loan at closing, under a measure the state Senate Ways and Means Committee approved Wednesday night. The federal government is offering the…
Foreclosures Yet Again Shot to New Record Highs in March
Time for our March update on Foreclosure activity in King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties. First up, the Notice of Trustee Sale summary: March 2009 King: 1,089 NTS, up 129% YOY Snohomish: 499 NTS, up 125% YOY Pierce: 705 NTS, up 51% YOY Here’s a simple look at how March’s foreclosures compare to the same month…
Unemployment Reaches Record Levels, But Rate of Increase Slows
Here’s a chart to help put the latest local unemployment statistics in perspective: You can see that yes, unemployment reached yet another record high in March. However, the good news is that the rate of increase in the unemployment rate has slowed significantly. For the last six months or so the unemployment rate had been…
Study: So What if Boeing Does Leave the Puget Sound?
The Puget Sound Business Journal posts today about an interesting study just released by the Washington Alliance for a Competitive Economy: What if Boeing Left Washington? (pdf) The report explores the effects of both an immediate withdrawal of Boeing in 2013 and a 10-year phased withdrawal from 2013 to 2022. In addition to estimating the…
Plummetting Real Estate Excise Tax Revenue Drags on City, State
According to a pair of reports released yesterday, the real estate slowdown is still a serious drag on state and local revenues, thanks to significant sagging in real estate excise tax collections. From the latest state revenue collection report (pdf): Collections [for the March 11, 2009 – April 10, 2009 collection period] were $8.7 million…