Is it time for November NWMLS market statistics already? Yes, it is. Here’s the NWMLS press release: November’s Housing Activity in Western Washington Reflects "Microclimates" “Real estate microclimates can behave very differently,” according to one industry leader in commenting on the latest report from Northwest Multiple Listing Service. On first glimpse, the statistics for much…
“The housing market is slightly undervalued” (except in Seattle)
A recent report on the housing market across the country from Global Insight and National City contains some interesting bits that are worth noting: Extreme overvaluation is now essentially nonexistent. … For the country as a whole, the housing market is slightly undervalued. … Only the Pacific Northwest remains overvalued across a wide region. Their…
Renting in and Around Seattle Still the Smart Financial Move
Let’s take an updated look at some Seattle-area rent vs. buy comparisons to see if the situation has improved at all since we analyized it last summer. Back then, the real-world example I used compared two similar homes in Kirkland. Total monthly costs for the rental were $1,515, while the home for sale would have…
Signs of the Times
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…
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…