Let’s have a little economic review, shall we? Early 2006 — We were told by “economists” that all is well in the housing market, and we were just headed for a soft landing. Definitely zero risk to the economy. January 27, 2006“All the hype about the housing market falling apart is exaggerated,” Tim Rogers, Boston-based…
More Local Stories of the Slowdown
You know that the local housing slowdown is essentially undeniable when even the local TV news starts to pick up the story… It’s not exactly a slump, but some of the wind has left the sails of the local real estate market. What used to sell in two weeks is now taking as long as…
Introducing the Seattle Distressed Sellers Index
I’d like to introduce a new statistic to Seattle Bubble: the Distressed Sellers Index (DSI). This is a metric I have been recording since May, and while I don’t have enough data to do year-over-year comparisons yet, given the recent action, I thought it was a good time to bring it in. The DSI uses…
Prices in Seattle “Not Unthinkable Yet”
Hot on the heels of an unusually balanced report on the latest NWMLS home sales data, Aubrey Cohen comes back with another piece on the local market, this one full of non-sensical rationalizations for continued price gains. Ken Kam, of Honolulu, scoped out second-home possibilities during a Seattle visit last month. “It seems like it’s…
Cash infusions at CFC continue, WaMu exits warehouse biz, more downsizing
National Mortgage News reports that Countrywide received an additional $12 Billion in secured financing and that mortgage powerhouse, WaMu, is exiting the warehouse biz. In addition, there are rumblings that Countrywide employees may be suing Angelo Mozillo et. al, complaining that the company allegedly cheated them out of millions by concealing the true health of…