Problem: Housing in the Seattle area is too expensive.Government solution: Artificially inflate the buyer pool by throwing millions in government loans at the problem. Seattle will soon stake low-income housing developers in the cutthroat bidding wars for building sites. The idea, which the City Council’s Housing, Human Services and Health Committee approved as a two-year…
To Open Thread or Not to Open Thread?
Thanks to the cessation of daily open thread posts during and after my recent vacation, participation in the forums has really taken off. However, when I announced on Monday that I would cease posting open threads for the foreseeable future, a number of you protested. While I am certainly glad to see the forums well-utilized,…
Renting in Seattle "may make economic sense"
Finally some semi-useful information out of Dupre + Scott. Mr. Cohen reports on the “1-19 Unit Report” just released by Dupre + Scott in this terrifying tale of skyrocketing rents and plummeting vacancies: Rental houses get scarce, expensive The good news for people who cannot afford to buy a house in Seattle is that it…
Vacation Link Roundup
Looks like I didn’t miss too much Seattle housing news while I was gone. I’m looking forward to seeing the April numbers next week. Here’s a summary of what I noticed while clearing my inbox: Seattle, Portland, and Dallas are the only cities of the 20 tracked by the Case-Shiller / S&P Index in which…
On Vacation, Check the Forums!
Click here to go to the forums. I’ll be on vacation with little to no Internet access through the 28th, so I likely won’t be making new posts during that time. This includes open thread posts. I strongly encourage everyone to head over to the forums while I’m gone. It only takes a few seconds…