In a Lynnwood Journal puff piece that reads more like a sales ad than a news article I found these interesting anecdotes: Local lenders, such as Golf Savings Bank, are offering incentives, such as $1,000 off closing costs for certain new home communities, like Edmonds Cascade Cottages. And local developers, such as Puget Sound Homes…
Lending News: Washington State Cracks Down?
A pair of articles printed Saturday in the Seattle Times show some slight tightening of lending practices in our state. Nineteen states, including Washington, and the District of Columbia have moved quickly to warn state-regulated lenders about the hazards to consumers from nontraditional mortgages. Tens of thousands of state-licensed lenders and mortgage brokers are affected…
December Reporting Roundup
After just nine months of increasing YOY home inventory and fourteen months of declining YOY home sales, the local media has apparently taken notice. Even Elizabeth Rhodes at the Seattle Times can’t ignore the slowing trend: In fact, buyers weren’t racing to make offers anywhere in the central Puget Sound area last month, according to…
Inventory Up, Sales Down (Sound Familiar?)
December stats are available from the NWMLS. Here’s a summary of the “residential” figures: Active Listings: up 23% YOYPending Sales: down 9% YOYMedian Closed Price: $440,000, up 12% YOY. I’ll update this post later today with the usual graph and links to the updated spreadsheet and the NWMLS pdfs. Update: Sorry about the delay. Here’s…
What to Blame? Not Growth Management.
Here’s a guest editorial from today’s Seattle Times that says something I’ve been saying all along: The “home prices are high because we’re running out of land because of Growth Management” argument doesn’t hold water. The cost of housing is spiraling out of control in many parts of the Puget Sound region. King County is…