I’ve been reading a tremendous amount recently on the subject of building and it’s impact on local real estate markets. Over the past several weeks, at every opportunity both privately and out on the town, I have talked with people who are involved in the supply side of housing: builders, contractors, and suppliers (big box…
Bubble-Proof Superstar Seattle
A commenter over at RCG pointed out this Business 2.0 article that labels Seattle as “bubble-proof.” About the last place a prospective homebuyer might want to peruse MLS listings these days is in one of the country’s most expensive markets, like San Francisco, where the median cost of a single-family dwelling has jumped 37 percent…
Big Picture: Supply vs. Demand
Why have residential real estate prices experienced an unusually rapid increase in last few years? That’s the big question that we all want the answer to, right? There’s one argument that goes something like this: There just aren’t enough homes for everyone. People are moving to the Puget Sound at a rapid pace, and homebuilding…
Kids + Condos = No Way
Here’s a tidbit from a Seattle P-I story last week about the lack of families with children downtown. The article doesn’t really have much to do with home prices or bubbles, but we have talked at length about downtown condos in the past, so it is at least worth mentioning. Sure, there’s a way to…
Anecdote Extravaganza
It’s been a while since the last anecdote post, so I thought now would be a good time for an update. First up, let’s go way back to early June. Remember the million-dollar new construction in Redmond? It was originally listed in mid-May for $1,625,000, and the last time we checked in it had taken…