Here’s another report out of Olympia, on the significant cool-down that housing is experiencing there. As the South Sound real estate market cools from overheated to warm, sellers are increasingly offering price reductions in order to speed up sales. Real estate agents say the recent appearance of homes marked as “Price Reduced” indicates that this…
US Financial Systemic Risk: Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac
I know many readers have asked me to provide information regarding the tightening of lending standards. In researching this (maybe some loan officers that sleuth this site could be much more helpful) I did find the following: August 11, 2006–Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair says federal banking regulators are still a few months…
Spotted In Monroe
Name & phone number have been liquified to protect the—well, just as a courtesy. In case you are wondering—no, they are not a REALTOR®, so I guess they don’t have that pesky code of ethics to be concerned with. Thanks to my former coworker JP for the heads up on this.
Slowing Housing Market? NIMBY!
The real estate writers for the Seattle P-I apparently aren’t capable of leaving well enough alone. Even when they print an Associated Press wire report about the serious housing slowdown underway across the nation, they just have to slip in a "but not in Seattle" clause (P-I addition italicized). The "For Sale" signs are staying…
Two More July Anti-Bubble Reports
According to pretty much all the local news outlets, the story of the real estate market in July is basically "things are slowing, but." We’ve covered the major papers, but I wouldn’t want to leave out the King County Journal or the Everett Herald, who both got a piece of the "keep the market afloat"…