Another coworker of mine just put the family house up for sale. They are asking $490,000 for their 2,000 square foot home built in 1998 on 0.35 acres in rural eastern King County. They purchased in July of last year for $410,000. The previous owner bought from the builder for $240,000 in 1998, and sold…
Northwest Realtor Talking Points
Here’s a little sample of the kind of real estate booster piece that gets circulated among those "in the business," courtesy of NWREporter. (Emphasis theirs) According to CNNMoney.com, the forecasts for housing price growth are calling for booming values in the state of Washington. For the June issue of MONEY Magazine, Fiserv Lending Solutions and…
State’s Chief Economist Warns Of Slowdown
Despite the fact that wages have basically been stagnant while daily expenses such as gasoline have been, shall we say, upwardly mobile, the state continues to rake in record revenue. Chang Mook Sohn, the state’s chief economist, said today that his outlook for tax collections for the 2007-09 biennium shows ever increasing revenues that lawmakers…
Seattle Soft Landing: Do The Math
A while back, a commenter made the following claim: What history tells us will happen is that prices will level off, and appreciation rates will reflect your average inflation rates (on average) until wages catch up with home prices and the fundamentals start to match back up. As most of you know, this scenario is…
The Case For Condo Mania
In the interest of being even-handed, I present to you the case for downtown condo mania, courtesy of the Seattle Times. The more housing we build downtown, the more desirable downtown becomes for all — residents, workers, visitors and tourists. Many people who live downtown invest in downtown. They donate their time and resources to…