National Mortgage News reports that Countrywide received an additional $12 Billion in secured financing and that mortgage powerhouse, WaMu, is exiting the warehouse biz. In addition, there are rumblings that Countrywide employees may be suing Angelo Mozillo et. al, complaining that the company allegedly cheated them out of millions by concealing the true health of…
Tag: affordability
Homebuying Platitudes vs. Reality
This is a post that I originally wrote for the highly-recommended personal finance blog Get Rich Slowly. As such, the style of writing is more geared toward the audience of that site. However, I felt that the post would be of interest to the readers here as well, so I am re-posting it in its…
Taller Condos for Middle Class Buyers?
Just in time for the whole mess to unwind all on its own, the City of Seattle is poised to do something about the lack of affordable (to buy) in-city homes for the middle class. Developers might soon have to provide more apartments and condominiums that moderate-wage workers can afford if they want to put…
Has Seattle Reached a new Plateau?
A reader going by the name Angie has been making some comments on a couple of posts the last few days that merit further discussion: …the fact is that in some places in the US all but the very rich have been priced out forever! NYC, coastal southern California, San Francisco, etc, etc. It’s been…
Sub Prime fallout: Ok. Really. How many sub prime originations took place in the Puget Sound area?
I’m weary of hearing that the sub-prime market is or was a small portion of the pie in the Puget Sound Region. Certainly, there are many prime conventional loans that were made. But the idea that the originations of sub-prime loans being reduced or eliminated will have a less than meaningful impact is just not…