I’m working on a post that explores the concept of the homebuying “equity ladder” (or “property ladder“), in which the lifetime buying plan of the typical American homebuyer is assumed to look like: photo by Flickr user Atle Brunvoll Buy a cheap starter home in your 20s. Maybe a little 2-bed house or a condo…
Tag: home equity
Zillow: Seattle Home Sellers Take Increasing Losses
Zillow has posted their latest quarterly home value reports. Their charts for the Seattle area include a graph of the percentage of homes sold at a loss (approaching 30%) as well as a chart showing the percentage of recent buyers with negative equity (over 50% of 2007 buyers). Interesting stuff from Zillow as usual. You…
Zillow: Some Homeowners Still Fooling Themselves
Zillow’s latest Homeowner Confidence Survey is at least worth a brief mention. According to the third quarter update, only 65% of homeowners in the West believe that their home declined in value over the last year, while in reality 85% of homes experienced falling prices. Read Zillow’s own blog post about the report here. Also…
CEPR: Today’s Buyers to Lose Massive Equity
The Center for Economic and Policy Research has released another report on the prospects for building home equity over the next four years, and much like their April report, their conclusions are not good for current home buyers hoping to build short-term equity. Despite the collapsing housing bubble and consequent fall in house prices in…
Local Companies Tighten Belts, King County Cuts Jobs
As the far-reaching economic consequences of the popping of the housing/credit bubble unfold, local governments are feeling the pain. Snohomish County faces a $9 million shortfall for 2009, forcing a hiring freeze. While down in King County, Ron Sims just announced that 255 jobs will be cut. Financially ailing King County will send layoff notices…