With home prices off a third or more around Seattle from their hyper-inflated housing bubble levels, interest rates still hovering in the sub-five-percent range, and numerous economic fundamentals indicating a market more balanced than it has been in nearly a decade, has the perennial claim of home salesmen come true? Is now, finally, “a great…
Tag: Opinion
Housing Bubble Winners and Losers
I’ve been hearing a lot of frustration vented recently in exchanges on this site and conversations I’ve had with friends and acquaintences about the end game we’ve been experiencing recently as a result of the housing bubble and subsequent bust. I thought it might be interesting to consider the different ways that people have been…
Does anyone pursue actual home ownership anymore?
I’m hoping the readers of Seattle Bubble can help me out with something. First, a little background on my perspective. My parents bought their first house in 1987, when they were about 30 years old. They paid $45,000 for the modest 1,288 square foot, 3-bedroom, 1.75-bath house pictured below. They refinanced once in the ’90s…
Olympia on the Economy: Liars, Fools, or Malefactors?
[Note: This is an opinion piece on a political matter. If that sort of thing offends you, it is recommended that you skip this post.] Christine Gregoire, January 2008: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” Gregoire said, quoting former President Franklin Roosevelt and referring to national recession fears. “It is a…
Desperately Searching for a Truly Positive Sign
[Warning: The following commentary is only marginally related to real estate / housing.] Despite what some of my readers in the real estate industry may think, I’m a generally upbeat, optimistic kind of guy. I like to believe that things will be better tomorrow than they are today; that American ingenuity and hard work can…