As the nation’s home lending situation continues to deteriorate before our eyes, you can count on the local press to keep pushing the “we’re completely immune here” line. (Emphasis mine) Nationwide, Americans are finding themselves unable to make their mortgage payments. Those folks share common traits: They’ve borrowed too much, they’ve lost their jobs or…
Tag: Seattle_PI
Newspaper Earnings Sink with Housing Market
Some of you may recall the Rhodes / Gardner real estate Q & A a few months ago in which the following question was asked by a Seattle Bubble reader: I can’t help but notice that the Times’ take on local real-estate prices is often excessively optimistic. For example, during the last NWMLS report, we…
Condo Conversions and Increasing Density
There have been a few mildly-interesting articles in the last couple days on the subject of condo conversion projects and Seattle’s increasing density. Here are a few highlights. Aubrey Cohen updates us on the status of the proposal to condo-ify the Smith Tower: Owners of the Smith Tower have one of two key city approvals…
June Reporting Roundup
Before we get into what the usual suspects in the local press had to say about the housing market’s performance in June, let’s take a look at the NWMLS press release that accompanied the release of last month’s statistics: Housing Prices Around Washington State Rising at More Modest Rates Kirkland, Wash. (July 5, 2007) –…
Foreclosures: Up, Up, and Away!
Aubrey Cohen is on a roll, reporting the uncomfortable truth about the local housing market (granted, with a slight sugar-coating). The latest report is on the ever-increasing number of foreclosures in the Seattle area, another fact that is conveniently ignored by Elizabeth Rhodes at the Seattle Times. The Seattle area continued to follow the national…