Recent Stories with tag foreclosures

Governor Gregoire

CNBC asked Governor Gregoire to respond to analyst Meredith Whitney's comparison of states to banks, pre-financial crisis. Here's what Whitney said in late September:

The similarities between the states and the banks are extreme to the extent that states have been spending dramatically and are leveraged dramatically. Municipal debt has doubled since 2000, spending has grown way faster than revenues.

Whitney said what reminded her most strongly of the banks' situation was the absence of "reliable data on state spending and debt."

Governor Gregoire chose to play off the phrasing, saying that, "We're in crisis mode. We the states are not in pre-crisis at all." That's no doubt true, but it evades Whitney's point that state spending and debt now represent a separate economic danger from the banks' credit meltdown, and that transparency is hard to come by. In fairness, Washington's credit rating is quite good, but with the caveats that a) if credit ratings were infallible, we wouldn't be in the crisis we're in, and b) things can change very quickly.

Gregoire noted that Washington has trade to rely on; unusually, we don't have a trade deficit with China. And state economists see mainly good news in that relationship for the future. Yet the state has to figure out how to avoid a $3 billion deficit over the next two years, and cuts have approached the bone. CNBC says:

In August, Gregoire announced plans for four- to- seven percent budget cuts across the board, as well as a phase-in of $51 million in cuts to state welfare aid. The cuts will disqualify nearly 2,500 families from child-care subsidies in October, and an additional 5,500 families from cash welfare benefits in February.... (more)

It's Community Day at SAM! Many, many things are going on, so head on down right now.

Pre-election, everything seems politically tinged. Nancy Pelosi dropped in on Microsoft. Regence and the insurance commissioner were sparring over child-only coverage. The Seattle Times reported a review board found the shooting of woodcarver John Williams was unjustified. (That's a preliminary finding.) PubliCola asked, Is Patty Murray leading Dino Rossi? A pile of money came in for a new South Park Bridge--just hang tight for three years.

Seattle Bubble tried to sort out the foreclosure documentation mess. Over in Bellevue, the Bravern has decided even more condos look better as apartments "temporarily." Finally, a reminder that the Viaduct is closed for inspection all weekend.

Now, a new look as we try out Neighborhood Headline News!... (more)

Windermere has a Capitol Hill condo selling for $149,000 down the street from The SunBreak offices, at 1125 E Olive (at 12th Avenue). It's 436 sq. ft., hardwood floors, forced air, HOA is $200. It's the lowest-priced condo on my email update by far, with $40,000 between that and the next listed price. But if it's snapped up before you can put down an offer, stay cool.

Whether you call it depreciation or affordability, Goldman Sachs says the next two years should bring more of it; Seattle Bubble (naturally) spotted their prediction that Seattle home prices would lead other major U.S. urban areas with a 22 percent decline over the next two years.

Goldman Sachs calls our situation a "back-loaded price decline," which has a familiar ring to anyone familiar with Seattle Bubble's time-adjusting housing price graphs. Las Vegas and Portland join us in home devaluation "due to high homeowner vacancy rates and/or rising mortgage delinquencies," but Seattle is way out down in front, losing ten percent more in value than Portland over the next eight quarters.... (more)

"VERY URBAN" is the title of this shot of the formerly-known-as-WaMu tower by photocoyote.

Colliers International has released its spring "knowledge report," looking back on Q1 and forecasting for the year ahead. The good news for Seattle is simply that no new commercial real estate came on the market in the first quarter, so the vacancy rate for the year-to-date, about 17.7 percent, remained the same as 2009. (Next quarter brings the opening of 505 First Avenue, with almost 290,000 sq. ft. added to the 1 to 1.5 million sq. ft. available.)

For now, landlords are holding the line on their offers and concessions to new tenants. But every month that goes by with an almost-20-percent vacancy rate represents a drag on the economy. A lot of mortgages out there were written dependent on rental income that's dropped precipitously. (See Beacon Capital Partner's claim that its rents now cover just 20 percent of its debt obligations.)

So Colliers' optimism about the housing and stock markets looks a little less persuasive at this precise moment. Here's their take:

With the residential housing market continuing to gain strength and the Dow Jones Industrial Average up nearly 4,500 points to its 19 month high (currently above 11,000), all signs point to positive economic growth.

Yet the Wall Street Journal reports that Chicago's unofficial "fear index" has jumped 18 percent following this week's market dive. Jon Talton at the Seattle Times notes that while the proximate cause may be concerns about Greece's sovereign debt, the market run-up has been driven by bail-outs (literally, and indirectly, in the form of low, low interest rates). 

Seattle Bubble has been keeping tabs on the residential housing market, and while there's been the usual spring flurry of sales, take a look at the second graph here, the next time someone mentions a "strong recovery."

The  Puget Sound Business Journal dug into King County foreclosures, and found that Seattle is, anomalously, still reporting increases in foreclosure-related "distressed sales: "By June, it’s estimated that more than 800 homes will be scheduled for auction in any given week. That’s up from an average of about 40 auctions a week in 2006 and 2007. Many of the homes don’t sell at auction." (About two-thirds of the foreclosures they tracked last year didn't sell.)

Friday afternoon is a jumpy time for banks. Regulators shut down Everett's undercapitalized Frontier Bank and sold it to Union Bank. That's the fifth Washington bank closed this year, says the PSBJ, which also has a bummer of a story on King County's worsening foreclosure crisis. (Can we give a hand to the Puget Sound Business Journal? They're reporting the hell out of stories.) Speaking of real estate, did you hear the one about the Bravern?

The state has returned bearing gift baskets of 520 replacement tweaks: less traffic for the Arboretum, "perhaps" a 45-mph speed limit over Portage Bay, a second drawbridge across the Cut. After 13 years of design, there's been a positive flurry of redesigning, prompting Seattle Transit Blog's Adam Parast to comment:

This is all great to see but the fact that so much can easily be "improved" or "changed" at the last minute to make it better for transit and non-motorized transportation to me shows how little the state has thought about them in the first place. These changes are low hanging fruit. And I still don’t see any guarantees. I don’t think it is unreasonable to be skeptical until I see it past 60% design.... (more)

The Visitors Center at Mount Rainier, during the Good Friday Storm of 2010.

The Good Friday Storm of 2010 has come and gone without sinking the 520 bridge, but Seattle is already looking ahead to July and fireworks. Turns out that after laying off thousands of employees the past two years, Microsoft and Starbucks had a little fun money for the Fourth. Tesoro Corp. and Anacortes made national news when a refinery explosion killed five. The refinery has a history of safety violations.

The Teamsters Local #174 came to an agreement with Allied Waste, but rejected Waste Management's "best, last, final offer" and it looks like a strike will take place. That's how this week was. People are not giving up their money without a fight. A woman on Capitol Hill pulled a knife on muggers, and a man apparently stabbed an aggressive panhandler downtown.

The Seattle Bubble noted a decline in Seattle-area home value, and a spike in foreclosures. The PSBJ reported that Seattle is ninth nationally in business bankruptcies. It was holy iPad week, so TechFlash did a round-up of Seattle's iPad apps. Publicola reported on the pro-Chihuly GOTV strategy at a Seattle Center meeting.

We balanced all this news with pictures of a cute little Pika and the Zoo's fuzzy baby penguin. In sports, Seth told the M's to stop kidding around and practice. Audrey told you to go to the Croc, Jeremy sent you to On the Boards, Seth said go see Fences at the Rep. And Columbia City Cinema needs your help, if you get down there.

The Seattle Times shocked exactly no one this week by endorsing Susan Hutchison for King County Executive, but they did surprise me by announcing that "The days of big-ticket projects and budgets are finished." (That rules out an endorsement of Mallahan for Mayor doesn't it, given his support for the $4.2 billion deep-bore tunnel project?) KCTS broadcast a Hutchison v. Constantine debate, Publicola called it a draw, and everyone else beseeched the heavens like Job after the boils.

CHS went rumor-mill on us this week, following up on a Slog tip that Elliott Bay Book Company might become the Capitol Hill Book Company (it would be easier to get to book readings...), and dug up five named and six unnamed Capitol Hill businesses for sale. Rosebud...! My go-to Eggs Benedict purveyor.

Given that list, you'd probably feel guilty about not staying home to support local businesses, but just so you know, Amtrak has cut fares to Vancouver by 25 percent. Start camping out for the Olympics early!

At The SunBreak, we were... (more)