News, Real Estate

Seattle Real Estate Getting Its Mojo Back?

In Seattle, realtors are perking up, trading stories of that now-mythical experience, multiple offers above listing. For Seattle, Zillow lists 7,300 homes “recently sold” versus some 3,200 for sale. That’s not to say it hasn’t been a cold winter for home-sellers–all three Case-Schiller price tiers fell in December, points out Seattle Bubble–but a stagnant inventory was helping to push prices down. More recent numbers suggest a “surprise sales spike.” Continue reading Seattle Real Estate Getting Its Mojo Back?

Business, News, Politics

Washington Federal’s Roy Whitehead on Banking, Public Trust, and Regulations

Whitehead’s point deserves underscoring because it illustrates reason for economic optimism. Investors may well be “once bitten, twice shy,” but investor psychology can turn on a dime, much faster than can institutions with serious structural weaknesses. Not that winning back trust will be–or should be–easy. “If I could wave a magic wand,” admitted Whitehead, “I would bring back Glass-Steagall–or something like it.” Continue reading Washington Federal’s Roy Whitehead on Banking, Public Trust, and Regulations

News, Real Estate

Economy Exerts “Downward Pressure” on King County Real Estate Prices

The health of the home real estate market correlates strongly with people’s ability to pay their mortgages, so it’s not surprising that three years of chronic unemployment have done little to improve local listings: “King County median home price falls by double digits again,” Eric Pryne tells you in the Seattle Times. As a case in free fall, here’s a top-floor unit in a 1924 brick co-op condo at 13th and Cherry going for $79,900…somewhat less than its original listing of $184,900. Continue reading Economy Exerts “Downward Pressure” on King County Real Estate Prices

News, Real Estate

Redfin: “It’s All About the Inventory”

Redfin’s Seattle-area heat map for July shows a few bastions of hot property (prices up, multiple offers): Magnolia, Ballard, Queen Anne, and North Seattle. They’re enough to keep Seattle at 12th on the national heat index (but at a tepid 56.6 “degrees,” behind Portland at 59). Home values were down most in Lake Union, Rainier Valley, Lake City, Delridge, and Snoqualmie Ridge. Continue reading Redfin: “It’s All About the Inventory”

News, Real Estate

Seattle Real Estate “Heat Index” Map Tracks Lukewarm Summer Temps

Redfin has created a quick way to see where the hot real estate markets are, rather than poring over spreadsheets. If you are a true real estate wonk, you probably still want to check out their June data, since the map (below) differs in some respects from the detail you get from the numbers: As Redfin’s Tim Ellis explains, “The map breaks it down by zip code (and uses SFH or Condo or Townhome, whichever had the most sales in that zip code), but the table shows neighborhood breakdowns (and uses only SFH).” Continue reading Seattle Real Estate “Heat Index” Map Tracks Lukewarm Summer Temps

News, Real Estate

Foreclosure Delays Cast Shadow on Real Estate Market

Seattle Bubble describes the unusual foreclosure picture best: “Foreclosures Establishing an Elevated Flatline.”

Despite a national trend of foreclosure footdragging, RealtyTrac puts Washington State at 15th highest for foreclosure in the U.S., looking at filings for the first two quarters of 2011. Overall, RealtyTrac claims that 1 in every 632 Washington housing units received a foreclosure filing in June 2011. Continue reading Foreclosure Delays Cast Shadow on Real Estate Market