Real Estate News - Seattle Area

City, Vulcan push higher South Lake Union height limits

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 02:10 GMT

Seattle wants taller buildings in South Lake Union, and is starting to study the impact of towers as high as 30 stories. Residents fear they'll be walled in. High-rises could block views of the Space Needle and lake, and cast parts of the neighborhood in shadow.

A rooftop view of Seattle-area real estate in 2009

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:07 GMT

Report: Loan modifications can't take the place of jobs

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 06:46 GMT

Actors Jeremy Renner, who played the leader of an explosives-disposal unit in the critically acclaimed Iraq war film, "The Hurt Locker,"...

More refinancing homeowners put cash in, not take it out

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 06:46 GMT

Thinking of cashing out some equity when you refinance your mortgage? Sure, that used to be what millions of homeowners did when they needed...

Real-estate calendar

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 06:31 GMT

Local mortgage rates

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 06:31 GMT

Refinancing options for homeowners underwater

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:55 GMT

Fannie, Freddie regulator to offer housing goals soon

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:55 GMT

Mortgage markets brace for future without federal aid

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:53 GMT

The wind-down of federal support for mortgage rates, set to end in two months, is a momentous test of whether the Obama administration and the Federal Reserve have succeeded in jump-starting the housing market and ensuring it can hold its own. The stakes for the economy are massive.

Getting the most cash back from your green home

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:44 GMT

Downtown Seattle losing stores to suburbs, consolidation

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:06 GMT

The number of retail stores in greater downtown Seattle has dropped by more than 10 percent over the past five years, the Downtown Seattle Association says.

Median price of homes rises in Seattle, keeps dropping in suburbs

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:01 GMT

Home prices in the city of Seattle rose in January for the first time in nearly two years, according to one closely watched measure.

Foreclosures weigh on home appraisals

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:31 GMT

It appears that in neighborhoods with high foreclosure rates, values for all homes are being pulled lower than in areas where there are few or none.

Planners OK proposed development north of Qwest Field

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 07:01 GMT

A proposed development on part of Qwest Field's north parking lot has won a key approval.

Mortgage rates edge up slightly

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 05:46 GMT

Rates on 30-year fixed mortgages rose slightly this week, inching above 5 percent, Freddie Mac said Thursday.

Owners sue Quadrant Homes over 'sick' houses

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:52 GMT

Owners sold on promises of more space for less money claim the Weyerhaeuser Co. developer concealed problems with the homes that are now sickening dozens of residents, and could threaten thousands more.

Will rejuvenated tax credit draw more home buyers?

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:30 GMT

Congress' recent extension and expansion of a home buyer tax credit has eased pressure on buyers who were trying to make a November deadline and pleased the real estate industry. But how much impact is it likely to have?

Real-estate outlook: Is the glass half-full, half-empty or broken?

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 08:41 GMT

Anyone looking for a definitive answer to the question about the outlook for the 2009 real-estate market need look no further than Inman News to see why one isn't in the offing.

In the afternoon edition of today's Inman "Daily Headlines," the first two items are "Pessimism about 2009 recovery," which outlines and refers readers to an Inman survey of expectations for the 2009 market, and "Get ready for real-estate rebound," which outlines the reasons the market could improve next year.

Take a read of both. Let me know which side you come down on -- that of survey respondents who say a rebound won't happen before 2010 or that of columnist Bernice Ross, who says next year will be better than anyone thinks. (I'm crossing my fingers that Ross is right, but I'm afraid those fingers will cramp up before I can uncross them and we're in the clear.)

Lower mortgage rates means "it's a great time to buy," loan officer says

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 07:39 GMT

I got an e-mail recently from Dave Erickson, past president of the Washington Association of Mortgage Brokers, who wants prospective homebuyers to know that there's mortgage money out there and rates have been going in the right direction for borrowers. Here's his e-mail:

Did you know? Rates have fallen around 1% for a 30 year rate over the last couple weeks.

If you do the math, a 1% drop, from 6.375% to 5.375%, on a 300,000 mortgage reduces the payment by $191.70. At 5.375%, $191.70 buys an extra $34,233.90 in house. Compelling, isn’t it? Add to that the 10-20% price drops which have already occurred and it’s really compelling. It is a great time to buy.

Cindy, also I’d like to try to counter the common perception that it is hard to get a mortgage these days. It simply isn’t true. If you have income that can be verified, okay credit, and aren’t buying over your head, there is plenty of money readily available to you. I recently have gotten multiple approvals for debt ratios over 50% for first time buyers.

Let’s not dissuade those first timers who are on the border of affording a home of their own. When rates go up (they certainly will) and when values start back up (they always have and will again), these people may be out of luck.

So, what I'd like to know is this: Have you gotten a loan recently? How long did it take?

Real-estate facts and figures: What a week

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:00 GMT

This is one of those weeks when home-sales reports make my head spin around. Three reports came out Monday; one, yesterday; and one, today. That I know of. There are probably more I don't know about. I'm sure some of you can keep them straight, but for the rest of you -- and mostly me -- I'll recap and give you a little insight about each report.

Released Monday:

-- National Association of Realtors reported existing-home sales. This is one of those reports that means little to our market. The NAR doesn't break out data for our area because the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, which tracks our sales, isn't affiliated with the national organization. And our MLS, which releases its data for each month early the following month, doesn't separate sales of new and existing homes. In other words, this report tell us nothing about the Seattle-area market. We combined the AP story about this report with one about the next report. See the AP story here.

-- The Associated Press-Re/Max Monthly Housing Report addressed October home sales. I actually never see this report, just the Associated Press stories about it. (If you know where to find it, please let me know because I'd love to get my hands on it.) This report covers sales of new and existing homes nationwide and by region. It bothers me because the data for our region, the West, is heavily skewed by ridiculously high foreclosure rates and plummeting prices in California, Nevada and Arizona. In other words, although we run the AP coverage of the report (see Tuesday's here), I get neither excited nor hot and bothered about it. When I see a Seattle area or even Washington state breakdown, I'll jump up and down.

-- Real Trends reported its October home-sales numbers (new and resales). This report also looked at the nation as a whole and at several regions. Nothing more detailed (I called to ask), so -- again -- not particularly helpful in individual markets. It reported changes in average, not median, prices, which means that unless extreme highs and lows are thrown out, the price data can be easily skewed. This one we didn't write about, and no wire services we use covered it, either. Here are the first two paragraphs of the Real Trends news release:

Home sales decreased 4.8 percent nationwide in October 2008 over October 2007 in what real-estate information firm Real Trends calls a "sloppy bottom" -- results that vary significantly from one month to the next.

The strongest region was the West where home sales increased 33.3 percent from October 2007. The hardest-hit regions were the Northeast, which had held up better throughout the downturn that started in July 2005, where unit sales decreased 16.8 percent, and the South, which saw unit sales decrease by 17.1 percent from the same month a year ago.

Released Tuesday:

-- The biggie, which people in the industry seem to either love or hate (I'm not a big fan), was the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 10- and 20-city home-price indexes. The Seattle metro area is in the 20-city index, so we watch that one. It looks at the changes in price over time of the same homes, factoring out significant changes that would skew the price change. Elizabeth Rhodes wrote a story about this report.

Released today:

-- The U.S. Commerce Department released its report on new-home sales for October.

Stay tuned. Next week, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service releases it's November home-sales data. And while that data leaves out any sale not reported to the MLS, it's the best, most complete look we have for our market on a monthly basis.