Spoken Gently's Blog: Market News

For years I've been concerned with the direction our country is headed. With the recent mortgage industry problems my concerns have increased. I read an article about The Coming Financial Collapse of America where the author outlines the future collapse of America largely as a result of the domino effect the real estate industry is creating. In the article, Mike Adams makes a prediction for 2008-2012:

"My prediction for 2008 - 2012 is a massive wave of municipal bankruptcies, state bankruptcies and escalating national debt. We are going to see cities and states go belly up, pension programs terminated (or watered down), and financial institutions teetering on the brink of disaster."

Mike Adams isn't too far off in his assessment of our economy. His…

The Washington Association of REALTORS® released a press release stating Washington home prices are rising. Here is an excerpt from the press release (bold added for emphasis):

“All real estate markets are unique. We shouldn’t be surprised that Washington State is bucking national trends,” said Dennis Rose, 2007 president of the Washington Realtors. “In order to make smart home-buying decisions, now more than ever it’s important to work with a professional REALTOR® who is familiar with the local market.”

As of mid-June, sub-prime, adjustable-rate loans represented 20 percent of loans nationally, but just 6 percent of home loans in Washington. Of those mortgages, 5 percent in Washington were delinquent, compared with 8.9 percent nationwide. The largest…

In Alejandre v. Bull the Washington Supreme Court (March, 2007) sided with the seller and did not allow the buyer to sue for damages for the seller's misrepresentation of the seller's disclosure statement. In this case, the seller knowingly gave the buyer a faulty septic tank. To read more about the case, Attorney Russell G. Cofano does a great job of summarizing Alejandre v. Bull. What I want to do is discuss the implication of Alejandre v. Bull on the new forms coming out in October for Washington REALTORS®.

In the August 2007 edition of Washington REALTOR® News, I quote from page 11:

...there will be a provision in the new form to address the significant changes to law caused by the case of Alejandre v. Bull, decided by our state Supreme Court on…

Yes, you have read it correctly, cities in Washington state are among the cities in the United States with the fastest growing home prices. Our Wenatchee is the #1 city in the country with the fastest growing home prices. Among the top twenty markets in the country are Washington's Longview real estate market (6th), Seattle metro area real estate market (17th), Tacoma real estate market (19th), and the Spokane real estate market (20th).

From the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, page 2:

The Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) with the greatest appreciation between the second quarter of 2006 and the second quarter of 2007 were: Wenatchee, Washington (23.5%), Provo-Orem, Utah (18.2%), and Salt Lake City, Utah (16.0%). The MSAs with the…

Tri City Herald writes:

Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., would like to open public access to Rattlesnake Mountain and the Hanford Reach to bring more tourists to the Mid-Columbia. Hastings spoke to a sold-out crowd of about 240 people at the Tri-Cities Regional Chamber of Commerce's annual state of the congressional district luncheon Wednesday at the Shilo Inn in Richland.

Thumbs up for Doc Hastings for supporting Tri-Cities Eco Tourism. As a Tri City Wa REALTOR® this can only mean a boom for an already thriving housing market. A Michigan State University eco-tourism study shows eco-tourism having a significant effect on a region's economy and industry.

Related Reading: Heritage and Eco Tourism | Environmental Tourism | Hanford Reach | Bateman…

Despite the lethargic pace in many U.S. housing markets, the Tri-Cities Washington housing market continues to experience gains. Could it be all those scientists/engineers moving into the area? Could it be the distinguished school districts found here? Uh, the beer garden? Nope, it's got to be quality Tri-Cities Realtors® like Joe and Colleen Lane. Joe and Colleen are making all of Tri-Cities Washington happy, one customer at a time!

Tri-Cities Washington closings through May, 2007.

The economic market can be a time that instills a sense of confidence for those anticipating the purchase of a home. However, according to the business cycle the economy can also slow down.

During periods of decelerated growth there is less money available for spending on home purchases. Sometimes during these slow times people will still need to sell their homes, and this can be to the advantage of those looking for a new home.

As the cycle goes around, a good supply of available homes and a low level of buyers can slow appreciation values of property. In such a situation prices for houses are likely to fall. The purchase of a home during a slow period can pay off when the cycle swings around and the economy strengthens.

The timing of the real…

Zillow.com can be a great, informal tool for those looking to get a rough idea of a home value home value and for real estate agents or prospective home buyers with the right frame of mind, it can aid in the real estate transaction process. Real estate agents should utilize listings on the service most often for homes that are in areas Zillow is good at producing accurate estimates for. This can all be searched on before ever putting up a listing, so doing a little bit of homework on Zillow’s estimating ability for a particular piece of real estate can clear up a decision on whether to use the service or not.

For prospective buyers, it is a good practice to take everything the site says with a grain of salt. Zillow estimates its margin of error at 7.4…