Recent Press
June Home Sales are Highest in King Country Since Oct 2007
Seattle Times
"A new report provides the strongest evidence yet that buyers are starting to return to the local real-estate market. The number of closed sales of single-family homes in King County in June was up 4 percent over June 2008 — the first year-over-year increase since the market peaked nearly two years ago, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service said Monday. The county hasn't recorded that many sales in a month since October 2007."
Housing Markets Most Likely to Rebound
Today Show: MSNBC
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
May 19: Real estate expert Barbara Corcoran talks with TODAY’s Natalie Morales about the five cities in America that are may be on the verge of recovery from the housing slump and the three cities with the hardest road ahead of them.
Home deals: A bright spark amid economic gloom
Komo 4
"I think the bottom has hit," says Huber. "Supply is going to start diminishing, and the good ones are going to go fast. This is definitely the time to buy." Because who knows when real estate prices will skyrocket once again.
Real Estate Markets Across the Country are Starting to Hint at Bottom
Phoenix Business Journal
More good news on a comparable market to Seattle
CBS5 - San Francisco
It May Be Time to Think About Buying a House
The New York Yimes
Five or 10 years from now, when the financial crisis has ended and housing prices are up smartly once more, we will look in the rearview mirror and realize that we missed a golden age for first-time home buyers.
Then, everyone who sat on their down payment savings accounts for a few years too long will kick themselves for not taking advantage of what may turn out to be the buying opportunity of a lifetime for those who can qualify for a mortgage.
Unfortunately, we do not know when this golden age will begin, because we will be able to identify a bottom to the housing market only with the benefit of hindsight. But as it does with the stock market, the moment will probably arrive when everyone is feeling the most pessimistic.
That moment is certainly getting closer. Housing prices have fallen drastically from their peak levels in many areas of the country. Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are already close to 5.5 percent, and this week there were suggestions that the federal government might try to drive them down to 4.5 percent, a truly incredible figure to be able to lock in for three decades....read article(.pdf)
Real-estate markets most likely to rebound
Forbes.com/RealEstateMSN.com
It's tough all over, but some say these 5 cities have the best chances for speedy recoveries. If you're a homeowner seeing property values plummet, look to the commercial real-estate market for solace. It might tell you which areas will recover fastest — and which will likely remain weak.
The Urban Land Institute recently asked 700 real-estate professionals to name the best (and worst) places to invest in commercial real estate in the coming year. Those surveyed included private developers, real-estate agents and real-estate investment trust executives. Their answers also apply to the residential market, since the single-family-home sector typically follows the economy. As wages go up and there are more jobs, more people can buy homes, pushing prices up.
The best cities in which to invest are those that are considered gateways to international investment, have vital downtowns where people can forgo cars and don't have a glut of condos or office space.
These traits landed Seattle the No. 1 spot on the list. No city scored above a 6.15 on a scale of one to nine (one being an abysmal place to invest and nine being excellent)...read article(.pdf)
