Downtown Seattle condos are finally filling up

[jimtan]

seems that portland doesn't have a heavy rail system - lol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transporta ... nd,_Oregon

The light rail system does a good job. It's Seattle that's going to need heavy rail.

[jimtan]

U.S. housing market poised for new boom: economist
Barrie McKenna

Ottawa — The Globe and Mail
Published Wednesday, Jun. 27 2012, 3:27 PM EDT

The U.S. housing market is doing much better. And it’s now on the cusp of what could be a dramatic turnaround.

That’s the conclusion of a new report by Vancouver-based independent housing economist Doug Smyth, who argues, among other good things, that millions of newly created jobs will eventually power another boom in demand for softwood lumber.

Mr. Smyth’s prediction is based on a much more impressive recovery in the U.S. jobs market than is generally recognized. That’s driving mortgage foreclosures down, and household formations and consumer spending up.

The result is enormous pent-up demand for homes, which he likened to a boiler rapidly filling with steam. Part of the untold story is new demand coming from a generation of foreign-born Latinos, who are waiting to jump into the market.

“The U.S. economy is now close to the tipping point, where increased employment will generate significant increases in all types of homes,” argued Mr. Smyth, former research director at the Industrial Wood and Allied Workers of Canada.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o ... le4374679/

[gse36]

U.S. housing market poised for new boom: economist
Barrie McKenna

I think certain areas will be hot in Seattle/Washington. #1 place for tech jobs. 43% increase in tech employment in past 10 years. Most of those jobs pay $100k+. Housing is still relatively cheap (even near the city).

I also saw articles about rents going up as well.

Fundamentals are fairly strong. Husband/wife making $100k/pop+ in many cases. $200k+ income. $500-600k house is fairly affordable.

[jimtan]

King County median home price up 10 percent over year ago

King County house prices saw a double-digit increase in June — the first time that's happened in nearly five years, according to statistics released Thursday by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

The median price of single-family homes sold last month was $380,000, up 10.1 percent from June 2011.

It was the third straight month of year-over-year price increases, and by far the largest change. The last time the median rose by more than 10 percent was in July 2007, when it hit an all-time high of $481,000.

After that peak, the countywide median fell nearly 36 percent, dropping to a post-housing-crisis low of $308,125 this February. With this spring's rebound, the decline from 2007's high now is 21 percent.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/b ... les06.html

[semven]

Looks like Taipan is going to need a few different colored crayons for his graphs

[jimtan]

Indeed!!!

"Home values posted their first year- over-year increase since 2007 in the second quarter as the U.S. property market began to lift off a bottom, Zillow Inc. (Z) said.

The Zillow Home Value Index rose to $149,300, a 0.2 percent increase from the second quarter of 2011, according to the property-data company. Residential values have gained for four months in a row, the Seattle-based firm said today. Of the 167 markets tracked by Zillow, 53 posted annual increases."

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-2 ... -2007.html