Quote of the Day

Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. - Lou Holtz

Departures: The Shore Thing

Seabrook offers serenity by the sea

By Rob Bhatt
AAA Journey Magazine
July/August 2009 Issue

Seabrook may only be five years old, but its growing collection of Craftsman-inspired houses and cottages allow Washington state’s youngest “little place by the sea” to capture the essence of the great American small towns of yesteryear.

The remote village overlooks the ocean from a bluff about a mile south of Pacific Beach and currently consists of 122 vacation homes and rentals (the community’s master plan calls for up to 400 units). Inviting porches, narrow streets and bicycles lent to visitors encourage residents and guests to get to know each other, while the beach calls out to surfers and walkers.

Summer activities include day trips to Olympic National Park, building sand castles and evenings by the fire pit. Modern kitchens and a small market provide the ingredients for feasting, while the town’s café dishes out tasty food and good cheer.

For link to article, visit http://www.aaajourney.com/magazine/2009_0708/departures.asp

For more info on Seabrook, visit www.seabrookwa.com

July 4th: Man Cave Rod & Custom Show!

• Have a BLAST at the Man Cave Rod & Custom Show!
• Join us for free food, fun and music!
• Laugh your tailpipes off with Wolfman Mike!

8am to 2pm on the 4th of July!

Held at Garage Plus Storage: 2102 E Main St, Suite 110 in Puyallup

Free dash plaque for the first 200 cars and awards to be given out!

Awards presentation is at 2pm

www.ownamancave.com 877.875.PLUS

Renter Revolution Video Contest from Quadrant Homes

Get it off your chest
Get it on our site
Get $1,000

Renter Revoution is a video contest for any renter who has a story to share. We've all been there; paying too much money for too little space with too much noise and too little peace. Tell Quadrant Homes why renting is a waste of time and money and we'll reward you for your time.

Quadrant Homes is giving away $1,000 to the video with the best landlord anecdote, best story about why you hate renting or get sentimental and talk about what a place to call home would mean to you.

Get it off your chest, get it on our site, get $1,000!

For full details - visit http://www.quadranthomes.com/revolution.php

Apex matches $8,000 gov't tax credit

Low interest rates, zero down loans and the $8,000 first time homebuyer tax credit make right now the best time to buy at Apex Penthouses!

And for a limited time, Apex is matching the $8K government tax credit with every two bedroom condo purchase!

Visit www.apexpenthouses.com for more info!

Or call Marisa Nichols, community sales manager at 253.471.5202

*$8,000 matched tax credit used to buy down interest rate. Buyer must be first time homebuyer and purchase a two bedroom condo by August 23, 2009.

Veridian Cove: SUMMER SPECIAL on just 10 homes!

Studio from $149,990
One Bedroom from $179,990
Two Bedroom from $235,990

SUMMER SPECIAL on just 10 homes!

• Private trail access to Bitter Lake
• Five acres of landscaped beauty
• Clubhouse with kitchen, pool and spa
• Fitness center with a yoga/pilates studio
• Designer cabinetry & granite countertops
• Immediate occupancy
• FHA & VA financing available
• Zero down programs
• $8,000 first time homebuyer tax credit

300 North 130th St, Seattle • 206.367.2823

Open Saturday to Wednesday • 11am to 6pm

http://www.veridiancove.com/

*Available on select homes. Prices, rates, payments, loan amounts and available programs may vary and are subject to change. Restrictions apply. See site agent for details.

Windermere to show all companies' open houses

By Aubrey Cohen
SeattlePi.com Staff
June 24, 2009

Windermere Real Estate's Web site will no longer list only its agents' open houses as of July 1, the company said Wednesday.

Windermere's site puts an "open" sign above mapped listings with upcoming open houses and allows users to search specifically for listings that have open houses scheduled. But it only shows open house information for Windermere listings, despite the fact that it shows listings in general from all agents in the Northwest Multiple Listing Service and the listing service allows agents to enter upcoming open house information into its system.

As of July 1, users will be able to see open houses for all agents in the listing service and save fliers for any listing in a portfolio of homes they want to visit, Windermere said.

"This new service is part of Windermere's on-going philosophy of providing buyers and sellers with the best possible experience," Windermere Chief Marketing Officer Jan Edmondson said in a news release. "Being able to see every open house in an area, regardless of who the listing agent is, makes it easier for people to find the house of their choice."

www.windermere.com

For link to article, visit http://blog.seattlepi.com/realestatenews/archives/172190.asp

Entertaining: The New Old-Fashioned Fourth

By Kate Calamusa
Seattle Magazine
July 2009

Eating hot dogs on street curbs lined with families in anticipation of a parade. Shorts-clad legs churning as they circle the bases during a spirited game of stickball at the local park. Neighborhood kids running outside to catch the first explosion of fireworks in the sky. There’s something about moments like these during an old-fashioned, small-town Fourth of July celebration that makes me feel like a kid again, and few places capture this nostalgia the way the town of Seabrook does.

A quaint new seaside development near Pacific Beach (about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Seattle), Seabrook oozes small-town charm. Here, a community of beach bungalows takes you back to the time of front-porch conversations with your neighbors; a weathered lemonade stand sits on the side of a picket-fence-lined street, children spy tadpoles in the creek and campfire s’mores are a dietary staple.

Families are at the heart of Seabrook’s annual Fourth of July celebration, from a community parade that marches down the picture-perfect streets to the town’s special twist on the fireworks show. Instead of setting off fireworks, which are a fire hazard and prohibited in this wooded area, neighbors compete for the best Fourth of July porch-lighting decorations. Porches are clad in patriotic red, white and blue, and at dusk, thousands of light strings are switched on during an illumination ceremony that lights up the night sky. My husband, Brent, and I spent the weekend entertaining with Seabrook developer Casey Roloff, his wife, Laura, and their extended family. To join in the fun, I hung red and white lanterns to festively light up the porch, an easy tradition to start at your own home this year (especially if you never took down those holiday lights). I added my own modern, chic touches to the town’s natural charms to produce a Fourth of July celebration that is both contemporary and nostalgic.

Seabrook: A Town In The Making

When 36-year-old Casey Roloff lived on the Oregon coast a few years ago, he was always amazed at the number of Washingtonians coming to Cannon Beach to vacation because, as they told it, there was no place similar on the Washington coast. The developer, who already had success planning the coastal neighborhood Bella Beach by Lincoln Park, Oregon, made the trip north to rectify this dilemma, scouting out a parcel for the Seabrook community near Pacific Beach in 2001. Nestled up the bluff from the sandy beach, Seabrook homes, which are available to buy or to rent (seabrookwa.com), are designed in the classic beach bungalow style, with large porches and shingled siding. But for Roloff, perhaps more important than the throwback architecture is the sense of community at the development, which is still a work in progress. He’s designing public spaces—such as the new Lil’s Pantry grocery and the proposed town center with retail shops, art galleries and eateries—within a five-minute walk of homes to promote interaction among residents as they make their way through town. Neighbors gather around communal fire pits, share bicycles, and play shuffleboard and horseshoes. And get ready, kiddies: More amenities are to come, including an indoor community pool to debut sometime in summer 2010.

For link to article, visit http://www.seattlemag.com/0p120a1537/entertaining-the-new-oldfashioned-fourth/

Report: State has small under-supply of available homes

By Aubrey Cohen
SeattlePi.com Staff
June 23, 2009

While developers are unloading unsold homes at auction, slashing prices and offering incentives such as low interest rates and cash bonuses, Washington doesn't actually have an oversupply of vacant homes, according a new report.

Washington had approximately 31,900 vacant homes last year but would have been expected to have 1,100 more than that, based on vacancy rates from 1999 to 2001, according to the 2009 "State of the Nation's Housing" report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

This means the state had an under-supply of owner-occupied homes of 0.1 percent. Just five states had a larger under-supply -- North Dakota, Wyoming, Oregon, New Mexico and West Virginia.

"We haven't built as many units in the past 10 years as we probably needed," said Glenn Crellin, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at Washington State University.

Thank the state Growth Management Act, he said. "In a sense it protected our builders from our own excesses and, as a result, we don't have as large a supply of unsold new homes in the state of Washington as other booming markets had."

Those other boom states include Nevada, which had the largest oversupply (3 percent of owner-occupied homes) and Florida (second, with a 2.5 percent oversupply). Other states, such as Michigan, which tied with Florida, can pin their oversupply on a tanking economy.

So if Washington has an under-supply, what's with all the desperate sellers? The state's problem appears to be a lack of willingness and ability among potential buyers, not a lack of potential buyers, according to WSU's Crellin.

"I think at current sales rates we probably do have an oversupply, but I don't think it's going to take very much to bring our market back into balance," he said. "We've got folks doubling up a little bit, waiting for the conditions to turn around."

The Harvard report also added new perspective to how Seattle's boom and, so far, its bust have differed from those in many other areas.

The report shows that the area's median home price, as a multiple of median household income, shot up during the boom and has fallen back somewhat since peaking in 2007.

But Seattle's affordability ranking among U.S. metro areas actually improved during the boom, because affordability in other areas worsened faster, and has fallen since, because prices in other areas started falling earlier and have dropped further.

Crellin does not expect our price drops to catch up to those in harder-hit places.

"My expectation is that we're not going to see as significant a decline as some of the places like Las Vegas, Phoenix, parts of Southern California have to deal with, in large part because we didn't run up as much," he said. "We were not as far out of balance."

Looking nationwide, the report said rising mortgage interest rates and continued contraction in the economy would continue to hinder a housing recovery.

"Although there are some signs of improvement or at least steadiness in new construction and sales, housing starts stand near 60-plus-year lows, and any life in home sales is coming from distressed foreclosure sales, temporary first-time buyer tax credits and low interest rates," center Director Nicolas Retsinas said in a news release.

Inventories of vacant and for-sale homes are at near record levels, despite sharp decreases in housing production, center Executive Director Eric Belsky noted.

"The best that can be said of the market is that house price corrections and steep cuts in housing production are creating the conditions that will lead to an eventual recovery," he said. "For now, markets remain under considerable stress."

The report also noted that minorities have sharply higher unemployment rates, are more likely than others to spend more than half of their incomes on housing and are more likely to live in neighborhoods with higher foreclosure rates and bigger house price drops.

The number of households spending more than half their incomes on housing rose from 14 million in 2001 to 18 million in 2007 -- before the economy began to shed jobs, the report said. Among those in the bottom 25 percent of income earners nationwide, 51 percent of renters and 43 percent of owners spent more than half their income on housing. "As the report clearly articulates, for those who are already weighed down by unsustainable housing cost burdens -- that is, the lowest-income people -- the recession exacerbates the fragility of their housing," said Sheila Crowley, president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. "We will see more homelessness as unemployment drags on."

The good news for the real estate industry is that demographics point to strong future demand, with the largest generation in American history reaching young adulthood in record numbers over the next decade. So, even if immigration falls 40 percent below the average of the first half of this decade (to just half of U.S. Census Bureau projections), household growth in the next decade should rival the solid increases between 1995 and 2005, the report said.

For link to article, visit http://www.seattlepi.com/local/407474_housing23.html

King County home sales rose faster than the nation's in May

By Aubrey Cohen
SeattlePi.com Staff
June 23, 2009

King County saw a larger spring surge in existing home sales than the West and the nation as a whole in May, but compares less favorably by year-to-year change, according to a new report.

Sales of existing houses and condos in May were up just over 30 percent from April in King County, compared with increases of 6.6 percent in the West and 9.2 percent nationwide, according to data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service and the National Association of Realtors.

But county sales were down 20 percent from May 2008, compared with an increase of 8.7 percent in the West and a 6.6 percent drop nationwide.

Seasonally adjusted numbers (not available for counties) showed sales up 2.4 percent nationwide and down 0.9 percent in the West from April. The adjustment compensates for the fact that more homes generally sell in May than in April.

The Realtors noted that seasonally adjusted monthly increases in April and May were the first such back-to-back gains since September 2005.

Analysts greeted the Realtors report with a yawn.

"While activity has stabilized, a meaningful recovery has yet to begin," wrote Paul Dales, U.S. economist with Capital Economics.

Patrick Newport, U.S. economist at the economic analysis firm IHS Global Insight, wrote that foreclosures, people selling to avoid foreclosure and (to a lesser extent) increased affordability are driving up sales, while weak demand pulls sales down.

"Distressed sales and improved affordability won the tug of war in April and May," he said. "But over the past seven months, the war has been a stalemate, as sales have hardly changed."

About one in three homes sold last month was a foreclosure or distressed sale.

Realtors association Chief Economist Lawrence Yun acknowledged in a news release that sales totals did not meet predictions.

"The increase in sales is less than expected because poor appraisals are stalling transactions," he said. "Pending home sales indicated much stronger activity, but some contracts are falling through from faulty valuations that keep buyers from getting a loan."

The Home Valuation Code of Conduct, which took effect May 1, cuts people responsible for originating mortgages off from the appraisal process.

Realtors association President Charles McMillan said the recovery depends on "realistic appraisals that are based on proper comparisons and done by a local specialist." He also called for expanding the federal $8,000 first-time buyer tax credit to all buyers and continuing it into 2010.

"Freeing a pent-up demand in housing will absorb inventory at a faster pace, strengthen communities and stabilize home prices earlier," he said.

Washington Realtors is trying to goose demand this weekend with a Statewide Open House event featuring more than 3,000 open houses statewide, including more than 1,200 in King County.

"This opportunity won't last forever as the housing market rebounds. We are seeing multiple offers again, especially with the more affordable homes," Keith Nelson, president of Seattle KingCounty Realtors and owner of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Executives, in Bellevue, said in a news release. "With only five months until the tax credit expires, the Open House weekend is an ideal chance to shop before the sale ends."

May sales were financed with mortgages negotiated when rates on a 30-year, fixed-rate loan averaged 4.8 percent. Subsequent increases, up to 5.38 percent last week, will blunt the impact of the tax credit, Newport said.

"We expect sales to sag over the next 12 months," he said. "In 2010, an improved economy and improved affordability will bring buyers into the market, and sales will start to rebound."

A National Association of Realtors survey in May showed first-time buyers accounted for 29 percent of sales with the number of buyers looking at homes up nearly 10 percentage points from a year ago.

"Investors appear less active, but are more prevalent in areas with large price corrections," Yun said.

The nation had a 9.6-month supply of homes for sale at the end of May, down from 10.1 months in April but still above the six months generally considered balanced between buyers and sellers.

That drop was "the best news in the report," said Joseph LaVorgna, Deutsche Bank's chief economist.

Still, the inventory figures don't reflect the large number of houses being held off the market by owners reluctant to sell while prices are so weak, noted Richard Moody, chief economist with Forward Capital.

King County had an 8.4-month supply in May, down from 10.6 months in April.

Nationwide the median price of an existing house was $215,700, while the median condo price was $214,600. That's down 14.1 percent and 18.5 percent, respectively, from a year earlier and up 3.5 percent and 1.7 percent from April.

In King County, the medians were $361,250 for a house and $259,000 for a condo, down 16.4 percent and 8 percent, respectively, from a year earlier and down 3.2 percent for houses and up 5.7 percent for condos from April.

Newport predicted nationwide prices would fall another 5 percent to 10 percent before rebounding in 2011.

For link to article, visit http://www.seattlepi.com/local/407518_HOMESALES23.html

U.S. existing home sales up by 2.4%, prices down 16.8%

A real estate group says sales of previously occupied homes rose modestly from April to May, the third monthly increase this year, but signs of any housing recovery are fragile at best.

By Alan Zibel
AP Real Estate Writer
June 23, 2009

WASHINGTON — A real estate group says sales of previously occupied homes rose modestly from April to May, the third monthly increase this year, but signs of any housing recovery are fragile at best.

The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that home sales rose 2.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.77 million last month, from a downwardly revised pace of 4.66 million in April. Prices, meanwhile, dropped by 16.8 percent from a year ago.

The results missed economists' expectations. Sales had been expected to rise to an annual pace of 4.81 million units, according to Thomson Reuters.

The median sales price plunged to $173,000, down from $207,900 in the same month last year, but up from $166,600 in April.

For link to article, visit http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2009267386_apushomesales.html

May housing construction jumps by 17.2 percent

By Martin Crutsinger
AP Economics Writer
June 16, 2009

WASHINGTON -- Construction of new homes jumped in May by the largest amount in three months, an encouraging sign that the nation's deep housing recession was beginning to bottom out.

The Commerce Department said Tuesday that construction of new homes and apartments jumped 17.2 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 532,000 units. That was better than the 500,000-unit pace that economists had expected and came after construction fell in April to a record low of 454,000 units.

In another encouraging sign, applications for building permits, seen as a good indicator of future activity, rose 4 percent in May to an annual rate of 518,000 units.

The better-than-expected rebound in construction was the latest sign that the prolonged slump in housing is coming to an end, which would be good news for the broader economy.

The current recession - the longest since the Great Depression - was triggered by a collapse in the housing market that led to soaring loan losses and a banking system crisis. A healthy home market is needed to support an economic recovery.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to unveil on Wednesday the administration's plan to overhaul financial regulation in an effort to crack down on the lending abuses that triggered the most severe upheaval in the nation's financial system in seven decades.

Even with the encouraging news, analysts don't expect a quick rebound in housing, since the economy is still shedding jobs and home prices are falling in many places, making people hesitant to commit to buying a new home.

Many economists say home construction likely will stop falling in the current quarter but any sustained rebound isn't expected to take hold until next spring. That's partly due to the huge overhang of unsold homes and a record wave of mortgage foreclosures dumping more unsold homes on the market.

With foreclosures and other distressed properties for sale at deep discounts, builders often can't compete. Rather than launching new developments, they are waiting for signs of a broader recovery. Many economists believe that home prices will keep falling until next spring and that sales won't start to show significant gains until the summer of 2010.

The 17.2 percent rise in housing construction for May still left activity 45.2 percent below where it was a year ago.

The jump reflected a 7.5 percent rise in construction of single-family homes, the third consecutive increase in this critical segment of the market.

Construction of multifamily units rose 61.7 percent in May to an annual rate of 131,000 units. This volatile part of the market plunged 49.4 percent in April.

Construction rose nationwide led by a 28.6 percent surge in the West. Construction rose 6.8 percent in the South and 11.1 percent in the Midwest. The Northeast had the smallest gain of 2 percent in May.

The National Association of Home Builders said Monday its housing market index slipped by one point in June, reflecting many builders' uncertainty about when their business prospects might improve. The Washington-based trade association said the index fell to 15. It was the first decline since January, when the index dropped to a record low of 8.

That report was "proof that the rise in U.S. mortgage rates lately is dampening activity," Jennifer Lee, an economist with BMO Capital Markets, wrote in a research note.

Earlier this month, major builders Toll Brothers Inc. and Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. reported smaller quarterly losses, rosier sales trends and more prospective buyers visiting model homes. Industry executives, however, say the recession and fear of job losses are keeping many would-be homebuyers on the fence.

For link to article, visit http://www.seattlepi.com/business/1311ap_us_housing_starts.html

The best and worst cities for recession recovery: Seattle poised for a rebound

Ten cities poised for rebound- and 10 cities with a long slog ahead

Joshua Zumbrun
Forbes.com
June 10, 2009

WASHINGTON -- The three most important things in real estate: location, location, location. It's true for recovery from a real estate bubble too. Overall, many economists expect the national economy to return to growth later in 2009, perhaps as soon as this summer. But that won't be the case everywhere. While some cities are poised for a quick rebound, others face a slog to recovery that could take years.

Poised for swift recovery are many Texas cities, such as Austin, San Antonio, Dallas and McAllen. These areas did not see the massive real estate bubble that formed in states like California, Nevada and Florida. The economy is diverse, with heavy growth coming from education and health care in recent years.

Many of the cities with the longest road to recovery are California cities, where home prices rocketed out of control, and entire economies were supported largely by a real estate bubble. Fresno, Modesto, Salinas, Bakersfield, Stockton and Los Angeles all saw home prices soar to unsustainable levels and then begin their inevitable plunge. The collapse of the housing markets pushed unemployment rates in these cities above 10%.

Even as a flood of foreclosures makes home prices look affordable again, a sign that some of the worst real estate markets may be finding their bottom, it will still take years for unemployment rates as high as 16.8% in Modesto or 15.5% in Fresno to return to healthy levels.

To find the 10 cities that look best poised for recovery (and the 10 cities likely looking at the longest climb back), we examined estimates from data provider Moody's Economy.com of the projected gross domestic product of metropolitan areas across the U.S., as well as unemployment figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and home prices, incomes and affordability data from the National Association of Home Builders. Because, in general, healthy cities were not victims of as severe a housing collapse, home prices were not used in ranking the cities poised for recovery.

The analysis also shows the importance of a city's economic make-up. Manufacturing has been battered by the recession, leaving cities like Detroit and Flint, Mich., or Youngstown, Ohio, with bad unemployment and a changing economy that's unlikely to replace the lost jobs. Moody's projects the economy in Flint, for example, will decrease by 16% from the start of recession to the end of 2010. (One commonly cited rule of thumb for depression is a decline of 10%.) Flint might never return to its original size.

New York City, too, once the capital of finance, is now saddled with Wall Street-induced unemployment and homes that are completely unaffordable for most of the region's residents. The NAHB's Housing Opportunity Index reports that only 14% of homes in the New York-White Plains-Wayne area are affordable on the area's median income--by far the least affordable region measured by NAHB.

Cities with robust technology sectors are poised for stronger recoveries than manufacturing or finance centers. Cities with high-tech capabilities like Seattle, Huntsville, Ala., or Boulder, Colo., could see quick recovery in coming months.

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.
Current GDP: $168.3 billion
End of 2010: $179.8 billion (projected)
Unemployment: 8%
Although battered by recession, the Seattle area's high-tech economy is poised to start growing again. Moody's estimates the economy will reach a new peak in the third quarter of 2009 and keep growing from there. Possibly hindering recovery is a still troubled home market--prices have fallen 16% in the past year, but homes are still expensive, which could slow a housing recovery.

For link to article, visit http://www.forbes.com/2009/06/09/recession-economy-cities-business-beltway-recovery-cities.html

For link to Seattle info, visit http://www.forbes.com/2009/06/09/recession-economy-cities-business-beltway-recovery-cities_slide_11.html

Quote of the Day

This time like all times is a very good one if we but know what to do with it. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tax credit for all homebuyers gains support

Since first-time buyers are getting thousands of dollars in tax credits from the federal government to stimulate the economy, why shouldn't all homebuyers get equal treatment? Congress is being asked to do just that.

By Kenneth R. Harney
Syndicated Columnist
June 13, 2009

WASHINGTON — Since first-time buyers are getting thousands of dollars in tax credits from the federal government to stimulate the economy, why shouldn't all homebuyers get equal treatment?

And what about refinancers — couldn't they make good use of a tax credit to help defray closing costs and loan fees?

Whatever your thoughts on these questions, there is an effort under way in Congress to extend tax credits to anyone who buys a new or existing home in the coming year, with no income limitations.

In one case, legislation would even create a new "temporary" $3,000 tax credit to help defray the costs of refinancing mortgages on principal residences.

Two Dallas-area congressmen — one a Democrat, the other a Republican — have introduced bills that not only would broaden the reach of the current housing tax credits to almost everybody but also would keep the program going until either mid-2010 or the end of that year. The current credit expires Nov. 30.

U.S. Rep. Kenny Marchant, a Republican who represents the suburbs between Fort Worth and Dallas, is pushing a bill that would expand the current $8,000 federal credit to buyers of all houses — not just first-timers — through June 2010.

The bill (HR 2619) would also create an unprecedented $3,000 credit to help offset "qualified refinancing costs" — closing fees, lender charges and the like — through next June.

In a statement, Marchant said his goals are to "jump-start new sales," "reduce the housing inventory" and "stabilize housing prices."

As to the refinancing credit, he said the idea is to encourage owners "to take advantage of current low mortgage rates" — cutting their monthly payments to stay out of financial trouble.

$3,000 refi credit

The $3,000 refi credit could be used to pay for loan "points," other transaction fees or to "put equity in their home if they're a little underwater."

Marchant's House colleague, U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, a Democrat who represents downtown Dallas, has introduced the Home Buying Credit Expansion Act (HR 2606), which would extend the current credit through Dec. 31, 2010.

The bill would also open the credit to all buyers of principal residences, but would not provide any new tax incentives to stimulate refinancings.

The near-simultaneous introduction of tax-credit expansion bills on Capitol Hill appeared to put the two most potent housing lobbies — the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of Home Builders — into a political quandary.

On the one hand, any broadening of tax incentives for homebuying would be good news for their builder and real-estate broker members.

On the other hand, any public perception that the expiration date for the current credit might be extended could cause some potential buyers to delay purchases.

And if all would-be buyers might be eligible for some future federal tax credit — not just first-timers — large numbers of consumers might just stay on the sidelines waiting for that better deal to come out of Congress.

A spokesman for the National Association of Home Builders said the group "does not want anything that would stop the traction the current (tax) credit is now getting. We think it would be more appropriate to address (an extension or other changes) closer to the credit deadline" in the months ahead.

But Mary Trupo, public-policy director for the National Association of Realtors, said her 1.1 million-member group sees it differently.

Why not for all?

"We say — if (the credit) is working for first-time homebuyers, then why not for all buyers, with no income limitations? We would like to see the expiration date extended (beyond Nov. 30). Expanding the credit is really the way to stabilize the (housing) market — by making it available to everybody."

Trupo said first-time buyers accounted for one-half of all purchasers in March — up from one-third in January — and that increase is directly attributable to the tax credit.

The association has no hard estimate of what effect opening up the credit to all buyers would have on total sales.

But Jed Smith, managing director for quantitative research, said earlier projections about the first-time-buyer credit ranged into the hundreds of thousands of additional sales.

Broadening the credit to all buyers would push the total higher.

Don't look for any immediate action on Capitol Hill.

The legislative calendar is jammed already, the budget deficit is at all-time levels, the summer recess looms, and neither of the tax-credit bill sponsors sits on the House Ways and Means Committee, which must originate all tax legislation.

But later this year, you can bank on it: There will be a big push to extend the housing tax credit — and maybe open it up to everybody.

For link to article, visit http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2009331864_harney14.html

Lose the Rent!

WHY YOU SHOULD BUY A HOME TODAY.

Here are a few things to consider:

• Interest rates are at their lowest in decades.
• Houses are more affordable than ever.
• Buying a house may be a great way to start building wealth. When you rent, that money is gone forever.
• Your mortgage interest is tax deductible.
• First-time homebuyers may be eligible for a tax credit up to $8,000

www.losetherent.com

Master Builder's Association celebrates Centennial

In 2009, our association proudly celebrates it's 100th anniversary.

During those hundred years our industry and region have undergone dramatic changes. Through times of adversity and success the home building industry has worked through the Master Builders Association to improve the quality and reliability of our products. We've gone from an industry of hand tools to power tools and now to computers and beyond.

The history of home building is intertwined with the history of our region. As lumber mills became malls, as fields gave way to factories and steam ships have been replaced by Dreamliners, our members built and eventually remodeled the homes we live in.

To celebrate this milestone and to look forward to our second century, we will be performing 100 community service projects, writing a book about our first 100 years, creating a centennial video, holding special events for members and speaking to local community groups and organizations about our history and the importance of housing to the region.

http://www.mbaks.com/

Man Cave Rod & Custom Show - Saturday, June 13th!

Join us this Saturday June 13th, 2009 at Garage Plus Storage for the

MAN CAVE ROD & CUSTOM SHOW!

Click to view larger image!

http://www.garageplusstorage.com/
877-875-PLUS

King County home sale prices inch upward in May

Puget Sound Business Journal
June 4, 2009

The median sale price of a home in King County inched upward to $351,500 in May from $350,000 in April and the average home sale price rose to $423,875 from $417,500 a month earlier.

The number of real estate closings in King County rose to 1,618 from 1,242 in April, according to data collected by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS), which collects real estate data from 19 Western Washington counties.

The number of pending home sales in King County also rose to 2,801 from 2,646 a month earlier. Across all 19 counties surveyed by the NWMLS, the median price rose to $280,000 from $270,000 in April and the average home sale rose to $329,680 from $316,979 a month earlier.

“Buyers who are waiting for prices to come down more have missed the bottom,” said Kathy Estey, a NWMLS director, in a statement.

For link to article, visit http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/06/01/daily50.html?ed=2009-06-04&ana=e_du_pub

Inventory shrinking, sales rising, prices stabilizing in some Northwest MLS areas

Northwest Multiple Listing Service
Kirkland, Wa
June 4, 2009

Waiting longer to buy a home is not likely to pay off, according to Northwest Multiple Listing Service director Kathy Estey after reviewing reports summarizing May activity. Estey pointed to shrinking inventory (about 20 percent fewer listings than a year ago), double-digit increases in the number of pending sales (up 17.7 percent from a year ago), solid open house activity, and signs of stabilizing prices (eight of the 19 counties in the report show price gains since January) as indicators of an improving market.

Northwest MLS brokers notched 7,160 pending sales during May. That total out-gained the year-ago tally by 1,075 transactions (up 17.7 percent) and improved on April’s total by 242 sales for a 3.5 percent increase. For the four-county Puget Sound area, pending sales jumped 21.5 percent from a year ago, rising from 4,526 to 5,498 transactions.

Buyers had fewer choices during May than at this time a year ago. At month-end, member-brokers reported 41,318 active listings throughout the NWMLS service area. A year ago, there were 51,817 active listings. Current inventory includes 11,278 single family homes and condos that brokers added during May. For the same month a year ago, brokers added 14,176 new listings to inventory.

Estey, the managing broker at the Bellevue Downtown office of John L. Scott Real Estate, said affordable homes inventory is down to the levels of a normal market and reaching for a sellers’ market. “Multiple offers are common in the under $400,000 range when the home is priced well, shows nicely and is marketed professionally,” she remarked. “Buyers who are waiting for prices to come down more have missed the bottom,” Estey believes.

Close in markets are the most active, with rural areas still lagging, but Estey says there is now some activity where little to none had existed in the first quarter. She believes prices have adjusted and completed new construction is still a very attractive purchase. “Builder inventory is being absorbed and there are fewer incentives. In January builders were giving away the farm, by March it was only half the farm and now they may just give away a chicken or two in order to make the deal.”

Prices are showing signs of stabilizing, according to NWMLS data. Prices area-wide are down around 10 percent from twelve months ago, but a comparison to January shows price gains in eight of the 19 counties in the NWMLS report. System-wide, prices for single family homes and condominiums that closed last month are up about 2.6 percent since January. In King County, prices dipped about 12 percent from twelve months ago and have declined about 3.5 percent since January, but a closer look shows considerable variation within sub-areas. Prices in southeast King County fell 20 percent from a year ago, but since January are down only about 2.8 percent in north King County.

Condominium activity remains slow. Pending sales are down about 15 percent from a year ago. The median sales price of $240,000 is about 7.7 percent lower than a year ago. Condos in King County sold for a median price of $270,450 last month, which compares to the year-ago price of $287,925, a drop of about 6 percent).

Demand for high-priced homes is also tepid. According to Estey, there are “amazing opportunities for buyers with good credit scores and 25 percent down payment in the $900,000- plus marketplace.”

“What we’re currently seeing is real estate’s version of Back to the Future,” said J. Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate. He believes the combination of historically low interest rates, adjusted lower prices, and the $8,000 tax credit has created advantageous conditions for buyers that haven’t been seen in decades. He noted sales in the four-county area continue to see double digit increases. “The more affordable markets are seeing a major boost which is leading to higher sales in the mid-priced markets and causing some increases in activity in the upper end,” Scott remarked.

While cheered by the more vigorous activity, brokers note short sales and foreclosures continue to be a drag on the market. Such properties, often sold at deep discounts, may take extraordinary time to close once there has been mutual acceptance of an offer.

NWMLS director Meribeth Hutchings, broker/owner of Windermere Real Estate/Lake Stevens Inc., said her office represents the buyer of a short sale that has been pending since October. The buyers who hope to purchase the home in Mukilteo have been very patient, but are becoming less so and are ready to move from the small apartment where they have been living with two large dogs. “Every time we think we are getting close, the lender changes what they want,” Hutchings stated.

Another NWMLS director, Pat Grimm, reported similar experiences with a short sale. “We just closed one in Montlake on May 28 -- after the parties to the transaction reached mutual acceptance on Feb. 10, said Grimm, the owner/broker at Windermere Real Estate/Capitol Hill. (NWMLS defines a short sale as a transaction that does not produce sufficient funds to cover the existing monetary encumbrances against the property, closing costs, real estate commissions, and other financial requirements of closing.)

Tacoma broker Dick Beeson of Windermere/Commencement Associates said he has several agents deeply involved in handling short sales since Pierce County is so hard hit. He estimates around 25 percent of all properties for sale are either bank owned or short sale, and one of every three pending sales is one or the other.

“Short sales play a big role in what many buyers are looking for,” according to Beeson, who also noted these buyers often fail to realize the extraordinary length of time it takes to close a sale – generally twice as long as a conventional sale. “Many get discouraged after 60 or 90 days and withdraw from a sale, never having received notice form the underlying lender what they are willing to take for the property. Many properties end up going to foreclosure because of the inefficiency of the banks in providing answers to offers,” Beeson commented.

The recent uptick in pending sales, both locally and nationally, is a hopeful sign that we’re putting the worst of the market behind us, suggests Ron Sparks, managing vice president at Coldwell Banker Bain.

“As you would expect in a recovering market, not all neighborhoods are uniformly performing, and for home sellers particularly, there are plenty of challenges that remain.” However, he observed, “In many neighborhoods where just a few years ago broad affordability had all but vanished, lower prices, flexible terms and very low interest rates are pushing inventory absorption for single family homes to levels not seen since 2007.”

Sparks said multiple offers for the best listed properties are occurring everywhere, including Pierce and Snohomish counties. “Improving sales in one neighborhood helps dwindle inventory, and can push motivated buyers to search for homes in other neighborhoods. This process typically occurs before prices start to stabilize,” he explained.

Has that stabilization begun? “As my old Magic 8-Ball used to tell me: signs point to yes,” according to Sparks, who noted eight counties served by the NWMLS have seen price increases since January. “The sales volume in my Bellevue office is now roughly 10 times what it was in February, with expanded sales in almost every price category. Overall inventory levels have dropped substantially as well. Does this mean the optimal time for home buyers to take full advantage of favorable market conditions has passed? I’d probably defer that to the Magic 8 ball also…“Ask again later.”

Recent fluctuations in mortgage rates have brokers and buyers alike wondering if rates will escalate as inflation worries return.

“While rates now are wonderfully low, waiting has cost buyers. Loans recently available for 4.75% are now 5.25%,” according to broker Kathy Estey. On a $400,000 loan, that means the monthly payment rises from around $2,128 to about $2,253 – and increase of nearly $125. She believes it would be wise to act now for the best selection in the affordable homes. “Who knows if we will see rates of 5% or below again anytime soon,” she wonders.

Commenting on a recent report from the National Association of Realtors showing a third consecutive month of improving pending sales, Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said buyers are responding to very favorable market conditions. “Housing affordability conditions have been at historic highs, but now the $8,000 first-time buyer tax credit is beginning to impact the market,” he said. “Since first-time buyers must finalize their purchase by November 30 to get the credit, we expect greater activity in the months ahead, and that should spark more sales by repeat buyers.”

Northwest Multiple Listing Service, owned by its member brokers, is the largest full-service MLS in the Northwest. Its membership includes approximately 28,000 brokers and agents. The organization, based in Kirkland, currently serves 19 counties in western and central Washington.

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Pending home sales rise 6.7 percent in April

The number of U.S. homebuyers who agreed to buy a previously occupied home took the largest monthly jump in nearly eight years in April, but there are still plenty of danger signs for the U.S. housing market.

By Alan Zibel
AP Real Estate Writer
June 2, 2009

WASHINGTON — The number of U.S. homebuyers who agreed to buy a previously occupied home took the largest monthly jump in nearly eight years in April, but there are still plenty of danger signs for the U.S. housing market.

Home sales appear likely to head upward this summer, potentially to levels not seen since the stock market collapsed last autumn, but prices are expected to keep falling well into next year. Layoffs, which are causing foreclosures to soar, coupled with rising mortgage rates could dampen any real estate recovery.

The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday its seasonally adjusted index of sales contracts signed in April surged 6.7 percent to 90.3, far exceeding analysts' forecasts. It was the biggest monthly jump since October 2001, when pending sales rose 9.2 percent.

The big boost likely reflects the impact of a new $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers that was included in the economic stimulus bill signed by Obama in February. Since buyers need to complete their purchases by Nov. 30 to claim the credit, "we expect greater activity in the months ahead," Lawrence Yun, the Realtors' chief economist, said in a statement.

Typically there is a one- to two-month lag between a contract and a done deal, so the index is a barometer for future existing home sales.

While economists are encouraged by signs that demand for housing is returning, the outlook is far from sunny. Mortgage rates are rising, making homes less affordable for many borrowers. The average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage is around 5.3percent this week compared with about 5 percent last week, according to Bankrate.com.

Stock indexes advanced modestly in morning trading, but then traded in a tight range around the break-even point. Financial stocks fell after several banks announced plans to raise capital to help repay federal bailout funds.

The health of the U.S. housing market, mired in a three-year slump, is one of the key issues facing the economy. Though sales may be recovering, analysts cautioned that prices will take longer to stabilize because of the glut of unsold properties for sale. Prices are unlikely to rise until foreclosures start declining, and that's unlikely to happen before the end next year.

The national median sales price in April plunged more than 15 percent from year-ago levels to $170,200, driven by sales of inexpensive foreclosures and other distressed low-end properties. That was the second-largest yearly price drop on record, according to the Realtors' group.

Still unknown is the effectiveness of President Barack Obama's $50 billion plan to prevent foreclosures by modifying loans in bulk. Analysts are growing worried that it will not have a substantial impact.

"I haven't seen evidence yet of any significant modifications," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. "I was hoping that we would see more of a pickup."

The Realtors' index of pending sales contracts was 3.2 percent above last year's levels and has risen for three straight months after hitting a record low in January. A nearly 33 percent sales increase in the Northeast and a 9.8 percent jump in the Midwest led the overall surge. Sales contracts were flat or up slightly in the South and West.

Still, Yun cautioned that the pending sales data is more volatile than in the past. Many homeowners need to sell their properties for less than the balance they owe on their mortgages - a so-called "short sale" - which requires the lenders' approval. That process is often difficult, time-consuming and can fall apart before the deal closes.

For link to article, visit http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008920611_apuseconomy.html

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