Seattle Metro Area

Seattle holds strong....despite presence of foreclosures and REO sales

A recent study conducted by LPS (Lender Processing Services, Inc.) reveals further evidence that the downturn America is experiencing in the housing market is regional.  LPS compared some of the top housing markets and their year over year change in sales prices while including and excluding REO sales.  Phoenix and California were a few of those which topped the list for the highest percentage of home price declines but the following was discovered about our market:

LPS reported that the gap between home prices with and without REO sales was smallest in Seattle, New York, and Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company says this is further evidence that the current downturn in the housing market is regional.

Despite our current economic downturn and the housing bubble bursting nationwide, Seattle is still one of the most coveted housing markets in the country and that is a good thing for all of us in this industry to keep in mind. 

 

Photo Courtesy of papalars

County Recorder's Office Closure Dates for 2009

In our market a transaction is "closed" once the new deed has been recorded.  So wouldn't it be helpful to know which days your county recorder's office is closed?  Keeping those dates in mind as you schedule your real estate transactions should make everything run smoother for you and more importantly, for the consumer.  Regardless of whether the transaction is closing in King County, Pierce or Snohomish County, The Talon Group would like to be your preferred service provider for both title and escrow.

 

Click on the appropriate underlined county up above for a schedule of their 2009 closure dates.

Seattle rated #1 by Forbes.com as the best city to invest in

Forbes.com has recently reported about the best and worst places for real estate investors.  The Urban Land Institute asked 700 real estate professionals to name the best and worst places to invest in commerical real estate in the upcoming year, and guess who tops the list?  Seattle!  The thought is that commercial real estate will give you an indication of where areas will recover the fastest, and which will remain weak.

According to Stephen Blank of ULI, "Seattle is a diversified market, has a good base of business and is becoming a 24 hour city".  They've taken into account the losses at WAMU, however apartment vacancies are low and we don't have a glut of construction.  Boeing and Microsoft are still going strong as well.

To view all of the cities in the report, go to Forbes.com.

Photo courtesy of pouryourheartintoit

How Social Media was successful in Election '08 and how it can work for you

This has been an historic election on many fronts.  And no matter which campaign you were pulling for the use of social media as a fund raising and organizational tool to gain support was unprecedented.  A recent posting on livemint.com by Ayeshea Perera states that,

Obama has successfully used social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace.  His website featured supportive user generated content from blogs, and sites such as youtube while also giving people space to express their support and leave comments on issues that were most relevant to them.

According to readwriteweb.com, there is some significant data to back this up.  The winning campaign was largely successful in this strategy due to the demographics which tend to make up a large portion of todays democratic voters.  How does this apply to you?  Today's market has made it a great time for first time home buyers to jump in and take advantage of having more buying power, lower rates, and higher inventory.  Many of these first time buyers fall into that very demographic that taps into the social media which was so successful in spreading the President-elect's message.  A recent article on msn.com highlights why Seattle is especially attractive to first time home buyers while other parts of the country may not be.  The following is an excerpt from this article:

Dawn and Michael Kessay purchased their first home in Seattle recently and enjoyed the best of both worlds -- a good selection and relatively risk-free pricing.  Their agent, Sheryl McLaren, believes that despite the grim national news, this is still a good market for first-time buyers with strong credit. 

Lesson to be learned . . . there is a large database of potential clients available through social media so take advantage!  

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaselabs/

Seattle receives top real estate ranking nationally

It is confirmed yet again that Seattle is still one of the strongest real estate markets in the country if not the strongest!  According to a national report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute Seattle ranks #1 among major metropolitan areas nationwide as a prospective investment. 

Rick Kalvoda from Pricewaterhouse Coopers had this to say about the study:

It's saying a dollar invested in Seattle real estate would be more likely to yield more than a dollar invested anywhere else...

A major contributor to Seattle's #1 ranking is due to our low vacancy rates and the presence of many large and diverse companies according to the study participants.  Our ports are also mentioned as the most attractive in the country.  So here's to living in Seattle!

Photo credit: lbshopgirl