Posted on 02/08/2007 8:51:38 PM PST by Proud_USA_Republican
Seattle's median home price in January was the lowest it has been in a year, according to statistics released Wednesday.
The median price of $379,990 was down from $420,000 in December, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
A seasonal decline is consistent with recent years, but Seattle's January median home price also was lower than King County's median -- a first since at least 2001. King County's median home price in January was up 8 percent from a year earlier, while the median for all 19 counties in the Northwest MLS was up 10.6 percent.
"That's odd," Bob Melvey, assistant manager at Windermere Real Estate's Ballard office, said of the Seattle numbers. "My personal experience doesn't jibe with the stats."
(Excerpt) Read more at seattlepi.nwsource.com ...
And in Hillary town (New York), a frigin trailer in a park can go for $125K. I don't see a problem here.
It'll be back. It always does. [fingers crossed]
ping
I'm in the oil business in Oklahoma. The MSM and West & East Coasters always think it's great when the price of my commodity goes down.
I don't see a problem here. Those wanting to buy their first home will now have a better chance. If a current owner thinks his house is worth more than the price being offered, he shouldn't sell it.
Oldplayer
Seattle is "la la Liberal" land.....they deserve what they get.....people are probably starting to figure it out....PLUS the price of housing has been skyrocketing for so long, it's time for a correction!
I guaranty that there is a logical explanation for this result. The price of homes in Seattle did not drop by $40K in one month. This just doesn't make sense. Don't believe everything you read.
Like everything else these days, it's because of Global Warming.® People are trying to sell their houses before the oceans rise....;^)
"Seattle is "la la Liberal" land"
Yeah, but after these libs scumbag a state chances are good they will move to a red state. Colorado was once a red state but because of the Californians who moved here it is now considered "purple". IMO though, it is now a liberal state.
Californians did the same thing to Seattle.
Since I wouldn't live in Seattle, my highest offer on a house there is $0.00. So you can blame me for the drop in prices.
Squatters live without paying rent and they often have money to pay their attorneys expenses and court costs. Squatters may live for free in many states for over a year. Here is a movie trailer for a new film on the subject:
In the meantime, foreclosures are booming. Thousands and thousands of potential buyers may be bargain shopping HUD lists tomorrow. Others have been making a fortune easy as pie flipping houses bought during some stage of the foreclosure process.
By the end of this year, all this will change. Storm clouds may be seen on the horizon. Watch what happens?
WA State Ping...JFK
Oldplayer" BUMP TO YOU!!!
I know. Just like the Muslims, rape, pillage, and plunder.
I noticed last September, while walking in downtown Seattle that the super-duper award wining low income reclamation project had lots of for rent sign in windows.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
These would be good opportunities for investors looking for a stream of rental income in a good project.
As for a drop in median home sale prices: this statistic is notoriously subject to distortion by shifts in the distribution of the properties sold vs the distribution of all properties in the market. Thus, if in a certain month, or for several months, there is a higher concentration of lower valued properties being sold, then the median price drops. This could be true even if most of the properties being sold show increases over the price paid by the previous owner.
To get a good reading on the market, look at one of the proprietary series of home price indices based on repeat sales. In the larger markets, Case-Schiller-Weiss type indices are available, and some have separate indices for different segments of the market (low, medium, and high end properties). I'm not sure what's available for Seattle, but you can get a "free" reading by looking at the publically available OFHEO HPI at http://www.ofheo.gov/HPI.asp
Greater Fool Theory at work. I'm itching to get the heck out of here - 1906 770 sq ft (with unfinished basement) SFD ridiculously close to I-5. Tax assessed at 228K.
Perfect place for a Cal transplant couple or downtown-based bachelor to buy as a starter.
Anyone? Anyone? Seattle isn't going to bottom out like, say, Las Vegas, but property taxes are climbing here. I'm just sick of the politics. For an urban-loving commuter, I'm still in a catbird seat.
Those people in Seattle have always hated Californians. I remember hearing it in the late 80s, whenever I showed my CA D/L to write a check.
Clerk "Oh, from California, huh...."
Me "Yeah....funny, I never got that attitude when I was recruited to play football here..."
That usually shut them up.
How long ago was Colorado a red state? Because I was there for 2-1/2 years and left over 11 years ago... and there were plenty of welfare scumbags of one sort or another back then (homegrown or not), up in Fort Collins... a place that kept patting itself on the back that it was not Denver! Wherever that pioneering, self-reliant spirit went to, I sure didn't find much of it along the Front Range!
Oh, yeah--and at that time, I found more of a work ethic among some of the transplanted Californians I encountered than among the local crowd--surprised me, that did.
Some friends of a friend were the type to sneer at the straight workaday world, but they always had their hands out if someone had five bucks more than they did! They never had money for rent or food, but always had enough money for another tattoo or piercing (and tattoos were pretty expensive, from what I could see).
So... I wish I'd met more "red state" folks when I was there. They seemed pretty scarce to me. And a lot of the Coloradoans seemed to hate newcomers no matter where they were from... Texans and Oklahomans seemed to be some of their favorite targets too.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.