Spoken Gently's Blog: Market News

Whether a young couple starting out, a retiring couple looking for a place to settle down, a starving college student looking to survive, or just anyone looking to save some money, Tri-Cities Washington is the place to live! The Tri-Cities has recently been ranked number 1 out of 350 communities in the Pacific Northwest by the ACCRA Cost of Living Index as the least expensive place to live. The Tri-Cities was given an index rating of 88.9 during the third quarter; down from 89.9 in the second quarter. The low cost of groceries and housing is partly to thank for the low cost of living in the Tri-Cities. Communities ranking the closest to the Tri-Cities are Spokane with an index rating of 93.5; Portland at 95.1; and Boise with a rating of 96.0

Tri Cities…

The Washington Post recently reported that the emotional and financial strain of the housing market has become so rough, it’s on par with divorce, and even death. TODAY’s Barbara Corcoran and psychologist Jeff Gardere explains how to lessen the burden and turn your house into a source of revenue:

CNN reports today that "An outraged sheriff in Illinois who refuses to evict "innocent" renters from foreclosed homes criticized mortgage companies Thursday and said the law should protect victims of the mortgage meltdown. Cook County, Illinois, Sheriff Thomas J. Dart says too many renters are being evicted for landlords' problems, and he is suspending foreclosure evictions in Cook County, which includes the city of Chicago. The county had been on track to reach a record number of evictions, many because of mortgage foreclosures."

This is truly sad.  Until now, I thought of the mortgage debacle as a shared responsibility between folks buying homes they should not have been buying, and lenders lending money they should not have been lending.  At first…

Tri Cities Washington is ranking again! This time, the Tri Cities of Kennewick, Richland, and Pasco, Washington are 29th on the top 124 list of America's Best Small Cities list, up 40 spots from last year's position. The rankings are based on the metro area's ability to sustain employment and economic growth.  

Related: Milkin Institute's 2008 Best Performing Small Cities | Tri Cities Job Market Expected To Stay Strong

Today, the AP reports second quarter home prices drop the largest since the inception of Standard & Poor's Case/Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index. The drop is 15.4 percent lower than last year. I'm reminded of this blog entry!

The Tri Cities Washington market, however, is maintaining property values. Actually, Washington state as a whole, isn't too bad either! Never a better time to buy property in the Tri Cities than now!

Related:

• Standard & Poor/Case Shiller Home Price Indices

• CNN Money - Home Prices Plummet To New Record Low
   

For years I've been concerned with the direction our country is headed. With the recent mortgage industry problems my concerns have increased. I read an article about The Coming Financial Collapse of America where the author outlines the future collapse of America largely as a result of the domino effect the real estate industry is creating. In the article, Mike Adams makes a prediction for 2008-2012:

"My prediction for 2008 - 2012 is a massive wave of municipal bankruptcies, state bankruptcies and escalating national debt. We are going to see cities and states go belly up, pension programs terminated (or watered down), and financial institutions teetering on the brink of disaster."

Mike Adams isn't too far off in his assessment of our economy. His…

The Washington Association of REALTORS® released a press release stating Washington home prices are rising. Here is an excerpt from the press release (bold added for emphasis):

“All real estate markets are unique. We shouldn’t be surprised that Washington State is bucking national trends,” said Dennis Rose, 2007 president of the Washington Realtors. “In order to make smart home-buying decisions, now more than ever it’s important to work with a professional REALTOR® who is familiar with the local market.”

As of mid-June, sub-prime, adjustable-rate loans represented 20 percent of loans nationally, but just 6 percent of home loans in Washington. Of those mortgages, 5 percent in Washington were delinquent, compared with 8.9 percent nationwide. The largest…

In Alejandre v. Bull the Washington Supreme Court (March, 2007) sided with the seller and did not allow the buyer to sue for damages for the seller's misrepresentation of the seller's disclosure statement. In this case, the seller knowingly gave the buyer a faulty septic tank. To read more about the case, Attorney Russell G. Cofano does a great job of summarizing Alejandre v. Bull. What I want to do is discuss the implication of Alejandre v. Bull on the new forms coming out in October for Washington REALTORS®.

In the August 2007 edition of Washington REALTOR® News, I quote from page 11:

...there will be a provision in the new form to address the significant changes to law caused by the case of Alejandre v. Bull, decided by our state Supreme Court on…