Connie Blumenthal serves the Puget Sound area: Ballard, Fremont, Greenlake, Magnolia, Lake Union, Queen Anne Hill or Kirkland view homes or waterfront properties.

Housing May Turn the Corner in 2012

Connie Blumenthal — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:31:10 +0000

DCNews recently had a great article on what to expect in 2012. CoreLogic’s chief economist Mark Fleming says housing statistics and the duration of the downturn to date indicate 2012 may be the year the housing market begins to turn the corner. He points out that households are paying off their debts and at the same time accessing credit more easily, with some even adding Home Equity Lines of Credit in the third quarter of last year – the first such movement for these second-lien mortgage products since the financial crisis began.

For more on this article, click here

2011-The Year Rich Homebuyers went bargain hunting

Connie Blumenthal — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 21:40:47 +0000

While the general housing market struggled to shake off the effects of foreclosures, unemployment, and a fragile economic recovery, several new records were set in such luxury markets as San Francisco, Manhattan, and the Hamptons as the superrich returned to real estate. As noted in Bloomberg, Falling prices for many prestige properties helped close eight-figure deals. In our area we saw lots of cash deals from out of the country buyers seeking prestigious properties and waterfront, but at the right price.

End of the Year Tax planning is here!

Connie Blumenthal — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:03:03 +0000

End of the year Tax planning is here!

Tip of the day……

Home energy credit

First, any homeowner may qualify for an energy credit of up to $500. You can qualify for the credit if you purchase during 2011 solar panels to generate electricity or for water heating, or install wind energy equipment, a geothermal heat pump, or certain types of fuel cells to generate electricity. The credit is up to 30 percent of the amount you spend, up to the $500 limit. This credit is not available for purchases in 2012.

SPOTLIGHT on Significant Luxury Sales for September

Connie Blumenthal — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 19:44:35 +0000

Sotheby’s is synonomous with marketing and representing Luxury property through out the world. Allow me to show you some of the special properties Sotheby’s has most recently successfully represented.

Luxury Home Sales Catalog for September, 2011

Seattle Real Estate News-the Rental Market

Connie Blumenthal — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 20:15:59 +0000

What’s going on in Seattle Real Estate?

Throughout Seattle and Bellevue construction has started on apartment buildings that will add 6,796 new units to the currently tight rental market. Landlords and managers have been gradually increasing rental rates and decreasing vacancy rates and concessions to keep pace with the strong rental market. Permits for apartment construction have jumped by 63% in the last 12 months.

Property Management Grows In Seattle as Home Sales Slow

Many real estate agents have been transitioning into property management as the local rental market continues to strengthen and the real estate market weakens. Agents have experienced that it is much easier to find renters than buyers in the current climate. As written in this recent article on NPR, many would-be sellers are also reluctantly becoming landlords as they wait for the market to offer a greater (or any) return on properties bought at the height of the boom. Just in case you’re thinking about which path you may need to take, I specialize in both Luxury Real Estate and Luxury leasing, so my clients can navigate either road with the expertise needed in this market.

Sources I like for Real Estate News

1.Google News:
Google News is a great way to peruse news articles from all across the web. If you have a Google Account, you can customize Google News to show more real estate articles. You can also earn badges which show how many articles you read in a certain category compared to other readers.

2. Inman:
If you only have time to peruse one news site each day, Inman’s rental news section is one of the best for learning about new technology and developments in our industry.

3. LinkedIn:
You may already be on the site to find business contacts, so why not just click over to the news section and see what’s happening in your industry? LinkedIn finds articles from reputable news sources all over the web and conveniently organizes them in one spot.

4. Local Business Journals:
We love to read the online editions of the Puget Sound Business Journal and Daily Journal of Commerce to find out about new construction in our area.

New Homes Sales Edging Higher

Connie Blumenthal — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 18:49:53 +0000

New numbers as reported by CNN Money show that new-home sales edged slightly higher last month, as more Americans hunted for bargains in the struggling housing market. Yes, we can see this even around our area as buyers that are looking for VALUE paying in cash and moving forward with sales contracts.

The Census Bureau reported an annual sales rate of 307,000 new homes last month, up 1.3% from a downwardly revised rate of 303,000 homes in September. Compared to new home sales a year ago, October sales were up 8.9%.

The 307,000 rate fell just short of expectations. Economists had forecast a sales rate of 312,000 new homes, according to consensus estimates from Briefing.com.

While the higher rate in October indicated that consumers are chipping away at the huge inventory of homes on the market, there’s still a long way to go. This morning on CNBC, the rate of which banks took back homes has increased, so look for more REO’s and foreclosed homes coming to market.

There were about 162,000 new homes on the market by the end of October. That represented a 6.3-month supply at the current rate of sale. The median sale price was $212,300.

Housing in 2012: Things are looking up

Last week, a separate report showed that more house-hunters are also eyeing previously owned homes. Sales of existing homes rose 1.4% in October, slightly more than economists had expected, according to the report.

At the same time, an increasing number of homebuilders are making plans to build houses and breaking ground on new construction, with building permits and housing starts climbing in October, according to a report released earlier this month.

Good News for our Region

Connie Blumenthal — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:26:18 +0000

Surprise! Good economic news popping up in Seattle region

The metropolitan area continues to leverage its corporate, industry cluster and

trade touchstones. And it keeps attracting talent.

I believe that Seattle will continue to be an economic powerhouse on the West Coastand that we will continue to see people moving here for all that we Seattleites enjoy-Mountains, Water, Outdoor Activities, Intellectual and Cultural Activities and Great food and Wine!

Research Past Home Sales Here

Connie Blumenthal — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 23:01:39 +0000

Whether you’re interested in selling and would like to get an idea of what your home may be worth, or your neighbor just sold their home and you’d like to know for how much, researching area sold home prices is just a click away.

Click here to view the history of sold properties in your area.

Explore at an Open House

Connie Blumenthal — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 22:56:27 +0000

Open houses offer a wealth of information. Whether you’re wanting to upgrade from renting and purchase your first time, you’ve outgrown your current home and are in the market to upgrade, or you’re looking to remodel your home and would like to get ideas, local brokers are holding open houses daily and are there to help answer your questions.

Click here to view the schedule of open houses in your area.

Short Sale Homes Can Offer Great Value

Connie Blumenthal — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 22:51:01 +0000

A short sale is a home offered for sale by the seller for less than they owe on their mortgage and can offer tremendous value for those who are patient through the process of gaining approval from the seller’s lender.

Click here to view the inventory of available short sale homes.