Tamara Peterson on Feb 28th 2009 Community
OK, I will be honest with you. Every year I hear and see advertising and hype over March Madness. Now I hear there will be games played at the Rose Garden in March. What is it all the Madness about?
To educate myself, and others out there who haven’t really cared in the past or taken the time to care in the present, here are a few facts:
o NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament National Collegiate Athletic Association
o 65 Teams vying for the league’s biggest prize
o Takes place the First week of March thru First week of April Continue Reading »
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Christy Trotter on Feb 8th 2009 Business Services, Home Ownership, Moving Forward, Multnomah County, Real Estate Finance, Sunset Corridor, Tanasbourne, Washington County
I am pleased to present our 2008 recap of real estate sales for the Portland /Vancouver Metropolitan residential sales market. The data in the report is based on transactions that closed between January 1 through December 31, 2008.
Last year, the Portland Metro Area had a –8.7% decrease in new listings comparing 2008 to 2007 and closed sales shrank by 32.1% increasing the amount of inventory available. In December 2008, the inventory was 14.1 months compared to 8.5 months in December 2007. At the December rate of sales, if no new listings were to enter the market it would take approximately 14 months for the 13,882 homes to sell.
With all of the negative news about the housing market that it is being reported, is there any positive information? The answer is a resounding yes! Both Portland and Seattle’s housing markets are in much better shape than most other parts of the country. In fact, Forbes has rated Seattle #1 in terms of long-term housing bets and Portland is rated at #9. Continue Reading »
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Christy Trotter on Feb 7th 2009 Business Services, Home Ownership, Real Estate Finance
Isakson Amendment Passed!!
Thanks to all of you who weighed in, the Isakson amendment - which provides a tax credit of up to 15,000 to all homebuyers - passed by voice vote in the Senate last night with bi-partisan support; it will now be part of the final Senate bill. Truly your voice made a difference.
This is an important victory but our work is not done. Other amendments are expected to be offered today which embody parts of the Fix Housing First plan and we need to support those as well. The plan is to have a bill on the President’s desk by February 13, so our efforts this week will be concentrated on the Senate and next week on the conference committee process.
Today Senator Ensign (R-NV) will offer what he is calling the “Fix Housing First Act” (amendment #353) which is much broader than our agenda but does include a mortgage rate buy down program which could lower mortgage rates to as low as 4%. While the plan is not exactly what we have been advocating for, it is another step in the right direction. So please urge your Senators to support the amendment – particularly its rate buy down provisions.
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