“It has a dampening effect on the housing market, no question.”

Wade — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 03:10:06 +0000

This Seattle Times article is the first story from a local paper I’ve seen that doesn’t firmly stick to the “Seattle is special” real estate mantra. I appreciate the Times’ smooth transition from their previous stance of “things are just different here than they are in the rest of the country” to today’s reference to an “inevitable correction”.

Key points:

Higher interest rates on jumbo loans – those larger than $417,000.
“Nearly half of the single-family houses for sale in King County, plus 21 percent of the condos, have sales prices high enough to require jumbo loans — and that’s if buyers reduce their loan amount by putting 20 percent down.”

Naveja.net » Seattle Is Special

“It has a dampening effect on the housing market, no question.”