Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
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Mar
18
Posted by Thomas Wolter
Are you looking to connect with business owners, professionals and consumers while you enjoy appetizers and beverages at a high energy networking event? Meet new and potential customers in just a few short hours…the perfect setting for making great business connections!
If you are interested in showcasing your business with a display table they are also available. Reserve your space now as table are going quickly.
When and Where: Tuesday, March 23, from 4-7 pm at the Bellevue Red Lion. Cost is $10. For more information click: Bellevue Chamber.
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Feb
16
Posted by Thomas Wolter
Here are some interesting Real Estate statistics for the Seattle market:
Median home price: $371,000
Value lost since 2006: 15.2%
Forecast gain by 2011*: 3.8%
Seattle has become a world-class city with a diverse, vibrant economy. As a home to manufacturers such as Boeing and software providers such as Microsoft, the job market has held up better than average, with a current unemployment rate of 8.8%.
Home prices had a softer landing as well, dropping just 15.2% over the past three years, about half the national average. However, prices do tend to be volatile, according to Mark Fleming, chief economist for First American CoreLogic. The lack of available land for development is one reason for that volatility, as are political restrictions on growth.
After another modest price decline of 2.3% in the next eight months, the market should begin to turn up. Between June 2010 and June 2011, the city should see a gain of 6.2%. Averaged out, that means a 3.8% gain over the next two years*.
And while that may not sound all that robust for those jaded by the annual double-digit returns recorded during the boom, that performance will be one of the best of any large city during that period.
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Dec
23
Posted by Thomas Wolter
If you are looking for a wonderful Christmas Season Experience, an afternoon of ice skating in Bellevue’s Downtown Park, followed by a dinner at one of Bellevue’s downtown restaurants, capped off by previewing Bellevue’s Snowflake Lane performance nightly at 7 pm, just can’t be beat!
OK…here’s the plan: you want to arrive the the ice skating rink in Downtown Park between 3 and 4 pm, depending on your skill and endurance. Enjoy a couple hours (or so…ahum) of skating. For more details click Bellevue Ice Skating.
Once completed, walk over to the the downtown corridor, and pick a dining establishment to eat. There are dozens to choose from, but a few of my favorites within very close proximity of the Snowflake Lane performance (you can almost watch out the window…almost) are Maggiano’s Little Italy, The Cheese Cake Factory, Andiamo Ristorante, P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, and for a lighter fare the reliable Red Robin. For more on Bellevue’s restaurant choices click: Bellevue’s Local Table.
Around 6:45 pm, you want to begin to wander into position on Bellevue Way to enjoy the Snowflake Lane performance. The performance is relatively short at approximatley 15-30 minutes, but is very festive, and puts you in the right mood for the holidays. For more on the details of this performance click: Bellevue’s Snowflake Lane. For a video preview of Bellevue’s Snowflake Lane click: Bellevue’s Snowflake Lane Video.
Now once you have followed this plan, and had a wonderful time I want to hear about it…..c’mon now. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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Dec
01
Posted by Thomas Wolter
Here is your Bellevue Real Estate, Mortgage, & Economy update for December 1st, 2009 –
The economic reports before Thanksgiving were packed with housing market data and, guess what, they were all extremely positive! Monday saw Existing Home Sales UP 10.1% to an annual rate of 6.10 million, the highest since February 2007. Sales are now UP 20% in the past two months and UP 36% from their January lows. Even better, the supply of existing homes was down to just 7 months, with inventories down to 3.57 million, the lowest level in almost three years. This puts existing homes very close to the 6-month supply level of a healthy housing market.
Wednesday, New single-family Home Sales were UP 6.2% in October to an annual rate of 430,000 units. New Home Sales are now UP 30.7% over their January low. The unsold supply of new homes dropped to 6.7 months as of October, with inventories at 239,000, 58.2% down from their mid-2006 peak and at their lowest level since mid-1971. The median price was down only 0.5% from a year ago and average price down just 4.7%.
TWO KINDS OF BLACK FRIDAY…
Leading up to Thanksgiving, we had lots to be grateful for, with market gains and encouraging economic reports. Retailers’ Black Friday exceeded expectations, but unfortunate financial news from Dubai turned Wall Street’s Friday a depressing black, with the Dow losing 154 points on the day. The Dubai government announced there would be a six-month “standstill” on debt repayments for Dubai World, its holding company. This sent world markets reeling with fears of multi-billion dollar defaults. But Dubai is part of the super-wealthy United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), which should provide deep support. In addition, Dubai’s debt is mostly held by U.K. and European banks, with little U.S. involvement. The situation bears watching, although our recovery remains clearly on track.
On Tuesday, for example, Q3 GDP growth was revised down to a still substantial 2.8% annual rate. The key item in the report was the look at Q3 corporate profits, which grew at a very strong 50% annual rate, the third consecutive quarterly increase. Wednesday, initial jobless claims dropped to 466,000, sending the four-week moving average down to 496,500, below the level a year ago. Continuing claims are now down to 5.423 million. The Richmond Fed Manufacturing index showed expansion of activity for the seventh straight month.
Consumer Confidence went up to 49.5 for November, beating consensus estimates. This tied in nicely with Wednesday’s reports showing personal incomes are rising, consumer spending is up and the savings rate is 4.4% vs. 1.7% just two years ago. Even non-mortgage consumer debt is down 5% from its mid-2008 peak. Nonetheless, the Dubai surprise left the Dow off 0.1% for the week, at 10309.92; the S&P 500 was up just 0.11 points, to 1091.49; while the Nasdaq slipped 0.4%, to 2138.44.
For all your Bellevue Real Estate information please see the real estate link at the top of the page.
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Nov
16
Posted by Thomas Wolter
Here is your Bellevue Real Estate Update for this week: Thursday the Wall Street Journal reported Q3 home sales at an annual rate of 5.3 million units. That was an 11.4% gain over Q2’s 4.76 million units. Experts put much of the rising sales to the tax credit of up to $8,000 for first-time homebuyers. A week ago Friday, the President signed a bill extending that tax credit well into next year and expanding it to first-time buyers with higher incomes as well as to existing homeowners, with a $6,500 limit. National Association of Realtors chief economist Lawrence Yun feels “rising sales from the expanded tax credit should stabilize home prices by next spring.” That same tax credit bill also created a new tax break for businesses. The bill lets large firms claim cash refunds on taxes they paid going back five years, to offset current losses. The carry-back period had previously been just two years. Experts estimate this could improve the cash positions of big home builders by hundreds of millions of dollars to further help the recovery. Luxury home builder Toll Brothers is doing just fine already. Tuesday they announced their fiscal Q4 had a 42% jump in contracts over last year. And the value of those contracts was 62% higher than a year ago. The NAR’s report on home prices said most U.S. cities saw gains in the median price of single-family homes for Q3–the second quarter in a row of price gains. Prices were still down from Q3 a year ago, but the pace of the decline has been slowing. Many experts feel the shrinking supply of unsold homes suggests the housing market is edging closer to price stabilization. Even foreclosure fillings fell in October for the third straight month.
HOLDING AT 10,000… We’ve now had two weeks in a row in which investors were confident enough in the recovering economy to keep the Dow Jones Industrial average north of that magic 10,000 number. The S&P 500, a broader indicator of business health, was also up nicely for the week, as well as the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which posted the biggest jump of all. The week got off to a great start on the news that finance ministers and central bankers from 20 major world economies–the “G-20″–will keep their financial support coming until the global recovery is certain. Investors also liked the news that Hewlett-Packard made a deal to buy 3Com to expand its networking business and increase its position in China. Wal-Mart reported a better-than-expected 3.2% boost in Q3 profits and an improved outlook for the year, although it gave a cautious forecast for Q4. The Trade Balance showed exports UP five months in a row since bottoming in April. This is a 24.1% annual growth rate, with imports up at a 32.6% rate. The discrepancy makes for a deficit, but it’s billions smaller than last year. The reality is, the spike in imports and continued export gains signal to many that the economy is getting better. Meanwhile, initial jobless claims fell again last week to 502,000 and the four-week moving average was the lowest in almost a year.
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Nov
09
Posted by Thomas Wolter
Click Photo for Info
Here is the lastest information on Bellevue Real Estate, Mortgage and the Economy: Big news for the housing market came Friday when the President signed a bill extending and broadening tax credits for homebuyers. Major points were first reported in an Inside Lending Bulletin last Thursday. The tax credits apply to contracts signed by April 30, 2010, that close by June 30. Income limits for eligibility have been increased to $125,000 per year for individuals and up to $225,000 per year for couples. Credits up to $8,000 continue for first-time buyers but there is now a $6,500 tax credit for buyers who’ve owned their current home at least five of the last eight years. However, homes selling for more than $800,000 are not eligible. The week began with September Pending Home Sales coming in UP for the eighth month in a row. The National Association of Realtors index was UP 6.1% for the month, and UP 21.2% over September a year ago! The index hit 110.1, with 100 equaling the average level of sales contracts in 2001, the first year measured by the index.
Hello 10,000 and above. The Dow finished above that magic number when the market closed for the week. The S&P 500, which many consider an even better indicator of investor sentiment, was up every day. The big jump came Thursday with solid earnings from tech giant Cisco and a 9.5% jump in Productivity. Friday saw what some considered a gloomy October Employment Report, but investors wouldn’t let it push the Dow under 10,000. For the week, the Dow finished UP 3.2%, to 10023.42; the S&P 500 was also UP 3.2%, to 1069.30; while the Nasdaq went UP 3.3%, to 2112.44.
Let’s be clear. The job market is lagging behind the turnaround analysts are seeing in the overall economy. 10.2% unemployment is the highest since 1983, though still below that era’s 10.8% rate. And because of the economic growth that began in the summer, some economists now feel unemployment is at its peak or very close. There were encouraging signs in Friday’s numbers. There were fewer jobs lost than first reported for August and September. And the three-month average of job losses has declined in each of the last eight months.
Getting back to more obviously positive economic news, the 9.5% productivity gain was its largest boost since 2003. ISM Manufacturing was much better than expected, now solidly in above-50 expansion territory at 55.7. ISM Services has also begun to expand at 50.6, while Construction Spending bumped up 0.8% and Pending Home Sales saw the great shot up we covered above. The Fed’s policy statement after last week’s meeting recognized for the first time that household spending is “expanding” now, rather than “stabilizing” as they characterized it before.
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Nov
02
Posted by Thomas Wolter
Click Picture for Info
Here is the latest update on the Bellevue Real Estate, Mortgage, and Economy, as well as some nationwide statistics. Last week September New Home Sales were reported down 3.6% for single-family units. But the supply of unsold new homes is just 7.5 months and inventories, at 251,000, are down 56.1% from their mid-2006 peak and at their lowest level since 1982. The sales drop followed five straight months of sales increases and some observers felt the decline may have come from more aggressive pricing by sellers, actually a bullish sign for the housing market. Indeed, the median new home price was UP 2.5% for September, a bigger than usual gain for the time of year. The average price went UP 10.2%, the biggest September rise on record. Finally, the average price of new homes sold — $282,600 — was only 1.6% lower than last year. Speaking of prices, the Case-Shiller index reported home prices up in August for the fourth month in a row. The average of the 20 metro areas measured showed a 1.2% gain. Finally, we had the good news covered in last week’s Inside Lending Bulletin that the Senate passed an extension of the first-time homebuyer $8000 tax credit, with higher qualifying income limits and adding a $6500 credit to buyers who have owned their homes at least 5 years. Let’s hope the House passes it too. Finally, the House and Senate extended the ability of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration to back conforming loans in high-cost areas, up to $729,750 through all of 2010. These higher limits would have expired at the end of this year.
CAUTIOUSLY RECOVERING… The government reported our first quarter of positive economic growth last week, indicating the recovery has begun. Yet investors kept the Dow moving up and down over 100 points four out of the five days, ending the week with a startling 249-point drop. Was this a bull market correction, or the return to a bear market? Who knows? The only thing certain is that investors aren’t quite sure the economy is back on track. Makes you wonder what it will take to convince them? The initial estimate for Q3 real GDP revealed the economy growing at a 3.5% annual rate — way better than expected and the first rise in GDP in over a year. Happily, most of the advance was driven by consumption. Q3 GDP also showed home building UP at a 23.3% annual rate, its fastest rise since the ’80’s. Plus, Q3 corporate earnings reported so far show over 80% of the companies beating estimates, the highest rate in history.
On the jobs front, Initial Unemployment Claims dropped and the 4-week moving average hit a new low in the recovery of 526,000. Continuing Claims fell to 5.8 million.
For the week, the Dow finished down 2.6%, to 9712.73; the S&P 500 was down 4.0%, to 1036.19; while the Nasdaq fell 5.1%, to 2045.11. Stay tuned for next weeks Bellevue Real Estate update.
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Sep
30
Posted by Thomas Wolter
How do you feel about the light rail system being implemented in Bellevue? There are many opinions and strong feeling on the matter, and Kemper Freeman has been voicing a strong opinion of experience for quite some time now. Kemper is not a proponent of light rail, and feels that it is “Off Track”. He has his own opinion for correcting our transit challenges. “It’s as far off track as anything I’ve ever seen government propose,” Kemper says. “We’re being sold an impossible dream.”
Currently the light rail budget that Sound Transit initially proposed, is $1 billion over its initial Central Link construction budget. Various options for the Bellevue Eastside extension are still on the table. Most of the light rail systems operating nationally, are based on a much higher density level than we currently have in the Puget Sound area. For more details on a plan that Kemper Freeman endorses click here.
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Sep
19
Posted by Thomas Wolter
Taking steps to protect our environment have always been important, but in recent years this issue has taken front stage, and is only going to be come more important as our population and density increases. As a home builder, I have always been amazed at the quantity of debris that are left over from a construction job, and unfortunately find their way into a 40 yard dumpster, and on down the road to the landfill. I have always taken measures to assure that the construction refuse has been kept to an absolute minimum, but even then have been unhappy as to the end results. This has caused me to be more favorable towards future construction projects using kit homes and fabricated construction methods.
In Bellevue, a very prestigious award has been given for Commercial development in the downtown corridor. Bellevue’s Hines Expedia Tower has received Gold-level certification for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Core & Shell from the United States Green Building Council. For more on the award click here.
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Sep
18
Posted by Thomas Wolter
If you are looking for a music store with excellent selection and customer service, then look no further than the Bellevue American Music store. A few weeks back I needed some new guitar strings for my acoustic guitar. I stopped in to the American Music store in Bellevue, and was directed to an experienced salesman, technician, and musician, by the name of Johnny Devol. Johnny quickly enlightened me as to the different quality of guitar strings, recommended a brand that sounds fantastic on my guitar, and took the time to instruct me as to the correct procedure for stringing the guitar.
Since installing my new strings, I have been inclined to play more as the sounds quality is excellent. Prior to my “educational short course” on different quality of strings, I was not aware that it made much difference. I am pleased to have been enlightened, as now I am doing more of something I love to do…..play. A big thanks to Johnny and Bellevue’s American Music.
American Music is located at 14340 NE. 20th St in Bellevue.
