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Old 04-06-2007, 03:11 PM
 
Location: Edmonds, WA
223 posts, read 1,270,575 times
Reputation: 92

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From today's Times.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...esales06m.html
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Old 04-06-2007, 04:30 PM
 
45 posts, read 173,400 times
Reputation: 32
From the article:


Quote:
"Brian and Jennifer Rutherford are experiencing King County's strengthening real-estate market firsthand as they shop for a Bellevue home in the $500,000 range.
So Brian and his wife admit they are motivated by the fear of everincreasing prices. One of the unwritten rules of purchasing real estate: Never let emotion into the equation.

What the newspaper fails to mention, is that the additional office space in Bellevue is for current Microsoft employees, and has nothing to do with creating new jobs.

A rapidly increasing supply of homes, along with rising prices is exactly what happened in CA prior to the current price declines which are now in full swing.

Bottom line, The Seattle Times gets much of their revenue from the Real Estate Industrial Complex. They're not an unbiased, or even good, source of information for people interested in purchasing a home.

Last edited by Marka; 12-07-2007 at 02:09 PM..
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Old 04-06-2007, 04:51 PM
 
Location: Edmonds, WA
223 posts, read 1,270,575 times
Reputation: 92
Quote:
Originally Posted by BanteringBear View Post
Bottom line, The Seattle Times gets much of their revenue from the Real Estate Industrial Complex.
I haven't seen any men in black suits wearing sunglasses lately.

FYI, I have read nothing about Microsoft getting rid of any of their Redmond property. I assume that the two new office buildings be used to increase their western Washington work force.
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Old 04-06-2007, 06:06 PM
 
5,595 posts, read 18,992,496 times
Reputation: 4816
I really hesitate to get into this discussion with either of you two. But again, since this is a public message board, I have just as much right to throw in my $0.02 as the both of you.

My first premise: Again, NOBODY can be absolutely sure where real estate prices will be in Washington five years from now, or 10 years from now, or even a year from now. You can sit and argue that you have facts to back up your "opinion" of what will happen in the future pertaining to the real estate market but it all boils down to your educated "opinion." Any amount of rhetoric you want to throw out about "history repeating itself," bubbles bursting, trees not growing to the sky, etc., etc., is all well and good and AGAIN, I'm not saying that I necessarily disagree with the premise.

I felt the same way in the late 1990s about the stock market and sold 70% of my equity positions in January of 2000, months before the market commenced its three year "collapse." My reasoning was similar: the bubble has to burst, this can't continue, fundamentals aren't holding up, all the indicators I was using were pointing in the opposite direction of the public's sentiment. When I sold that January, I was laughed at. We all remember what the sentiment was at that time. It was a new paradigm ...the stock market will defy any historical patterns and will never again go down again. Little guys --blue collar workers-- were making huge amounts of money. People who never dealt in stocks before were looking like geniuses day trading or using similar tactics. Everybody wanted on the bandwagon and the majority were increasing their personal worth tremendously; on paper, at least. We all remember what the water cooler talk was in the late 1990s ...yes, how much we were all making buying tech stocks. I reiterate this scenario not to make myself look good but to point out that I can be just as much of a contrarian as the next guy.

So yes, a similar scenario could be in the wings for the real estate market. But the point is, nobody has a crystal ball ...NOBODY. I'll say it: you're a fool if you are absolutely sure that you know what direction either of those markets are poised to do in the future. No matter how many facts you "think" you may have, it's only an opinion ...perhaps an educated opinion but an opinion nonetheless.

Again, I'm not saying I know which way real estate prices are headed in the Seattle area. I may have an opinion but I'm certainly not going to express it here at this point. There are logical arguments on both sides of this conundrum. Yes, Seattle could be bucking the trend just because of what we're seeing Microsoft announcing. Or yes, the bubble could be about to burst like it has in other parts of the nation.

Back to the article in question. Microsoft itself said that the additional Bellevue office space will be for BOTH current and future employees. Remember, it was only a little over a year ago (February 2006) when they announced a huge commitment to the Redmond community of additional expansion at the Redmond campus by one third of its current size.

That expansion at the Redmond campus PLUS the announced office leasing in the Bellevue locations announced yesterday to accommodate 4,000 employees, to me, adds up to quite a few new jobs for the region. NOT just expanded or additional office space for only current employees.

I'll leave to the imagination on how that will influence the continued low-inventoried housing market on the eastside. Or I’ll qualify that statement: “continued low-inventoried” from what several brokers and agents I’ve talked to recently on the eastside have told me. I suppose that can be argued too.

Ok, stick a fork in me, I'm done.

--'rocco
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Old 04-06-2007, 06:07 PM
 
45 posts, read 173,400 times
Reputation: 32
"FYI, I have read nothing about Microsoft getting rid of any of their Redmond property. I assume that the two new office buildings be used to increase their western Washington work force."

FYI, they're not. They're simply solving the cramped quarters issue which has been an ongoing problem.
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Old 04-06-2007, 06:22 PM
 
5,595 posts, read 18,992,496 times
Reputation: 4816
Microsoft Expands Footprint in City of Bellevue: Company leases 1.3 million square feet of office space to better accommodate current and future employee base in Puget Sound region.



Microsoft Expands Footprint in City of Bellevue
Company leases 1.3 million square feet of office space to better accommodate current and future employee base in Puget Sound region.



mod cut: copyright

Last edited by scirocco22; 02-12-2008 at 07:26 PM.. Reason: copyright violation
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Old 04-06-2007, 08:39 PM
 
Location: Austin 'burbs
3,225 posts, read 14,020,614 times
Reputation: 783
FYI, 'Rocco wins.
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Old 04-06-2007, 08:43 PM
 
1,233 posts, read 3,424,364 times
Reputation: 300
It is true, Rocco is right, no one knows what will happen even a year from now, I wish we did, cause we all could make alot of money!~
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Old 04-06-2007, 09:22 PM
 
5,595 posts, read 18,992,496 times
Reputation: 4816
Thank you, Jenbar and PghPaNative.

Because I was posting from an emotional standpoint, I did miss some things and made a bit of a conceptual error.

The Seattle Times article referenced by the OP indicated a significant increase of inventory in King County. From what my contacts in the "industry" tell me is that although true, the eastside inventory has not significantly increased, especially in the affordable "under $400k" range. I'm told this then "bumps" the prices of what could be more affordable properties into the "not so affordable" range simply because of this lack of supply.

So bottom line: It appears that things continue to be somewhat "inflated" in the Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Issaquah, et al. Who knows how long this will continue. Economics 101? Well, supply and demand should tell us that there's a good possibility that this could continue awhile longer? I don't know. Is the eastside yet to the level of San Jose? hmmmm.

--'rocco
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Old 04-06-2007, 09:25 PM
 
Location: Santa Barbara
642 posts, read 3,064,593 times
Reputation: 454
Yep, I am going to have to agree with 'rocco on this as well.

I am also going to add that Seattle newspapers have a sense of hysterical small town journalism in all of their human interest type stories. Which is where I place stories such as these. The bottom line or background is always . . . oh my God the sky is falling . . . listen to what our citizens are saying!!!!! Hysteria, in my opinion, and not unlike the small town journalistic voice I grew up with in a rural NW state. Seattle's newspapers were like that the whole time I lived there and the theme/voice/POV continues. Flame away if you must. Just my 2.

Chicken Little News
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