Lake Hills Library Opening
Posted on 3 September 2010 | No responses
It was a historic day on September 1, 2010, as the newly constructed Bellevue Library, located in the Lake Hills Shopping complex opened it’s doors. It was a “By Invitation Only” celebration, with excellent snacks, wine, and specialty cupcakes by “New York Cupcakes”.
The turnout was excellent, with approximately 150 people present, mostly those in the semi-local area with a heart of benevolence. The new Library is located on the corner of Lake Hills Boulevard and 156th Ave SE. The Library is the focal point of the new Lake Hills Shopping Complex, as the entire location is being redeveloped, a little at a time.
The official opening of the Library is set for September 10th, 2010. Stop on in, look around, and let them know you appreciate the new facility.
Bellevue Real Estate, Mortgage, and Economy 8/30/10
Posted on 30 August 2010 | No responses
Here is the Bellevue Real Estate Report for August 30, 2010.
INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE You can’t sugar-coat last week’s housing reports, but they don’t necessarily foretell a “double-dip” recession in real estate. July Existing Homes Sales were off 27.2%, at an annual rate of 3.83 million, well below the expected 4.65 million rate. The months’ supply went from 8.9 to 12.5 and there was also a rise in inventories. The truth is, the expectation was a bit high. An annual rate below 4 million for July makes sense, given that the home buyer tax credit was slated to end in June.Getting an $8,000 check from the government certainly encouraged lots of people to move up their purchases. For the same reason, experts also predict weak August numbers, but after that, some feel existing home sales will start heading back to about 5.5 million units annually. For the year, inventories are down 2.0%, while the median price is UP 0.7%.
July New Home Sales were down 12.4% to a 276,000 annual rate, below the expected 330,000 pace. The months’ supply went to 9.1, but inventories were unchanged at 210,000, their lowest level in decades. Part of the sales drop was because the now expired tax credit required a signed contract by April 30. New homes sales are counted at contract and the April number hit 414,000. In the three months since then, sales are averaging only 291,000 annually. New home buyers may also be going for recently built homes, now at attractive prices. New homes, typically about 15% of sales, are now around 7%!
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly survey showed purchase loan applications UP 1% from the week before, refinance applications UP 6%, and mortgage rates at record low levels.
THANK YOU, BEN… Ben, of course, is Chairman Bernanke, head of the Federal Reserve. Friday he said the Fed has no triggers set for further easing of monetary policy and he sees continued economic growth. These comments at a central bank summit in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, were all the Wall Street bulls needed to hear to push stocks up Friday after a week of declines. The big rally wasn’t quite big enough, though, as the three major indexes still ended down for the week just a tad.
There were other decent economic signs. The August Richmond Fed index of manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region was +11, down from July’s +16, but higher than expected and showing that the factory sector still continues its strong growth. Durable Goods orders were UP 0.3% for July, but disappointed because 3.0% was forecast. Nonetheless, Durable Goods are UP 9.3% over a year ago. Initial unemployment claims dropped by 31,000 to 473,000 for the week, a nice sign after last week’s surge. Continuing claims also fell, by 62,000 to 4.46 million.
Friday featured two big news items. First, Q2 GDP was revised lower, from 2.4% to 1.6% growth, but this was measurably better than what many economists had expected and significant parts of the report showed improvement. Personal spending and business Investment were both revised UP, with domestic purchases UP 4.3%. Corporate profits continued their strong growth in Q2, UP at a 20% annual rate and UP 39% over a year ago. Then we had Chairman Bernanke reassuring investors he expects growth to pick up in 2011 and the Fed is ready to use “unconventional measures if it proves necessary.” Again, thank you, Ben!
For the week, the Dow ended down 0.6%, to 10150.65; the S&P 500 was down 0.7%, to 1064.59; and the Nasdaq was down 1.2%, to 2153.63
Bellevue Real Estate, Mortgage, and Economy 8/23/10
Posted on 23 August 2010 | No responses
Here is the Bellevue Real Estate Report for August 23, 2010
Housing starts were UP 1.7% for July to a 546,000 annual pace, but this was below expectations and all the gain came from a big boost in multi-family starts. Single-family starts were off 4.2%, declining for the third straight month. Looking at the market further out, we saw new building permits down 3.1% for July to a 565,000 annual rate.
There is no denying that these reports reflect a softness in the home building market. But some experts see the data as part of a temporary housing market hangover following the expiration of the tax credits. You may remember how the government cash-for-clunkers program pushed a ton of auto sales into July and August last year. This resulted in a dip in sales immediately afterwards. But that was followed by a pretty nice recovery, with auto sales now up 20% from the first half of 2009. Stay tuned for housing.
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly survey showed purchase loan applications down from the week before, but refinance applications soared, equaling their May 2009 level. Mortgage rates, of course, continue at historically low levels.
NOT SO BAD… Really???!!! Listening to the pundits who were fixated on last week’s negative economic news, you might think things were awful. But as usual, the situation actually wasn’t so bad, with the markets closing Friday with mixed results. The Dow and the S&P 500 dropped for the week, but far less than the week before. And the third major index, the Nasdaq, was UP 0.3%, so there are plenty of investors not paying that much attention to fretful pundits. Yet for the week, the Dow ended down 0.9%, to 10213.62; the S&P 500 was down 0.7%, to 1071.69; but the Nasdaq was UP 0.3%, to 2179.76.
Make no mistake, the week did have its disappointments. The housing starts and building permits covered above were not cheered on Wall Street. Then, initial weekly jobless claims came in at 500,000, a bit over estimates and higher than they’ve been for a while. On top of that, the Philadelphia Fed index of manufacturing was down for the month, instead of up as expected, indicating a souring of the outlook in that region.
But wait just a minute. Mortgage refinancings took off, helping consumers and lenders. The Empire State index showed manufacturing in the New York region UP to 7.1 in August from 5.1 in July and suggesting more rapid growth to come. July Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization moved up nicely. Corporations continued to deliver strong profits and we even had renewed M&A action, with Intel buying McAfee for a cool $7.7 billion in cash. None of these are bad economic signs.
Bellevue Real Estate, Mortgage, and Economy 8/16/10
Posted on 16 August 2010 | No responses
INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE. Last Wednesday the National Association of Realtors reported the median price of existing single-family homes UP for Q2 in two thirds of U.S. metropolitan areas, or100 markets. This compares with only 26 markets with price gains in the same quarter a year ago. Experts say these figures show the federal tax credits helped stabilize home prices in the first half of the year. Nationally, the median price for single-family homes increased to $176,900 in Q2, UP 1.5% from a year ago.
The NAR also reported sales of existing single-family homes and condos for Q2 were UP 9.1% over Q1, hitting an annual rate of 5.61 million. That number is UP 17.3% from Q2 a year ago. With the tax credit gone, the NAR is forecasting a Q3 sales drop to a 4.55 million annual rate. But they do see sales coming back in the last three months of the year, to a 5.27 million unit annual rate. The NAR’s chief economist added: “Prices in some areas remain below replacement construction costs, so even with an elevated supply of existing homes…we don’t expect any consequential movement in home prices for the foreseeable future.”
Freddie Mac’s weekly survey showed mortgage rates staying at record low levels for conforming loans. But demand for purchase loans has dropped after the tax credit expiration, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
DIPPY… It was a week of “double-dip recession” fears, but when all was said and done, the economic recovery continued, albeit at a slower pace. The only dipping that occurred happened on Wall Street, as investors’ worries sent the Dow Industrials down 265 points on Wednesday. By the time the markets closed Friday, all three major indexes had truly dipped — from 3% to 5% for the week. For the week, the Dow ended down 3.3%, to 10303.15; the S&P 500 was down 3.8%, to 1079.25; and the Nasdaq was off 5.0%, to 2173.48.
That Wednesday dip in the Dow was the delayed reaction to the results of the Fed meeting on Tuesday. The central bank kept the rate down at 0%–0.25%, but their policy statement raised investors’ “double-dip” worries. The Fed said the economy isn’t as strong as they thought it would be two months ago and they would begin buying Treasury bonds “to support the economic recovery.” But in spite of Wall Street’s jitters, the real economic data wasn’t so bad.
Preliminary Q2 Productivity slipped a tad, but it’s UP 3.9% over last year. The trade deficit in June grew more than expected, but exports dropped only slightly and are UP 17.7% for the year, a healthy sign for American companies. July Retail Sales were up less than expected, but when May and June upward revisions were included, the numbers beat expectations, UP 0.7% overall and UP 0.2% excluding autos. And those talking up a global double-dip recession were quieted when Germany’s Q2 GDP showed a 2.2% expansion from the previous quarter, that country’s fastest growth in two decades.
Nology Media – A Social Media Solution
Posted on 11 August 2010 | No responses
I was fortunate to recently attend an event promoted by the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce, and featuring a Seattle Company called Nology Media. The presenter was Leigh Fatzinger, who did a fine job of breaking down the complex Social Media Marketing Platform. Nology Media is a relatively new company, but engaged and focused in a growing segment of business marketing.
Being a Social Media afficionado myself, I pursued a personal meeting with Leigh over a cup of coffee, and found him to be very outgoing and forthcoming with valuable information, and an overall pleasurable conversationalist. If your company needs professional consulting in the area of Social Media, I would put Nology Media on your “Social Radar”.
Nology Media is located just a few short blocks from the Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington. Here is a write up directly from the Nology website:
The Nology Team
Nology Media was founded in 2009 by Leigh Fatzinger. Leigh has spent more than 15 years branding, messaging, and taking to market both early stage and established companies. He is a frequent speaker and writer on a range of topics including Social Media Marketing, B2B Marketing, and Public Relations. He has held a number of executive roles over the course of his career, including Principal of OMV, a technology marketing and branding firm, Vice President of Marketing for Citel plc, a Voice over IP equipment manufacturer, and ADAPTIX, a wireless broadband technology firm. He has worked in senior marketing and business development positions for several early stage wireline and wireless companies including Terabeam, LightPointe, Andavo, and OneComm.
As a company, Nology Media strives to be linear. Everyone helps with the key decisions, and everyone contributes to the success of our business. We’re a diverse group of social media professionals from diverse backgrounds. Some of us had Facebook pages in college before anyone else was allowed to have them. At least one of us has a pet at home who Tweets. One of us has a one-year old with his own email account (see below). Most of us give of our time in some capacity to make the world a better place. But at the beginning of the day, and the end, we care about the brands and the content our clients share with our audience.
For my information on Nology Media click here.
Bellevue Real Estate, Mortgage, and Economy 8/9/10
Posted on 9 August 2010 | No responses
Here is the Bellevue Real Estate Report for August 9, 2010.
Tuesday we had Pending Homes Sales, which after dropping 30% in May, fell just 2.6% in June, with the push to qualify for the tax credit no longer a factor. These figures indicate there should be a drop in Existing Home Sales come July and maybe again in August. But some analysts feel that after this post-tax-credit dip, housing will come back solidly, just like auto sales did after “cash for clunkers” expired last year.
The report did include encouraging words on home pricing from the National Association of Realtors chief economist: “…since home prices have come down to fundamentally justifiable levels, there isn’t likely to be any meaningful change to national home values. Some local markets continue to show strengthening prices.” We all know you can’t time a bottom, but it looks like serious buyers might want to act now.
The Mortgage Bankers Association reported an increase in demand for purchase loans for the third week in a row. Its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey had purchase loan demand UP 1.5% for the week ended July 30.
SUMMER RALLY LITE… Coming off July’s hot month for stocks, August began with a 208-point gain in the Dow. But before this summer rally could really take off, investor optimism cooled, sending market indexes up and down by small amounts for the rest of the week. Friday’s July jobs report came in below expectations, which drove stocks lower, though only by 21 points. All major indexes ended UP for the week, so it’s still a rally, if not a particularly strong one. For the week, the Dow ended UP 1.8%, to 10653.56; the S&P 500 was UP 1.8%, to 1121.64; and the Nasdaq was UP 1.5%, to 2288.47.
What made investors cautious included the July ISM Manufacturing Index, which fell from June’s 56.2 reading to 55.5. Wall Street ignored the fact this is still a strong number, above the 50 level that signals expansion. Then Personal Income and Consumption came in unchanged for June. But income after taxes is UP 3.2% annually the last six months and “real” (inflation-adjusted) consumer spending was UP 0.1% for June and UP 1.6% annually the last six months. PCE consumer inflation dropped for the third month in a row, but core PCE, excluding food and energy, is up 1.1% the last six months, calming fears of deflation.
Wednesday, July ISM Services climbed to 54.3 from 53.8 in June, showing continued expansion in the non-manufacturing arena. Now for the July jobs report. Private sector payrolls grew less than expected and government payrolls declined more than expected. But private payrolls are up 90,000 per month since the beginning of the year. In addition, average weekly earnings are UP 0.5% for July and UP 3.0% in the last year, which should continue to drive up consumption and the economy. The unemployment rate held at 9.5%.
Local Bellevue Man in U.S Senior Open Golf Tournament
Posted on 5 August 2010 | No responses
It is exciting times in Sahalee with the Senior Open Golf Tournament being held there…and local Bellevue native Tom Brandes is giving it a go. After a rough first day at the U.S. at Sahalee Country Club, Bellevue’s Tom Brandes went into Friday’s second round with nothing to lose.
The highlight of the day for Brandes -came on the final hole of the tournament. His home course, the Rainier Golf and Country Club in Seattle, was sponsoring the hole – meaning there were hundreds of his supporters waiting near the green.
Brandes lifted a nice shot onto the green, and left himself a 25-foot putt attempt.
“I just was thinking “don’t mess this up in front of all of these people,’” he said. “I hit it solid, dropped it in, and the place errupted.”
“I’ll never forget the roar when that putt went in,” he added. “My knees went weak.”
For more on this story click: U.S. Senior Open.
Bellevue Real Estate, Mortgage, and Economy 8/2/10
Posted on 2 August 2010 | No responses
MARKET RECAP
Here is the Bellevue Real Estate Report for August 2, 2010.
Could we be seeing the beginning of a post-tax-credit rebound? We can’t say for sure – too many variables and too many contrasting opinions to vet – but we hold out hope that June’s rebound in new-home sales could presage better days.
On that front, sales rebounded to 330,000 units annually, a 23.6 percent increase over May’s rate of 267,000 units. More encouragingly, sales were up in three of four major regions: The Northeast posted the biggest gain at 46.6 percent, followed by the South at 33.1 percent, and the Midwest at 20.5 percent. The West was the notable loser, posting a 6.6 percent drop, but it’s worth noting that the West had been posting stronger sales over the past few months.
We don’t want to get carried away and read too much into one month’s worth of data, but if there is a bright spot for homebuilders, it’s that inventories are as lean as they’ve been in forty years.
Homebuilders can also take solace knowing that home prices rose nationally, in May. According to Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index, prices increased 1.3 percent, with 19 of 20 markets posting month-over-month gains. Of course, we are speaking of national prices, and real estate is local. If you bought a home in San Francisco recently you might be asking, what housing slump? If you had bought a home in Las Vegas anytime over the past four years, you’re still wondering when the nightmare will end.
Some think the nightmare won’t end soon. Fiserve, for one, projects that home prices will fall another 4.9 percent nationally over the next 12 months, with the usual suspects – Nevada, Arizona, and Florida – taking the hardest hits. Not surprisingly, these areas have also been hardest hit by unemployment.
That said, we still believe we are looking at a relatively stable pricing environment for most parts of the country. The Miami metropolitan area, one of the more notoriously overbuilt burgs, has even posted some price improvement over the past twelve months. Again, real estate is local, so it’s impossible to predict how any one market will perform over the coming months. In aggregate, though, we question Fiserve’s projections.
Mortgages rates, on the other hand, are influenced by national events. Here, the trend continues to push lower. Just about everything is being quoted under 5 percent these days, with some adjustable-rate mortgages regularly quoted under 4 percent. The low rates offer plenty of options: Moving to a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage to save interest and to more quickly amortize the loan being one of the more obvious. A 20-year fixed-rate mortgage is another worthwhile option, particularly for borrowers unsure if they can handle the monthly obligation of the 15-year loan.
Bellevue Real Estate, Mortgage, and Economy 7/26/10
Posted on 26 July 2010 | No responses
Here is the Bellevue Real Estate report for July 26, 2010.
Tuesday, June Housing Starts came in down 5.0% from May to a 549,000 annual rate. This was below expectations, but still up 15.1% from the low they hit in April 2009. Most of the drop came from volatile multi-family starts. Single-family starts were down a mere 0.7%. Most significantly, housing completions shot up 26.2% in June, the biggest monthly gain going back to the late 1960’s. Builders clearly shifted focus from starting to finishing, as they pushed to close sales qualifying for the homebuyer tax credit. Finally, Building Permits were UP 2.1% for June, beating expectations, so things are looking up for the months ahead.
Thursday saw June Existing Home Sales down 5.1% to an annual rate of 5.37 million. But this beat expectations for the fourth time in five months and was 9.8% above sales a year ago. The median price for an existing home also gained in June, coming in at $183,700. This is up 1.0% from last year. In addition, the FHFA price index for homes financed by conforming mortgages went up 0.5% in May, increasing for the third month in a row.
National average rates for fixed rate mortgages hit new lows, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of conforming loans. So refinance applications shot up 7.6% over the week before, but best of all, purchase loan applications were also up a healthy 3.4%.
>> Review of Last Week
UP WE GO… It was another interesting week on Wall Street, with stocks briefly headed in the wrong direction before ending the week decidedly UP. The fact was, the good economic news simply outweighed any disappointments by a lot. The net result for the stock markets left all major indexes resoundingly UP for the week…from 3% to 4%! For the week, the Dow ended UP 3.2%, to 10424.62; the S&P 500 was UP 3.5%, to 1102.66; and the Nasdaq was UP 4.1%, to 2269.47.
Topping the disappointments were Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s comments before Congress that the U.S. economic outlook is “unusually uncertain.” This allowed him to add that the Fed stands ready to take additional action, if necessary, to either do more boosting or halt inflation. OK, but right now there’s plenty of evidence the world’s largest economy is recovering just fine, if at a slightly slower rate than before. Earnings from IBM and Amazon.com also disappointed, but overall there were pretty slim pickings for the bears.
There actually was a big batch of strong earnings. Of the 150 S&P500 companies who have reported Q2 results, 85% of them beat earnings estimates by an average of 7%. General Electric raised its quarterly dividend 20%, the first increase since it historically cut its dividend over a year ago. Even the media is beginning to admit companies appear to be doing well. Then Friday we got the long-awaited results of the European bank stress tests, which came out better than expected. There was some grousing over how stressful the tests truly were, even though the Committee of European Banking Supervisors hadn’t seemed too soft before.
Tuesday, June Housing Starts came in down 5.0% from May to a 549,000 annual rate. This was below expectations, but still up 15.1% from the low they hit in April 2009. Most of the drop came from volatile multi-family starts. Single-family starts were down a mere 0.7%. Most significantly, housing completions shot up 26.2% in June, the biggest monthly gain going back to the late 1960’s. Builders clearly shifted focus from starting to finishing, as they pushed to close sales qualifying for the homebuyer tax credit. Finally, Building Permits were UP 2.1% for June, beating expectations, so things are looking up for the months ahead.
Thursday saw June Existing Home Sales down 5.1% to an annual rate of 5.37 million. But this beat expectations for the fourth time in five months and was 9.8% above sales a year ago. The median price for an existing home also gained in June, coming in at $183,700. This is up 1.0% from last year. In addition, the FHFA price index for homes financed by conforming mortgages went up 0.5% in May, increasing for the third month in a row.
National average rates for fixed rate mortgages hit new lows, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of conforming loans. So refinance applications shot up 7.6% over the week before, but best of all, purchase loan applications were also up a healthy 3.4%.
>> Review of Last Week
UP WE GO… It was another interesting week on Wall Street, with stocks briefly headed in the wrong direction before ending the week decidedly UP. The fact was, the good economic news simply outweighed any disappointments by a lot. The net result for the stock markets left all major indexes resoundingly UP for the week…from 3% to 4%! For the week, the Dow ended UP 3.2%, to 10424.62; the S&P 500 was UP 3.5%, to 1102.66; and the Nasdaq was UP 4.1%, to 2269.47.
Topping the disappointments were Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s comments before Congress that the U.S. economic outlook is “unusually uncertain.” This allowed him to add that the Fed stands ready to take additional action, if necessary, to either do more boosting or halt inflation. OK, but right now there’s plenty of evidence the world’s largest economy is recovering just fine, if at a slightly slower rate than before. Earnings from IBM and Amazon.com also disappointed, but overall there were pretty slim pickings for the bears.
There actually was a big batch of strong earnings. Of the 150 S&P500 companies who have reported Q2 results, 85% of them beat earnings estimates by an average of 7%. General Electric raised its quarterly dividend 20%, the first increase since it historically cut its dividend over a year ago. Even the media is beginning to admit companies appear to be doing well. Then Friday we got the long-awaited results of the European bank stress tests, which came out better than expected. There was some grousing over how stressful the tests truly were, even though the Committee of European Banking Supervisors hadn’t seemed too soft before.
College Prep Education in Bellevue and the Seattle Area
Posted on 22 July 2010 | No responses
Pi-Plus College Board Prep Course: Essential, Affordable, Convenient – and Effective
Every parent feels the pressure. Slots in the college of your child’s choice are limited, and everything seems to hang on that college board score. Is your student ready to take these all-important tests?
It’s true that most college prep work is done in the classroom. If your student has been keeping up with school work over the course of his or her high school career, your student has laid the groundwork for a good PSAT, SAT, ACT, or AP score. However, studies show that high school students who take test prep courses often score significantly higher than those who don’t, and that students who take the PSAT score an average of 150 points higher on the SAT than those who take only the SAT.
There are many options when searching for help to prepare your student for the college board tests. The library has dozens of books, there are many prep courses available online, and there are companies that offer hands-on test preparation. Considerations include price, convenience, and effectiveness. Often the deciding factor is your student’s style of learning. Sometimes the deciding factor is price: the Princeton Review website charges $1400 for its small group PSAT review per student!
Private Instruction (Pi) Plus Tutors (“PiPlus”) specializes in teaching and tutoring. Ellen Forster, founder of Pi-Plus, believes that small group settings, individualized attention, and extra help outside the school day are critical to academic success, whether in a general high school setting, or for the focused curriculum of a college board prep course.
This summer, Pi-Plus is offering test prep courses that cover all the bases. These courses will provide tutoring in any subject and will familiarize your student with test taking procedure: math, vocabulary, and question structure. There will be plenty of practice in different subject areas and plenty of time to ask questions.
Each session will:
- Provide 16.5 hours of small group and individual tutoring
- Build your student’s confidence in test taking skills
- Identify your student’s strengths and weaknesses
- Develop an individualized improvement plan for your student
- Offer a structured yet flexible curriculum that covers all test subjects
- Provide highly qualified and skilled educators
- Provide two Princeton Review practice tests and scoring
To insure a low tutor to student ratio, each course limited to an enrollment of 20 students.
Price: The charge for each Pi-Plus session is $480 plus a $25 registration fee (which is waived for existing Pi Plus or Kennelly Keys Music clients.)
Location: Roy’s Place Studio & Recital Hall, 4926 196th St. SW, Lynnwood, WA 98036
Time: Monday through Thursday, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Dates: Choose from these sessions:
Session 2: Aug 2-5, 9-13
Session 3: Aug 23-26, Aug 30-Sept 2
Guarantee: Pi Plus guarantees a prorated tuition refund if you’re not satisfied at the end of the first week.
For more information, go to piplustutors.com or call (425) 315-9850.