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OLYMPIA - A State of Washington investigation found that the lender Countrywide Financial exhibited racial bias in their lending practices, and is considering revoking their license in this state. This action follows similar actions related to Countrywide Financial from the stats of California, and Illinois as well.
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SEATTLE - The Seattle City Council's Housing Committee voted 4 to 1 to expand tax exemptions to developers that include lower income housing. Opponents say this may cause rents to rise in other Seattle low income rentals, and may lead to more problems.
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SEATTLE - Falling home prices are not reflected in real estate tax bills. In fact it is just the opposite.
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SEATTLE - In the last few weeks, terms for FHA loan rates have improved, and homeowners are starting to take advantage.
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BLAINE - Port of Bellingham officials are considering the choice of private developers for the proposed Blaine waterfront improvements. The port and city expects to spend $7 million on improvements, along with other monies.
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TACOMA - Now that the real estate market has cooled, potential buyers are not overlooking the things they used to.
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SEATTLE - The real estate broker Redfin plans on adding properties that are for sale by owner, and bank owned to their website. These properties will be displayed alongside traditional mls listings.
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SEATTLE - A team of professionals, consisting of state attorneys general, and banking regulators, are not pleased with the amount of help homeowners facing foreclosure are getting from the banks. The State Foreclosure Prevention Working Group reported that 70% of delinquent loans were not being processed in an attempt to avoid foreclosure.
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SEATTLE - The pace of foreclosures in Seattle is not as high as the rest of the country, but is still up 31% from a year ago. In King County, this amounted to 527 foreclosure filings in March. Nationwide, the number of foreclosure filings is up 57% from last March, and up 5% from February.
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AUBURN - Because of legal risks, the Auburn City Council will no longer be the last word on land use decisions.
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PIERCE COUNTY - The Median home prices continue to slide, along with neighboring counties. The median price for houses and condos slid 6.02% since March 2007. Tne number of homes in the MLS, over 8,000 is also 22% higher than at the same time last year. Nearby King County also saw a 63% increase in the number of listed homes in the same time period.
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SNOHOMISH COUNTY - Snohomish County Officials are beginning to draft their first ever architectural, and housing guidelines for urban areas, and may require new houses to blend in with their neighborhoods.
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TACOMA - Seattle lawyer Steve Berman thinks the rates being charged home buyers, and sellers are "grossly out of proportion" and title companies have "agreed not to compete". He is seeking class-action status for a lawsuit filed on behalf of a Puyallup homeowner.
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SEATTLE - Although Seattle home prices have remained steady, the prices for condominiums has risen since February, according to the Northwest MLS.
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WASHINGTON - Because of lack of staffing, loan servicers are not helping as many people as they would like.
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SNOHOMISH COUNTY - New Home Trends, a real estate research, and consulting firm estimates the number of unsold homes, and buildable lots amounts to a 3 year supply. Many builders are counting on the market continuing to improve long term.
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BELLINGHAM - Tenants were moved to a hotel when structural weakness was discovered in the Roth Building by a contractor.
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PUGET SOUND - Some homeowners wish they would have waited, even though they thought they were getting a good deal. Others are still grateful this area's real estate market is holding up better than most.
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WASHINGTON AP - For the fourth time in five weeks mortgage rates nationwide rose says Freddie Mac. Fears of an economic slowdown, and possible recession is also affecting mortage rates.
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KING COUNTY WA - RealtyTrac, and Irvine CA company reported February foreclosures nationwide rose 60% compared to a year earlier, and the number of properties in King County facing foreclosure is up 37%. A new report suggests the rate of foreclosures nationwide has not peaked yet. One method of tracking foreclosure rates is trustee sale notices, and in King County these were up over 100% from February last year.
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EVERETT - Budgets for the State of Washington, and local municipalities must include lowered revenues from the home sales excise tax. The rate differs from city to city, but sales are slumping, and so is the amount of tax dollars collected.
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Interest rates on 30 year mortgages dropped to 6.03% according to Freddie Mac. This is good news to home buyers that have recently seen mortage rates climbing.
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OLYMPIA - With the current pace of condo conversions, the Washington State Senate passed a bill slightly different than the house version to deal with problems renters face when having to relocate.
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SEATTLE - With the federal government considering options to help the ailing real estate markets nationwide, they chose to raise the cap on FHA backed conforming loans.
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SNOHOMISH COUNTY - Median prices fell in February as the number of listings increased by over 50% from last year. Buyers are cautious because of the national real estate slowdown they keep hearing about.
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SEATTLE - Increased traffic at open houses, increased sales in Feburary may mean the beginning of a comeback in the Seattle housing market.
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THURSTON COUNTRY WASHINGTON - With year-over-year home sales on Thurston County falling 24 percent in February, the median price for houses and condos combined rose nearly 4 percent. Inventories also rose 15 percent for the same period.
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LAKE TAPPS - A consortium of Eastside cities, and water districts buys Lake Tapps from PSE for 39 million.
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BELLINGHAM - With a new "quick permit" system in place, the city of Bellingham unveiled a new building permit process this week.
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WASHINGTON - Bernanke urged lenders on Tuesday to help distressed home owners by lowering the amounts of their loand, and calls for a "vigorous response". Even with relief efforts expected, the number of foreclosures, and late mortgage payments are expected to rise "for a while longer".
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