There is a lot of talk today about a pending real estate bubble-burst. Where you stand depends upon where you sit and real estate is either cooling, softening, stabilizing, bursting—or simply sagging. However it’s described, some data on home sales is causing angst among brokers and sellers. According to this Newsweek article “Selling in a Buyer’s Market” existing home sales (80 percent of the residential market) dropped for the fifth month in a row in January (they fell 2.8 percent from December 2005) according to the National Association of Realtors. And there is a lot of inventory of unsold homes out there—2.91 million—the largest supply in eight years. On the other hand, prices held steady in January—and in 2005, they actually rose 13 percent over 2004, says the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.

But is this true in our area? With the economy “finally taking a decisive turn for the better,” King County’s population, income and number of jobs are beginning to grow again, King County Executive Ron Sims declared in a statement accompanying the recent release of the county’s 2005 Annual Growth Report (AGR).

The 144-page report (available online at King County 2005 Annual Growth Report) contains statistical snapshots of the region’s growth and its impact on transportation, the economy, the environment and housing. One section features a one-page statistical profile on each of the county’s 39 cities, plus a profile of 10 “potential annexation areas” in unincorporated King County. Also included are numerous charts, graphs and maps

The “Flexible House” that we wrote about in an earlier post (“Free House – You Haul”), has finally found a home.

Faced with demolition, the Mount Baker house built in the future fantastic, “Jetsons”-esque spirit of the 1962 World’s Fair has been saved by a Gig Harbor couple.

The Seattle P.I. reports “I saw it on the news, I called the Realtor handling it and then went up and looked at it,” said Tom Shuler, a real estate agent. “I thought it would be a fun project.”

Dr. Kingman Ho, the owner of the property and, by default, the house that employs modular mobility inside a simple, 1,000- square-foot box design, sorted out the serious from the suspect in finding the Shulers. Ho bought the property with the intent to build a new, bigger house for his young family, so the flexible house had to go, one way or another.

Glad to hear this unique house was saved.

Dan Mirvish’s film “Open House” will be made into a Web-based java game. The film is a musical comedy about the common act of finding a dream home. “Open House” a Real Estate Musical. The “open house” of the film is not typical by any means: there’s a jewel thief, a couple who likes to have sex during these Sunday afternoon events, and of course a real estate agent who’s not really a real estate agent. The game version of “Open House” will be available to play in a Web browser or downloadable version. Slamdance Guerilla Gamemaker Competition winners Joe Bourrie and Patrick Hackett will design the game. The duo is known for creating Rumble Box, which won this year’s award for innovation in programming. Slam Dance

By the end of the film, the moral of the story is simply that “finding a home should be something to sing about.” (and in fact, that’s the catch phrase that is used to promote the film in marketing materials)
“Open House” benefits to real estate agents

Since open houses are already sport for some home voyeurs, we’re interested to see what kind of following this picks up.