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    <title>Sam DeBord - Seattle Waterfront Real Estate - SeattleHome.com</title>
    <link>http://activerain.com/blogs/sdebord</link>
    <description>Seattle Real Estate - Seattle homes, condos, waterfront, and houseboats.</description>
    <language>en-us</language>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3731714/-33-seattle-real-estate</guid>
      <title>&#25151;&#20135;&#28909;&#38144;&#8212;&#8212;&#35199;&#38597;&#22270;&#20197;&#20013;&#20301;33&#22825;&#30340;&#21806;&#25151;&#36895;&#24230;&#21517;&#21015;&#20840;&#32654;&#31532;&#21313;&#65281;Seattle Real Estate</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Occasionally we'll have our friend Jo Liu translate our Seattle real estate blog posts for our Chinese buyers:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;#26368;&amp;#26032;&amp;#35843;&amp;#26597;&amp;#25968;&amp;#25454;&amp;#26174;&amp;#31034;&amp;#65292;&amp;#20840;&amp;#32654;&amp;#25151;&amp;#20135;&amp;#38144;&amp;#21806;&amp;#36895;&amp;#24230;&amp;#27491;&amp;#20197;&amp;#21152;&amp;#36895;&amp;#24230;&amp;#39134;&amp;#21319;&amp;#12290;&amp;#12298;&amp;#32654;&amp;#22269;&amp;#26085;&amp;#25253;&amp;#12299;&amp;#65288;USA Today&amp;#65289;&amp;#21644;&amp;#12298;&amp;#25151;&amp;#20135;&amp;#32463;&amp;#32426;&amp;#20154;&amp;#12299;&amp;#65288;Realtor Magazine&amp;#65289;&amp;#31216;&amp;#65292;&amp;#22312;&amp;#32654;&amp;#22269;&amp;#22659;&amp;#20869;&amp;#25151;&amp;#24066;&amp;#26368;&amp;#28779;&amp;#28909;&amp;#30340;&amp;#21306;&amp;#22495;&amp;#65292;&amp;#24453;&amp;#21806;&amp;#25151;&amp;#20135;&amp;#28176;&amp;#24050;&amp;#20986;&amp;#29616;&amp;#20379;&amp;#19981;&amp;#24212;&amp;#27714;&amp;#30340;&amp;#23616;&amp;#38754;&amp;#12290;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Realtor.com&amp;#30340;&amp;#25151;&amp;#28304;&amp;#25968;&amp;#25454;&amp;#31995;&amp;#32479;&amp;#65288;MLS&amp;#65289;&amp;#20108;&amp;#26376;&amp;#20221;&amp;#26368;&amp;#26032;&amp;#21457;&amp;#24067;&amp;#30340;&amp;#25968;&amp;#23383;&amp;#34920;&amp;#26126;&amp;#65292;&amp;#38543;&amp;#30528;&amp;#20080;&amp;#23478;&amp;#30340;&amp;#38656;&amp;#27714;&amp;#22686;&amp;#22823;&amp;#65292;&amp;#25151;&amp;#20135;&amp;#38144;&amp;#21806;&amp;#36895;&amp;#24230;&amp;#19982;&amp;#26085;&amp;#20465;&amp;#22686;&amp;#65292;&amp;#20174;&amp;#32780;&amp;#21152;&amp;#21095;&amp;#20102;&amp;#25151;&amp;#28304;&amp;#30340;&amp;#30701;&amp;#32570;&amp;#12290;&amp;#20170;&amp;#24180;&amp;#20108;&amp;#26376;&amp;#20221;&amp;#25151;&amp;#20135;&amp;#30340;&amp;#38144;&amp;#21806;&amp;#36895;&amp;#24230;&amp;#36229;&amp;#36234;&amp;#20102;2007&amp;#24180;&amp;#20197;&amp;#21518;&amp;#20219;&amp;#20309;&amp;#19968;&amp;#24180;&amp;#30340;&amp;#21516;&amp;#26399;&amp;#27700;&amp;#24179;&amp;#12290;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&amp;#20170;&amp;#24180;&amp;#20108;&amp;#26376;&amp;#20221;&amp;#65292;&amp;#25151;&amp;#28304;&amp;#24453;&amp;#21806;&amp;#26102;&amp;#38388;&amp;#30340;&amp;#20013;&amp;#20301;&amp;#25968;&amp;#20026;98&amp;#22825;&amp;mdash;&amp;mdash;&amp;#32780;2011&amp;#24180;&amp;#21516;&amp;#26399;&amp;#27700;&amp;#24179;&amp;#20026;123&amp;#22825;&amp;#12290;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&amp;#22312;&amp;#26576;&amp;#20123;&amp;#24066;&amp;#22330;&amp;#21306;&amp;#22495;&amp;#65292;&amp;#25151;&amp;#20135;&amp;#24453;&amp;#21806;&amp;#30340;&amp;#26102;&amp;#38388;&amp;#29978;&amp;#33267;&amp;#30701;&amp;#20110;&amp;#19968;&amp;#20010;&amp;#26376;&amp;#12290;&amp;#26368;&amp;#24341;&amp;#20154;&amp;#30633;&amp;#30446;&amp;#30340;&amp;#24403;&amp;#23646;&amp;#21152;&amp;#21033;&amp;#31119;&amp;#21033;&amp;#20122;&amp;#24030;&amp;#12290;&amp;#20197;&amp;#21152;&amp;#24030;&amp;#22885;&amp;#20811;&amp;#20848;&amp;#24066;&amp;#65288;Oakland&amp;#65289;&amp;#20026;&amp;#20363;&amp;#12290;&amp;#26469;&amp;#33258; Realtor.com&amp;#30340;&amp;#25968;&amp;#25454;&amp;#26174;&amp;#31034;&amp;#65292;&amp;#20108;&amp;#26376;&amp;#20221;&amp;#22885;&amp;#20811;&amp;#20848;&amp;#25151;&amp;#20135;&amp;#22312;&amp;#24066;&amp;#22330;&amp;#24179;&amp;#22343;&amp;#20986;&amp;#29616;14&amp;#22825;&amp;#21363;&amp;#34987;&amp;#21806;&amp;#20986;&amp;#25110;&amp;#22240;&amp;#20854;&amp;#20182;&amp;#21407;&amp;#22240;&amp;#25764;&amp;#29260;&amp;#12290;&amp;#39318;&amp;#24220;&amp;#33832;&amp;#20811;&amp;#25289;&amp;#38376;&amp;#25176;&amp;#65288;Sacramento&amp;#65289;&amp;#30340;&amp;#25151;&amp;#20135;&amp;#30041;&amp;#24066; &amp;#26102;&amp;#38388;&amp;#20013;&amp;#20301;&amp;#25968;&amp;#26159;21&amp;#22825;&amp;#12290;&amp;#25151;&amp;#20135;&amp;#38144;&amp;#21806;&amp;#36895;&amp;#24230;&amp;#26368;&amp;#24555;&amp;#30340;&amp;#21069;&amp;#21313;&amp;#22823;&amp;#22478;&amp;#24066;&amp;#65292;&amp;#26377;&amp;#20843;&amp;#24231;&amp;#22312;&amp;#21152;&amp;#24030;&amp;#12290;&amp;#20854;&amp;#20182;&amp;#20004;&amp;#24231;&amp;#22478;&amp;#24066;&amp;#20998;&amp;#21035;&amp;#20026;&amp;#20013;&amp;#20301;&amp;#25968;28&amp;#22825;&amp;#30340;&amp;#20025;&amp;#20315;&amp;#65288;Denver&amp;#65289;&amp;#21644;33&amp;#22825;&amp;#30340;&amp;#35199;&amp;#38597;&amp;#22270;&amp;#12290;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&amp;#20854;&amp;#20182;&amp;#25151;&amp;#20135;&amp;#24453;&amp;#21806;&amp;#26102;&amp;#38388;&amp;#20302;&amp;#20110;&amp;#20004;&amp;#20010;&amp;#26376;&amp;#30340;&amp;#22478;&amp;#24066;&amp;#36824;&amp;#26377;&amp;#20964;&amp;#20976;&amp;#22478;&amp;#65288;Phoenix&amp;#65289;&amp;#12289;&amp;#39318;&amp;#37117;&amp;#21326;&amp;#30427;&amp;#39039;&amp;#21733;&amp;#20262;&amp;#27604;&amp;#20122;&amp;#29305;&amp;#21306;&amp;#65288;Washington D.C.&amp;#65289;&amp;#12289;&amp;#24213;&amp;#29305;&amp;#24459;&amp;#65288;Detroit&amp;#65289;&amp;#12289;&amp;#26126;&amp;#23612;&amp;#38463;&amp;#27874;&amp;#21033;&amp;#26031;&amp;#65288;Minneapolis&amp;#65289;&amp;#12289;&amp;#20122;&amp;#29305;&amp;#20848;&amp;#22823;&amp;#65288;Atlanta&amp;#65289;&amp;#12289;&amp;#36798;&amp;#25289;&amp;#26031;&amp;#65288;Dallas&amp;#65289;&amp;#12289;&amp;#22885;&amp;#20848;&amp;#22810;&amp;#65288;Orlando&amp;#65289;&amp;#21644;&amp;#21171;&amp;#24503;&amp;#20195;&amp;#23572;&amp;#22561;&amp;#65288;Fort Lauderdale&amp;#65289;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&amp;#36816;&amp;#33829;Realtor.com&amp;#30340;Move&amp;#20844;&amp;#21496;&amp;#21103;&amp;#24635;&amp;#35009;Curt Beardsley&amp;#22312;&amp;#19982;&amp;#12298;&amp;#32654;&amp;#22269;&amp;#26085;&amp;#25253;&amp;#12299;&amp;#65288;USA Today&amp;#65289;&amp;#30340;&amp;#23545;&amp;#35805;&amp;#20013;&amp;#25552;&amp;#21040;&amp;#65292;&amp;#20197;&amp;#30446;&amp;#21069;&amp;#25151;&amp;#24066;&amp;#30340;&amp;#39134;&amp;#28072;&amp;#31243;&amp;#24230;&amp;#26469;&amp;#30475;&amp;#65292;&amp;#20080;&amp;#21334;&amp;#21452;&amp;#26041;&amp;#37117;&amp;#19981;&amp;#22826;&amp;#21487;&amp;#33021;&amp;#30475;&amp;#21040;&amp;#25151;&amp;#20215;&amp;#19979;&amp;#36300;&amp;#30340;&amp;#24773;&amp;#20917;&amp;#20986;&amp;#29616;&amp;#12290;&amp;#32780;&amp;#19968;&amp;#25151;&amp;#22810;&amp;#27714;&amp;#30340;&amp;#24773;&amp;#20917;&amp;#21017;&amp;#20250;&amp;#36234;&amp;#26469;&amp;#36234;&amp;#22810;&amp;#12290;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;#32780;&amp;#36825;&amp;#23545;&amp;#35199;&amp;#38597;&amp;#22270;&amp;#30340;&amp;#21334;&amp;#23478;&amp;#20204;&amp;#32780;&amp;#35328;&amp;#65292;&amp;#25509;&amp;#19979;&amp;#26469;&amp;#23558;&amp;#26159;&amp;#19968;&amp;#20010;&amp;#38590;&amp;#36898;&amp;#30340;&amp;#26377;&amp;#21033;&amp;#26102;&amp;#26426;&amp;mdash;&amp;mdash;&amp;#20320;&amp;#23558;&amp;#20250;&amp;#38754;&amp;#23545;&amp;#22823;&amp;#37327;&amp;#28909;&amp;#20999;&amp;#30340;&amp;#20080;&amp;#23478;&amp;#21644;&amp;#23569;&amp;#20043;&amp;#21448;&amp;#23569;&amp;#30340;&amp;#31454;&amp;#20105;&amp;#23545;&amp;#25163;&amp;#12290;&amp;#24066;&amp;#22330;&amp;#19978;&amp;#38543;&amp;#22788;&amp;#37117;&amp;#26159;&amp;#25705;&amp;#25331;&amp;#25830;&amp;#25484;&amp;#30340;&amp;#20080;&amp;#23478;&amp;#21644;&amp;#25151;&amp;#20135;&amp;#20195;&amp;#29702;&amp;#65292;&amp;#32728;&amp;#39318;&amp;#20197;&amp;#30460;&amp;#20320;&amp;#30340;&amp;#25151;&amp;#23376;&amp;#25346;&amp;#29260;&amp;#20986;&amp;#21806;&amp;#65281;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;#65288;&amp;#24863;&amp;#35874;&amp;#20320;&amp;#30340;&amp;#20851;&amp;#27880;&amp;#65281;&amp;#22914;&amp;#26524;&amp;#20320;&amp;#26377;&amp;#20852;&amp;#36259;&amp;#20102;&amp;#35299;&amp;#26356;&amp;#22810;&amp;#35199;&amp;#38597;&amp;#22270;&amp;#25151;&amp;#24066;&amp;#36164;&amp;#35759;&amp;#21450;&amp;#25151;&amp;#22320;&amp;#20135;&amp;#25237;&amp;#36164;&amp;#30456;&amp;#20851;&amp;#20449;&amp;#24687;&amp;#65292;&amp;#27426;&amp;#36814;&amp;#32487;&amp;#32493;&amp;#20851;&amp;#27880;&amp;#25105;&amp;#20204;&amp;#30340;&amp;#21338;&amp;#23458;/&amp;#24494;&amp;#21338;)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="agent_signature"&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&amp;copy;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style=""&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style=""&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style=""&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style=""&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;206.552.8820&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://twitter.com/share" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="twitter-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-twitter.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;t=SeattleHome.come%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="facebook-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-fb.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;amp;url=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;title=SeattleHome.com%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog&amp;amp;summary=Greater%20Seattle%20Real%20Estate%20News" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="LinkedIn Seattle Homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-linkedin.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/blog/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="rss-feed-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-rss-feed.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;Current Listings:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Homes For Sale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlecondo.com/"&gt;Condos&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes"&gt;Waterfront&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/luxury-homes"&gt;Luxury Homes&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bank-owned-homes"&gt;Bank-Owned&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img title="Seattle Realtors" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/9/4/1/ar135864031914956.jpg" height="145" alt="SeattleHome.com agents, Realtors" width="600"&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sam DeBord -  Seattle Real Estate Broker (SeattleHome.com -Coldwell Banker Danforth)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Sun, 19 May 2013 07:42:18 -0700</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3731714/-33-seattle-real-estate</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3730162/kirkland-real-estate-sales-devouring-active-listing-inventory-of-homes-for-sale</guid>
      <title>Kirkland Real Estate Sales Devouring Active Listing Inventory of Homes For Sale</title>
      <description>&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Home sales in Kirkland are continuing to outpace past years, as the number of sold homes are nearly reaching the number of active listing each month. &amp;nbsp;This trend of decreasing real estate inventory has reached a critical point in Kirkland, where home sellers are often able to sell within one week, and with multiple offers, as buyer demand seems to continue to grow with barely enough new listing support to keep up.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Kirkland saw 154 home sales in April, a 14 percent increase over March. &amp;nbsp;Even more strikingly, April's sales were 31 percent higher than at the same time last year, when just 118 homes were sold.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Kirkland Active Real Estate Listings vs. Sold Homes, Monthly, 2010-Present&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;img title="kirkland-active-to-sold" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1816" src="http://www.seattlehomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/kirkland-active-to-sold.jpg" height="476" alt="Kirkland Real Estate Listings" width="522"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;While we are still seeing a healthy number of new listings coming on the market each month in Kirkland, the rate of sales is eating up that inventory just as fast as it's listed. &amp;nbsp;The majority of listings are selling within the first two weeks on the market. &amp;nbsp;Even with new active listings matching the rates of 2011 and 2012, the short marketing time of these new listings has dropped the monthly inventory in Kirkland down to about 1.5 months. &amp;nbsp;A healthy market is usually said to contain 5 or 6 months' inventory, balancing buyers and sellers.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Clearly this signals a strong shift to a sellers' market in Kirkland, but the lack of inventory actually takes it to an extremely out-of-balance market. &amp;nbsp;As total home sales continue to inch closer to total active listings, we reach a point where nearly the entire real estate inventory in Kirkland is turning over every month. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;This isn't to say that an "extreme" seller's market is a bad thing for Kirkland. &amp;nbsp;We've seen some extremely negative times in the local real estate market in recent years. &amp;nbsp;This lack of inventory is causing what most homeowners have been hoping for: &amp;nbsp;significant home price increases. &amp;nbsp;Home prices have risen in double digit percentages across the Eastside and Seattle in the past year. &amp;nbsp;Projections for this year are the same. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;As interest rates continue to affect home buyers' buying power in a very significant way, we're likely to see fierce competition for homes as we continue through 2013. &amp;nbsp;Kirkland homeowners would be wise to take this into account when analyzing whether or not this is the time to list their homes for sale. &amp;nbsp;Mortgage interest rates, and their effect on buyers' ability to purchase a home in a higher price range, may be the most significant factor in how long this upward trend lasts.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;See&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.seattlehome.com/kirkland-homes/"&gt;today's new listings in Kirkland&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;See&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.seattlehome.com/todays-newest-listings-seattle-homes-for-sale/"&gt;today's new listings Seattle&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="agent_signature"&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&amp;copy;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style=""&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style=""&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style=""&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style=""&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;206.552.8820&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://twitter.com/share" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="twitter-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-twitter.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;t=SeattleHome.come%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="facebook-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-fb.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;amp;url=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;title=SeattleHome.com%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog&amp;amp;summary=Greater%20Seattle%20Real%20Estate%20News" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="LinkedIn Seattle Homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-linkedin.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/blog/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="rss-feed-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-rss-feed.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;Current Listings:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Homes For Sale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlecondo.com/"&gt;Condos&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes"&gt;Waterfront&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/luxury-homes"&gt;Luxury Homes&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bank-owned-homes"&gt;Bank-Owned&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img title="Seattle Realtors" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/9/4/1/ar135864031914956.jpg" height="145" alt="SeattleHome.com agents, Realtors" width="600"&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sam DeBord -  Seattle Real Estate Broker (SeattleHome.com -Coldwell Banker Danforth)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2013 09:28:19 -0700</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3730162/kirkland-real-estate-sales-devouring-active-listing-inventory-of-homes-for-sale</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3728975/bellevue-pending-real-estate-sales-hit-5-yr-high</guid>
      <title>Bellevue Pending Real Estate Sales Hit 5-Yr High</title>
      <description>&lt;p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Pending sales of homes in Bellevue hit a five year high in April, creating a scenario where we're likely to see record-breaking real estate sales throughout 2013. &amp;nbsp;Bellevue had 233 house and condo listings go under contract during the month of April, up from 184 in the previous month. &amp;nbsp;The 26 percent increase is a larger than typical boost for this time of the year, although real estate sales naturally rise through late spring and summer.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-325" src="http://bellevuehomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/bellevue-pending-real-estate-listings.jpg" height="395" alt="Bellevue pending real estate listings" width="531"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;The total number of pending sales is a 23 percent increase over the same month last year, when just 189 home purchase contracts were signed in Bellevue. &amp;nbsp;Home sales over the past five years have typically peaked between May and August, so the early pace of April sales points to a summer that is likely to continue to outpace years past. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Inventory continues to be scarce in Bellevue, with one to two months of available properties, but&amp;nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.seattlehome.com/blog/bellevue-homes-plenty-new-listings-short-time-market/"&gt;the rate of new lsitings coming on the market seems to be keeping pace with the past few years&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. &amp;nbsp;As the amount of time on the market continues to decrease, on average, home buyers in Bellevue continue to use more aggressive strategies to acquire listings as soon as they come available. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Sales volumes are up, median prices are rising, inventory continues to shrink, and homes in Bellevue are selling increasingly faster. &amp;nbsp;If it weren't for the 20 to 30 percent loss that most of our markets took in the past five or six years, you might be tempted to call this the start of a bubble. &amp;nbsp;In reality, the Bellevue market is still far from gaining back the losses since the peak of 2007. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Today, we're just seeing a reaction to the over-correction that happened at the bottom of the pricing cycle. &amp;nbsp;The economy in Bellevue is thriving, and buyers are releasing pent-up demand. &amp;nbsp;Bellevue home prices will likely rise throughout 2013 if current economic conditions continue.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;See&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.seattlehome.com/todays-newest-listings-seattle-homes-for-sale/"&gt;today's new listings Seattle&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;copy;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Board of Directors, Washington Association of Realtors&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle"&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank"&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank"&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank"&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author"&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="agent_signature"&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&amp;copy;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style=""&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style=""&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style=""&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style=""&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;206.552.8820&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://twitter.com/share" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="twitter-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-twitter.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;t=SeattleHome.come%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="facebook-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-fb.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;amp;url=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;title=SeattleHome.com%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog&amp;amp;summary=Greater%20Seattle%20Real%20Estate%20News" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="LinkedIn Seattle Homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-linkedin.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/blog/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="rss-feed-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-rss-feed.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;Current Listings:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Homes For Sale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlecondo.com/"&gt;Condos&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes"&gt;Waterfront&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/luxury-homes"&gt;Luxury Homes&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bank-owned-homes"&gt;Bank-Owned&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img title="Seattle Realtors" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/9/4/1/ar135864031914956.jpg" height="145" alt="SeattleHome.com agents, Realtors" width="600"&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sam DeBord -  Seattle Real Estate Broker (SeattleHome.com -Coldwell Banker Danforth)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2013 08:33:02 -0700</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3728975/bellevue-pending-real-estate-sales-hit-5-yr-high</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3728222/pending-seattle-real-estate-sales-rise-10-7-low-inventory-can-t-squelch-buyer-demand</guid>
      <title>Pending Seattle Real Estate Sales Rise 10.7%: Low Inventory Can't Squelch Buyer Demand</title>
      <description>&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;The relative lack of homes available for sale in the market in Seattle at any given time has not been able to quelch home buyer's thirst to purchase a house. &amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.seattlehome.com/blog/all-time-low-seattle-real-estate-inventory-drops-1-month/"&gt;While we're sitting at around 1.5 months of inventory&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;right now, the lowest we've seen in years, the number of homes being sold is still increasing.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Pending residential home sales in Seattle rose 10.7 percent in April, after a March showing which had an even stronger 27 percent increase. &amp;nbsp;The 833 pending residential sales for April was the highest total we've seen in the past two years.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pending Homes Sales in Seattle, Jan 2011-April 2013&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;img title="pending-seattle-listings" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1811" src="http://www.seattlehomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/pending-seattle-listings.jpg" height="396" alt="Seattle pending home sales" width="497"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;As I stated previously, the number of new listings coming on the market in Seattle is actually&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.seattlehome.com/blog/no-homes-sale-seattle-new-listings-equal-2012-2011-totals/"&gt;the same as it was in previous years&lt;/a&gt;. &amp;nbsp;The speed with which those homes are selling has created the drop in total active listings during any one month.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;We'd expect to see that lack of inventory to slow the total pending sales down somewhat, but instead we're seeing an decrease in marketing time. &amp;nbsp;Buyers have just decided that they'll purchase more quickly, instead of waiting for broader inventory.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;At some point, those factors can't continue in their current directions. &amp;nbsp;We'll have to wait and see which bends first.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;See&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.seattlehome.com/todays-newest-listings-seattle-homes-for-sale/"&gt;today's new listings Seattle&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;copy;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Board of Directors, Washington Association of Realtors&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle"&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank"&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank"&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank"&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author"&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="agent_signature"&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&amp;copy;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style=""&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style=""&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style=""&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style=""&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;206.552.8820&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://twitter.com/share" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="twitter-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-twitter.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;t=SeattleHome.come%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="facebook-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-fb.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;amp;url=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;title=SeattleHome.com%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog&amp;amp;summary=Greater%20Seattle%20Real%20Estate%20News" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="LinkedIn Seattle Homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-linkedin.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/blog/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="rss-feed-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-rss-feed.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;Current Listings:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Homes For Sale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlecondo.com/"&gt;Condos&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes"&gt;Waterfront&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/luxury-homes"&gt;Luxury Homes&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bank-owned-homes"&gt;Bank-Owned&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img title="Seattle Realtors" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/9/4/1/ar135864031914956.jpg" height="145" alt="SeattleHome.com agents, Realtors" width="600"&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sam DeBord -  Seattle Real Estate Broker (SeattleHome.com -Coldwell Banker Danforth)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 May 2013 13:34:07 -0700</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3728222/pending-seattle-real-estate-sales-rise-10-7-low-inventory-can-t-squelch-buyer-demand</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3725635/america-s-most-bike-friendly-cities-seattle-7</guid>
      <title>America's Most Bike-Friendly Cities: Seattle #7</title>
      <description>&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;The folks at Walkscore are always dreaming up a new way to measure pedestrian friendliness in cities across the country. &amp;nbsp;Their latest effort is measuring a city's bike friendlienss, with a&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://blog.walkscore.com/2013/05/bike-score-expands-to-100-cities/" target="_blank"&gt;Bike Score&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;The scoring system is based on the prevalence of bike lanes, hills, commute options, and the number of bicyclists in the area, among other things. &amp;nbsp;Some things, like a particularly hilly, difficult terrain (as in San Francisco) can be overcome with a very popular, social bike scene that makes the city a more attractive candidate for a bicycle enthusiast relocating to the area. &amp;nbsp;Ergo, San Francisco's spot at the top of the list.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Seattle came in at 7th place, a strong showing for a city that most would think discourages biking with its rainy weather. &amp;nbsp;People here just don't seem to care. &amp;nbsp;The availability of bike lanes, destinations, and other bikers overcome the slightly hilly terrain. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;img title="bike-score" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1807" src="http://www.seattlehomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/bike-score.jpg" height="587" alt="Seattle Bike Friendly Score" width="644"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Top 10 Most Bikeable Large U.S. Cities&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;1. Portland (Bike Score: 70.3)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;2. San Francisco (Bike Score: 70.0)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;3. Denver (Bike Score: 69.5)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;4. Philadelphia (Bike Score: 68.4)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;5. Boston (Bike Score: 67.8)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;6. Washington D.C. (Bike Score: 65.3)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;7. Seattle (Bike Score: 64.1)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;8. Tucson (Bike Score: 64.1)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;9. New York (Bike Score: 62.3)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;10. Chicago (Bike Score: 61.5)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;See&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.seattlehome.com/todays-newest-listings-seattle-homes-for-sale/"&gt;today's new listings Seattle&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="agent_signature"&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&amp;copy;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style=""&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style=""&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style=""&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style=""&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;206.552.8820&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://twitter.com/share" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="twitter-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-twitter.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;t=SeattleHome.come%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="facebook-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-fb.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;amp;url=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;title=SeattleHome.com%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog&amp;amp;summary=Greater%20Seattle%20Real%20Estate%20News" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="LinkedIn Seattle Homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-linkedin.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/blog/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="rss-feed-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-rss-feed.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;Current Listings:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Homes For Sale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlecondo.com/"&gt;Condos&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes"&gt;Waterfront&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/luxury-homes"&gt;Luxury Homes&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bank-owned-homes"&gt;Bank-Owned&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img title="Seattle Realtors" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/9/4/1/ar135864031914956.jpg" height="145" alt="SeattleHome.com agents, Realtors" width="600"&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sam DeBord -  Seattle Real Estate Broker (SeattleHome.com -Coldwell Banker Danforth)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Mon, 13 May 2013 12:58:44 -0700</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3725635/america-s-most-bike-friendly-cities-seattle-7</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3723679/bellevue-real-estate-sales-nearly-swallow-the-market</guid>
      <title>Bellevue Real Estate Sales Nearly Swallow The Market</title>
      <description>&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;During fast-paced changes in a real estate market, we get to see statistics that look a bit strange sometimes. &amp;nbsp;The speed with which Bellevue homes are being sold this year has created some numbers that we haven't seen in a long time.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Homes are selling at a breakneck pace in Bellevue, and in the greater Seattle market. &amp;nbsp;Nearly half of all homes are sold within two weeks on the market. &amp;nbsp;While there are still plenty of new listings coming active each month, the number of recent sales, and their speed, nearly swallowed up the entire active inventory in recent months:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bellevue Real Estate: Active Listings For Sale vs. Homes Sold, By Month&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;img title="bellevue-active-to-sold" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1801" src="http://www.seattlehomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/bellevue-active-to-sold.jpg" height="475" alt="" width="572"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;The graph above shows an interesting point at the beginning of 2013, which has only changed slightly throughout the year so far. &amp;nbsp;Home buyers had scooped up nearly every home on the market, and where the two lines meet, we saw a point where the market was eating up every home available, every month.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;The trend line moving forward continues to show that we're barely keeping up with buyer demand. &amp;nbsp;Truly, we're not keeping up at all, as there are lots of home buyers eagerly waiting for the right home to be listed. &amp;nbsp;There is a lot of pent-up frustration and demand for more listings. &amp;nbsp;In terms of pure statistics, though, we're practically selling every home that comes on the market, every month.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;The following graph shows just that. &amp;nbsp;Months of Inventory is a stat we use to show how long it would take to sell every home currently on the market, given how many homes are selling each month. &amp;nbsp;This is basically the Absorption Rate for the market, or how fast a buyer market can absorb the number of seller listings available.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;As you can see, months of inventory in Bellevue has dropped to just one month, and has been under two for quite some time.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bellevue Real Estate, Months of Inventory&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;img title="bellevue-months-of-inventory" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1802" src="http://www.seattlehomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/bellevue-months-of-inventory.jpg" height="475" alt="Bellevue real estate" width="561"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;In a healthy real estate market, we usually see 5-6 months of inventory. &amp;nbsp;That represents a balance of buyers to sellers. &amp;nbsp;The current market is nothing less than an extremely strong sellers' market.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;The takeaway is that the market is clearly in need of more listings. &amp;nbsp;Sellers are beginning to respond, but not nearly quickly enough to keep up with buyer demand. &amp;nbsp;The lack of competitive listings is putting home sellers in a stronger negotiating position. &amp;nbsp;Buyers are willing to pay a premium to purchase a home quickly.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Sellers should also be considering home buyers' potential buying power with interest rates being so low today. &amp;nbsp;Waiting for prices to rise can benefit the seller in one way, but if interest rates rise from 4 percent to 5 percent, home buyers' buying power is diminished by up to 25%. &amp;nbsp;That significantly reduces the number of potential buyers who are able to purchase a home at a certain price.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Inventory is down, prices are headed up, and buyers are circling. &amp;nbsp;As some of the unique statistics we're seeing illustrate, we're in a quickly changing market, and &amp;nbsp;Bellevue real estate appears to be headed for a very strong 2013.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;See&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://bellevuehomes.com"&gt;today's new listings in Bellevue.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;See&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.seattlehome.com/todays-newest-listings-seattle-homes-for-sale/"&gt;today's new listings Seattle&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Source: NWMLS - The Northwest Multiple Listing Service did not compile or publish this information.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;copy;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Board of Directors, Washington Association of Realtors&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle"&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank"&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank"&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank"&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author"&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="agent_signature"&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&amp;copy;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style=""&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style=""&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style=""&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style=""&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;206.552.8820&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://twitter.com/share" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="twitter-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-twitter.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;t=SeattleHome.come%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="facebook-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-fb.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;amp;url=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;title=SeattleHome.com%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog&amp;amp;summary=Greater%20Seattle%20Real%20Estate%20News" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="LinkedIn Seattle Homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-linkedin.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/blog/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="rss-feed-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-rss-feed.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;Current Listings:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Homes For Sale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlecondo.com/"&gt;Condos&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes"&gt;Waterfront&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/luxury-homes"&gt;Luxury Homes&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bank-owned-homes"&gt;Bank-Owned&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img title="Seattle Realtors" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/9/4/1/ar135864031914956.jpg" height="145" alt="SeattleHome.com agents, Realtors" width="600"&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sam DeBord -  Seattle Real Estate Broker (SeattleHome.com -Coldwell Banker Danforth)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Sat, 11 May 2013 08:07:24 -0700</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3723679/bellevue-real-estate-sales-nearly-swallow-the-market</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3723351/seattle-s-monthly-real-estate-sales-are-creeping-up-on-active-listings</guid>
      <title>Seattle's Monthly Real Estate Sales Are Creeping Up on Active Listings</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;It has been interesting to watch the number of active listings in the Seattle real estate market dwindle over the past couple of years. &amp;nbsp;We've talked a lot about what having only 1 or 2 month's inventory means for home buyers. &amp;nbsp;Though there are plenty of new listings coming on the market every week, they're just selling faster.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This visual gives a good idea of how tight our market is getting:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Active Listings vs. Total Sales, Seattle&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/2/6/4/4/ar136822711744624.JPG" height="472" alt="Seattle Solds and Actives" width="569"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The upper line represents the number of homes that were available on the MLS since January of 2011. &amp;nbsp;The lower line represents the number of homes sold each month.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;As you can see, the number of sales is creeping up on the active listings. &amp;nbsp;The margin is so slim right now that there are only slightly more homes available each month than there are sales. &amp;nbsp;That means we have to replace at least 75 percent of the market with new listings, each month, or we won't be able to keep up with buyer demand.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It's a strange time in the Seattle real estate market. &amp;nbsp;Buyers are clamoring for listings. &amp;nbsp;Sellers are sort of listening, but not particularly motivated. &amp;nbsp;Remember all those times in your life that you thought back and wished you had done something more proactive when the timing was right? &amp;nbsp;Seattle home sellers, this is going to be one of those times.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Get your house on the market while the competition is fierce, the pickings are slim, and low interest rates allow a lot more buyers to afford your home.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;See&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.seattlehome.com/todays-newest-listings-seattle-homes-for-sale/"&gt;today's new listings in Bellevue and Seattle&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Source: NWMLS - The Northwest Multiple Listing Service did not compile or publish this information.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;copy;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Board of Directors, Washington Association of Realtors&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle"&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank"&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank"&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank"&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author"&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="agent_signature"&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&amp;copy;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style=""&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style=""&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style=""&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style=""&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;206.552.8820&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://twitter.com/share" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="twitter-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-twitter.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;t=SeattleHome.come%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="facebook-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-fb.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;amp;url=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;title=SeattleHome.com%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog&amp;amp;summary=Greater%20Seattle%20Real%20Estate%20News" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="LinkedIn Seattle Homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-linkedin.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/blog/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="rss-feed-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-rss-feed.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;Current Listings:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Homes For Sale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlecondo.com/"&gt;Condos&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes"&gt;Waterfront&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/luxury-homes"&gt;Luxury Homes&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bank-owned-homes"&gt;Bank-Owned&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img title="Seattle Realtors" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/9/4/1/ar135864031914956.jpg" height="145" alt="SeattleHome.com agents, Realtors" width="600"&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sam DeBord -  Seattle Real Estate Broker (SeattleHome.com -Coldwell Banker Danforth)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2013 16:06:28 -0700</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3723351/seattle-s-monthly-real-estate-sales-are-creeping-up-on-active-listings</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3718048/no-homes-for-sale-in-seattle-new-listings-equal-2012-2011-totals</guid>
      <title>No Homes For Sale in Seattle? New Listings Equal 2012, 2011 Totals</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Home buyers who are searching for a house or condo in Seattle often lament "There's nothing for sale." &amp;nbsp;It's a statement repeated by many agents as well. &amp;nbsp;Frankly, most of the reports we write about the scarcity of inventory exacerbate the notion that no new listings are coming on the market.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In reality, there are plenty of homes for sale every week. &amp;nbsp;There are just as many new homes coming on the market today as there were two years ago. &amp;nbsp;There are actually more than last year.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/3/7/3/5/ar13678563953731.JPG" height="488" alt="Seattle new listings real estate" width="574"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The number of new listings for sale seems to remain fairly constant. &amp;nbsp;In Seattle, we peak at around 900 new listings per month in Seattle in the early summer, and we hit bottom in December at around 300 listing per month. &amp;nbsp; So if there are just as many new listings available today as there were the last couple of years, why doesn't it feel that way?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The difference in today's market is how quickly homes sell. &amp;nbsp;One out of four homes in Seattle is sold within 7 days of listing. &amp;nbsp;The speed with which Seattle houses and condos are selling can frustrate a buyer who is moderately motivated to buy. &amp;nbsp;The casual weekend browser, or the open house visitor, is rarely moving quickly enough in this market to buy a home, as the aggressive buyers are writing offers and snatching them up as soon as they're listed.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This is what creates the "1 month of inventory" and "housing inventory drops again" headlines. &amp;nbsp;At any point in time, there may be just as many new listings coming on the market as in previous years. &amp;nbsp;They're selling so quickly, however, that the inventory of lagging, long-term marketed homes is significantly lower.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The takeaway for the frustrated home buyer should be that a change of mindset may be necessary. &amp;nbsp;When losing out on a home to another buyer, there will still be another listing tomorrow, as there was always in years past. &amp;nbsp;This year, though, it's a requirement that buyers have an aggressive home buying strategy. &amp;nbsp;Go visit the new listings the day they come on the market, and make a confident offer as soon as the decision has been made that this is the right home.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;See&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.seattlehome.com/todays-newest-listings-seattle-homes-for-sale/"&gt;today's new listings in Seattle&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Source: NWMLS - The Northwest Multiple Listing Service did not compile or publish this information.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;copy;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Board of Directors, Washington Association of Realtors&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle"&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank"&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank"&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank"&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author"&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="agent_signature"&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&amp;copy;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style=""&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style=""&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style=""&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style=""&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;206.552.8820&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://twitter.com/share" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="twitter-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-twitter.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;t=SeattleHome.come%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="facebook-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-fb.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;amp;url=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;title=SeattleHome.com%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog&amp;amp;summary=Greater%20Seattle%20Real%20Estate%20News" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="LinkedIn Seattle Homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-linkedin.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/blog/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="rss-feed-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-rss-feed.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;Current Listings:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Homes For Sale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlecondo.com/"&gt;Condos&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes"&gt;Waterfront&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/luxury-homes"&gt;Luxury Homes&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bank-owned-homes"&gt;Bank-Owned&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img title="Seattle Realtors" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/9/4/1/ar135864031914956.jpg" height="145" alt="SeattleHome.com agents, Realtors" width="600"&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sam DeBord -  Seattle Real Estate Broker (SeattleHome.com -Coldwell Banker Danforth)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Mon, 06 May 2013 09:08:15 -0700</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3718048/no-homes-for-sale-in-seattle-new-listings-equal-2012-2011-totals</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3716388/bellevue-home-prices-up-16-in-1-year</guid>
      <title>Bellevue Home Prices Up 16% In 1 Year</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;The scarce inventory of&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://bellevuehomes.com"&gt;Bellevue homes for sale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;is having a significant effect on the price of houses locally. Home prices in Bellevue have been up-and-down over the past year, but the median home price hit a peak this April.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/3/1/7/3/ar136767883737138.JPG" height="483" alt="Bellevue home prices" width="576"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The median sale price of a house in Bellevue for April was $660,000, up from a median of $569,000 one year ago. &amp;nbsp;That increase of 16 percent is one of the biggest we're seeing in the greater Seattle market.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;While the overall trend isn't particularly striking, the seasonal effect should be noted. &amp;nbsp;We'll usually see a drop in sales and median prices over the winter, while those numbers spike in spring and summer. &amp;nbsp;We did see a bit of the drop in Bellevue over the winter, but it was slight. &amp;nbsp;In the meantime, the spring numbers mark what we've expected.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Sales have been brisk for around three months now, and those homes that went under contract as the market in Bellevue heated up are just coming to closing. &amp;nbsp;It's very likely that those homes in Bellevue that are under contract this month, will have even higher medians as they come to closing in the next month or two.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bellevue Sold Homes, Median Sale Price&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="0"&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataHeader"&gt;Month &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Sale Price, Median &amp;nbsp;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataRow statsDataRowOdd"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;May 2012&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;$569,000&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataRow statsDataRowEven"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Jun 2012&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;$634,000&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataRow statsDataRowOdd"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Jul 2012&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;$600,000&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataRow statsDataRowEven"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Aug 2012&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;$616,940&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataRow statsDataRowOdd"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Sep 2012&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;$575,000&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataRow statsDataRowEven"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Oct 2012&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;$625,475&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataRow statsDataRowOdd"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Nov 2012&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;$570,000&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataRow statsDataRowEven"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Dec 2012&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;$552,500&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataRow statsDataRowOdd"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Jan 2013&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;$581,250&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataRow statsDataRowEven"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Feb 2013&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;$597,475&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataRow statsDataRowOdd"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Mar 2013&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;$582,000&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataRow statsDataRowEven"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Apr 2013&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;$660,000&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Source: &amp;nbsp;NWMLS database. &amp;nbsp;This information was not compiled or published by the Northwest Multiple Listing Services.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sam DeBord: Managing Broker,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com"&gt;Coldwell Banker Danforth of Greater Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;State Director, Washington Association of Realtors | Member, Seattle King County Realtors&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;copy;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;: &amp;nbsp;Greater Seattle's #1 Site For Homes | Every Listing From Every Company&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank"&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank"&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank"&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author"&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com | 206.552.8820&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="agent_signature"&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&amp;copy;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style=""&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style=""&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style=""&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style=""&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;206.552.8820&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://twitter.com/share" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="twitter-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-twitter.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;t=SeattleHome.come%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="facebook-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-fb.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;amp;url=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;title=SeattleHome.com%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog&amp;amp;summary=Greater%20Seattle%20Real%20Estate%20News" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="LinkedIn Seattle Homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-linkedin.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/blog/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="rss-feed-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-rss-feed.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;Current Listings:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Homes For Sale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlecondo.com/"&gt;Condos&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes"&gt;Waterfront&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/luxury-homes"&gt;Luxury Homes&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bank-owned-homes"&gt;Bank-Owned&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img title="Seattle Realtors" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/9/4/1/ar135864031914956.jpg" height="145" alt="SeattleHome.com agents, Realtors" width="600"&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sam DeBord -  Seattle Real Estate Broker (SeattleHome.com -Coldwell Banker Danforth)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Sat, 04 May 2013 07:51:19 -0700</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3716388/bellevue-home-prices-up-16-in-1-year</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3707921/lake-washington-real-estate-just-3-6-of-waterfront-homes-available-for-sale</guid>
      <title>Lake Washington Real Estate:  Just 3.6% of Waterfront Homes Available For Sale</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;The inventory of homes for sale recently on Lake Washington has been lower than we've seen in years. &amp;nbsp;While there have been up to 200 homes available during busier selling seasons, we're down to just 74 homes on the lake listed for sale currently. &amp;nbsp;That number is under where we were one year ago today, at 83 homes available for sale.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;With over 2,000 houses on Lake Washington, the current crop of homes for sale represents just 3 or 4 of every 100 waterfront homes being available for sale.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Under $2,000,000:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/5/2/6/2/7/ar136701151372625.JPG" height="624" alt="lake washington waterfront real estate homes" width="632" style="border: 0; margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The&amp;nbsp;category of waterfront homes under $2 million is even more significantly strained. &amp;nbsp;Just 14 homes are listed in this range, considered to be the "affordable" waterfront locations on Lake Washington. &amp;nbsp;At 0.7 percent of the lake's homes available in this price category, the pickings are slim and competition is fierce.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Currently available for sale are:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.seattlehome.com/bellevue-homes/bellevue-waterfront-homes/"&gt;9 waterfront homes in Bellevue&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.seattlehome.com/hunts-point-homes/hunts-point-waterfront-homes/"&gt;8 waterf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.seattlehome.com/hunts-point-homes/hunts-point-waterfront-homes/"&gt;ront homes in Hunts Point&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.seattlehome.com/kenmore-homes/kenmore-waterfront-homes/"&gt;1 waterfront homes in Kenmore&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.seattlehome.com/kirkland-homes/kirkland-waterfront-homes/"&gt;10 waterfront homes in Kirkland&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.seattlehome.com/lake-forest-park-homes/lake-forest-park-waterfront-homes/"&gt;3 waterfront homes in Lake Forest Park&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.seattlehome.com/medina-homes/medina-waterfront-homes/"&gt;4 waterfront homes in Medina&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.seattlehome.com/mercer-island-homes/mercer-island-waterfront-homes/"&gt;28 waterfront homes in Mercer Island&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.seattlehome.com/renton-homes/renton-waterfront-homes/"&gt;2 waterfront homes in Renton/Kennydale/Newcastle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes-for-sale/"&gt;10 waterfront homes in Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.seattlehome.com/yarrow-point-homes/yarrow-point-waterfront-homes/"&gt;1 waterfront home in Yarrow Point&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Source: &amp;nbsp;NWMLS database. &amp;nbsp;This information was not compiled or published by the Northwest Multiple Listing Services.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;copy;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Board of Directors, Washington Association of Realtors&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle"&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank"&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank"&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank"&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author"&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="agent_signature"&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&amp;copy;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style=""&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style=""&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style=""&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style=""&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;206.552.8820&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://twitter.com/share" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="twitter-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-twitter.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;t=SeattleHome.come%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="facebook-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-fb.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;amp;url=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;title=SeattleHome.com%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog&amp;amp;summary=Greater%20Seattle%20Real%20Estate%20News" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="LinkedIn Seattle Homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-linkedin.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/blog/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="rss-feed-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-rss-feed.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;Current Listings:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Homes For Sale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlecondo.com/"&gt;Condos&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes"&gt;Waterfront&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/luxury-homes"&gt;Luxury Homes&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bank-owned-homes"&gt;Bank-Owned&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img title="Seattle Realtors" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/9/4/1/ar135864031914956.jpg" height="145" alt="SeattleHome.com agents, Realtors" width="600"&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sam DeBord -  Seattle Real Estate Broker (SeattleHome.com -Coldwell Banker Danforth)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:23:12 -0700</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3707921/lake-washington-real-estate-just-3-6-of-waterfront-homes-available-for-sale</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3704821/seattle-waterfront-real-estate-inventory-drops-to-5-months</guid>
      <title>Seattle Waterfront Real Estate Inventory Drops To 5 Months</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;We've been talking a lot about the lack of inventory in the Greater Seattle real estate market. &amp;nbsp;The shrinking number of homes available for sale has not only affected the overall market, but it seems to be having a significant effect on the waterfront inventory as well.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;"Months of Inventory" is a term we use that basically captures the absorption rate in the market: &amp;nbsp;based on how many homes are selling each month, how many months would it take for the current market of active listings to be sold? &amp;nbsp;While we had up to 19 months of inventory just a couple of years ago, we're now seeing just five months of waterfront inventory. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This basically puts us back into a sellers' market, which is a nice change of pace for the waterfront/luxury market. &amp;nbsp;The upswing in sales at all price levels seems to be bolstering listing prices for this market segment.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;King County Waterfront Homes - Real Estate Listings, Months of Inventory, Past 12 Months:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/7/6/5/1/ar136681130015676.JPG" height="598" alt="Seattle waterfront real estate inventory" width="588" style="border: 0; margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="0"&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataHeader statsDataHeader0"&gt;&amp;nbsp;Months of Inventory&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataHeader statsDataHeader1"&gt;Month201120122013&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataRow statsDataRowOdd"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Jan&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;15&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;15&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;7&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataRow statsDataRowEven"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Feb&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;19&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;9&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;7&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataRow statsDataRowOdd"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Mar&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;10&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;10&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;5&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataRow statsDataRowEven"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Apr&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;10&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;8&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataRow statsDataRowOdd"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;May&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;14&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;9&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataRow statsDataRowEven"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Jun&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;9&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;6&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataRow statsDataRowOdd"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Jul&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;10&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;8&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataRow statsDataRowEven"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Aug&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;12&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;6&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataRow statsDataRowOdd"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Sep&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;13&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;7&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataRow statsDataRowEven"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Oct&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;11&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;5&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataRow statsDataRowOdd"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Nov&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;10&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;4&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr class="statsDataRow statsDataRowEven"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Dec&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;10&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;4&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Source: NWMLS - The Northwest Multiple Listing Service did not compile or publish this information.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;copy;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Board of Directors, Washington Association of Realtors&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle"&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank"&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank"&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank"&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author"&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="agent_signature"&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&amp;copy;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style=""&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style=""&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style=""&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style=""&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;206.552.8820&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://twitter.com/share" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="twitter-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-twitter.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;t=SeattleHome.come%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="facebook-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-fb.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;amp;url=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;title=SeattleHome.com%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog&amp;amp;summary=Greater%20Seattle%20Real%20Estate%20News" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="LinkedIn Seattle Homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-linkedin.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/blog/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="rss-feed-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-rss-feed.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;Current Listings:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Homes For Sale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlecondo.com/"&gt;Condos&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes"&gt;Waterfront&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/luxury-homes"&gt;Luxury Homes&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bank-owned-homes"&gt;Bank-Owned&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img title="Seattle Realtors" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/9/4/1/ar135864031914956.jpg" height="145" alt="SeattleHome.com agents, Realtors" width="600"&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sam DeBord -  Seattle Real Estate Broker (SeattleHome.com -Coldwell Banker Danforth)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Wed, 24 Apr 2013 06:49:20 -0700</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3704821/seattle-waterfront-real-estate-inventory-drops-to-5-months</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3703785/seattle-bellevue-kirkland-high-schools-take-top-national-rankings</guid>
      <title>Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland High Schools Take Top National Rankings</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/0/0/1/4/ar13667287741006.jpg" height="236" alt="Seattle Bellevue Schools" width="300" style="float: right; border: 0; margin: 8px;"&gt;Schools in Seattle and on the Eastside are lauded year-in and year-out by news organizations ranking "college-readiness" and other educational outcomes. &amp;nbsp;Once again in 2013, schools in Bellevue took home the bulk of Washington's top spots, with schools in Seattle, Kirkland, and on the Islands bringing in their own awards.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;U.S. News &amp;amp; World Report's&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/national-rankings" target="_blank"&gt;latest release&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;puts four&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bellevue-homes/"&gt;Bellevue&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;schools, two&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;schools, and one&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/kirkland-homes/"&gt;Kirkland&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;high school in the spotlight. &amp;nbsp;Rounding out the top 10 were schools in&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bainbridge-island-homes/"&gt;Bainbridge&lt;/a&gt;, Friday Harbor, and Vancouver.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Gold Medal High School Awards:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="0" width="523"&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td height="18" width="253"&gt;High School&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td width="170"&gt;District&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td width="60"&gt;National&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td width="40"&gt;State&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td height="17"&gt;International School&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Bellevue&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;9&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;1&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td height="17"&gt;International Community School&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Lake Washington (Kirkland)&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;22&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;2&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td height="17"&gt;Newport High School&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Bellevue&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;91&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;3&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td height="17"&gt;Bellevue High School&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Bellevue&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;125&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;4&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td height="17"&gt;Friday Harbor High School&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;San Juan Island&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;161&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;5&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td height="17"&gt;Aviation High School&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Seattle&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;257&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;6&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td height="17"&gt;Bainbridge High School&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Bainbridge Island&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;274&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;7&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td height="17"&gt;Interlake High School&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Bellevue&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;282&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;8&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td height="17"&gt;Garfield High School&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Seattle&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;300&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;9&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
&lt;td height="18"&gt;Vancouver School of Arts and Academics&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;Vancouver&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;357&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;10&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;p&gt;U.S. News and World Report ranks schools annually, with data from over 20,000 public high schools:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;U.S. News joined forces with the American Institutes for Research, a Washington, D.C.-based organization, to evaluate schools on overall student performance on state-mandated assessments, as well as how effectively schools educated their black, Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students. Performance on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams was then used to determine the degree to which schools prepare students for college-level work.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Schools were ranked within each state, as well as on a national stage, so families can see how their public high school stacked up against rivals within the community and across the country. In the national rankings, 500 schools earned gold medals, 1,790 were awarded silver and 2,515 took home bronze.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;Congratulations to all of the award winners.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="agent_signature"&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&amp;copy;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style=""&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style=""&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style=""&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style=""&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;206.552.8820&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://twitter.com/share" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="twitter-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-twitter.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;t=SeattleHome.come%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="facebook-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-fb.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;amp;url=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;title=SeattleHome.com%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog&amp;amp;summary=Greater%20Seattle%20Real%20Estate%20News" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="LinkedIn Seattle Homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-linkedin.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/blog/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="rss-feed-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-rss-feed.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;Current Listings:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Homes For Sale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlecondo.com/"&gt;Condos&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes"&gt;Waterfront&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/luxury-homes"&gt;Luxury Homes&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bank-owned-homes"&gt;Bank-Owned&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img title="Seattle Realtors" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/9/4/1/ar135864031914956.jpg" height="145" alt="SeattleHome.com agents, Realtors" width="600"&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sam DeBord -  Seattle Real Estate Broker (SeattleHome.com -Coldwell Banker Danforth)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Tue, 23 Apr 2013 07:54:07 -0700</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3703785/seattle-bellevue-kirkland-high-schools-take-top-national-rankings</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3696316/-nohw13-pre-inspections-bidding-wars-and-nationwide-open-house-weekend</guid>
      <title>#NOHW13: Pre-Inspections, Bidding Wars, and Nationwide Open House Weekend</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/7/5/5/5/ar136614073355574.jpg" height="169" alt="realtor balloons" width="189" style="float: right;"&gt;As the Spring housing market heats up, home buyers are coming out of the gates with the competition for homes on their minds. &amp;nbsp;Just in time to whet their appetites, the Nationwide Open House weekend arrives April 20-21 (see previous article,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlewaterfronthomes/2013/04/12/nationwide-crowded-house-realtor-open-april-20-21-packing-lots-of-buyers-into-fewer-homes-nohw13/" target="_blank"&gt;Nationwide Crowded House&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Sparse inventory has been the story of 2013 thus far, with few listings available and a growing population of home buyers trying to find the right home. &amp;nbsp;The competition has gotten fierce, and the coming weekend of open houses should put a lot of those potential buyers in a position to see as much available inventory as possible within a couple of days.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Washington state was the first Realtor organization to sponsor a Statewide Open House in 2009, and the event quickly became a nationwide success. &amp;nbsp; The National Association of Realtors now sponsors the event, with tens of thousands of homes being held open on the same Saturday and Sunday.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The discussions you'll see being held between buyers and their Realtors are very different in 2013:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;"Should we get a pre-inspection?"&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;"Should we make an offer on the first day?"&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;"Will an escalation clause help or hurt our offer?&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;"Can we waive a contingency to make our offer stronger?"&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The changing landscape of buyer opportunities has forced buyers and professionals to adjust tactics this year. &amp;nbsp;We're often seeing situations where multiple aggressive buyers are getting inspections done before writing an offer and waiving their inspection cotingencies to increase their attractiveness to a home seller. &amp;nbsp;Escalation clauses and creative offer packages are being used to stand out from a pool of competitors.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In short, a Realtor's ability to make his/her client's offer stand above the crowd is essential to securing the right property for that buyer. &amp;nbsp;It's not enough any more to just submit a good price. &amp;nbsp;Packaging an offer correctly can be the difference in buying a home, or going back to the drawing board.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If you're a buyer looking for that perfect home, you'll have ample opportunity this weekend. &amp;nbsp;Just hit the road, and look for the trademark blue "R" balloons. &amp;nbsp;Be prepared to search a bit for parking. &amp;nbsp;It's going to be busy.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Search this week's&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/seattle-open-houses/"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Seattle Open Houses&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Nationwide Open House - April 20-21 - #NOHW13 -&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.realtor.org/articles/nar-announces-dates-of-2013-nationwide-open-house" target="_blank"&gt;National Association of REALTORS info&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;copy;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Board of Directors, Washington Association of Realtors&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle"&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank"&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank"&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank"&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author"&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="agent_signature"&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&amp;copy;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style=""&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style=""&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style=""&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style=""&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;206.552.8820&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://twitter.com/share" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="twitter-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-twitter.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;t=SeattleHome.come%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="facebook-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-fb.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;amp;url=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;title=SeattleHome.com%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog&amp;amp;summary=Greater%20Seattle%20Real%20Estate%20News" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="LinkedIn Seattle Homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-linkedin.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/blog/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="rss-feed-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-rss-feed.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;Current Listings:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Homes For Sale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlecondo.com/"&gt;Condos&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes"&gt;Waterfront&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/luxury-homes"&gt;Luxury Homes&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bank-owned-homes"&gt;Bank-Owned&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img title="Seattle Realtors" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/9/4/1/ar135864031914956.jpg" height="145" alt="SeattleHome.com agents, Realtors" width="600"&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sam DeBord -  Seattle Real Estate Broker (SeattleHome.com -Coldwell Banker Danforth)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:33:15 -0700</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3696316/-nohw13-pre-inspections-bidding-wars-and-nationwide-open-house-weekend</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3692024/nationwide-crowded-house-realtor-open-april-20-21-packing-lots-of-buyers-into-fewer-homes-nohw13</guid>
      <title>Nationwide Crowded House: Realtor Open April 20-21 Packing Lots of Buyers into Fewer Homes #NOHW13</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/4/5/8/ar136577972685456.jpg" height="214" alt="Nationwide Open House Realtors" width="300" style="margin: 8px; float: right;"&gt;The Nationwide Open House weekend, organized by Realtor organizations across the country, has been a highly-successful effort to get out a large crowd of motivated buyers for the past few years. &amp;nbsp;The event has generated up to 350,000 open houses in the same weekend, and a great opportunity for home buyers to see plenty of homes in a short period of time.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The big question this year, is how many buyers can we get into one open house at a time? &amp;nbsp;The real estate market in most of the country's major metropolitan areas has shifted sharply back to a seller's market. &amp;nbsp;Inventory is down by about half in many of these cities, including Seattle. &amp;nbsp;Buyers, this spring, have totally abandoned the fence-sitting they've been doing for the past few years. &amp;nbsp;Competitive bidding, multiple offers, and all-cash purchases are now commonplace. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Make no mistake, there will be plenty of open houses for buyers to visit during this year's Nationwide Open House, which is just a week away, April 20-21. &amp;nbsp;The event is becoming more expansive by the year, and the vast majority of Realtors with homes on the market will be holding them open. &amp;nbsp;We had a shrinking inventory situation in 2012, and still had record numbers of open houses. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The difference this year will be the number of buyers who aren't just browsing homes, but are actively pursuing homes. &amp;nbsp;Buyer motivation is sky-high right now, and the combination of more buyers and less homes available will likely generate some large crowds at properties in popular locations. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The event will be a great boon to both buyers and sellers looking to make connections in quick fashion. &amp;nbsp;For those aggressive new home buyers, set up a schedule and fill up your weekend. &amp;nbsp;Home sellers, find a nice weekend getaway, and get away. &amp;nbsp;Realtors, buy some hand sanitizer and some throat lozenges. &amp;nbsp;You're going to be shaking a lot of hands, and doing a lot of talking next weekend.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Search this week's&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/seattle-open-houses/"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Seattle Open Houses&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Nationwide Open House - April 20-21 - #NOHW13 -&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.realtor.org/articles/nar-announces-dates-of-2013-nationwide-open-house" target="_blank"&gt;National Association of REALTORS info&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="agent_signature"&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&amp;copy;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style=""&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style=""&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style=""&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style=""&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;206.552.8820&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://twitter.com/share" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="twitter-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-twitter.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;t=SeattleHome.come%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="facebook-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-fb.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;amp;url=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;title=SeattleHome.com%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog&amp;amp;summary=Greater%20Seattle%20Real%20Estate%20News" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="LinkedIn Seattle Homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-linkedin.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/blog/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="rss-feed-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-rss-feed.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;Current Listings:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Homes For Sale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlecondo.com/"&gt;Condos&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes"&gt;Waterfront&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/luxury-homes"&gt;Luxury Homes&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bank-owned-homes"&gt;Bank-Owned&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img title="Seattle Realtors" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/9/4/1/ar135864031914956.jpg" height="145" alt="SeattleHome.com agents, Realtors" width="600"&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sam DeBord -  Seattle Real Estate Broker (SeattleHome.com -Coldwell Banker Danforth)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Fri, 12 Apr 2013 08:17:04 -0700</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3692024/nationwide-crowded-house-realtor-open-april-20-21-packing-lots-of-buyers-into-fewer-homes-nohw13</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3690970/stalking-a-home-buyers-use-agents-to-find-off-market-real-estate</guid>
      <title>Stalking A Home: Buyers Use Agents To Find Off-Market Real Estate</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/5/3/3/8/2/ar136577444328335.jpg" height="159" alt="seattle home stalkers buyers" width="240" style="float: right; margin: 4px;"&gt;An interesting trend is popping up among home seekers who are frustrated by the lack of inventory in our market and across the country. &amp;nbsp;Buyers are increasingly enlisting their real estate agents to contact homeowners whose homes are not listed for sale--essentially trying to entice homeowners into becoming home sellers.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The drastic drop in homes available for sale has caused a significant change in buyer behavior. &amp;nbsp;As bidding wars and pre-inspections dominate the 50 percent diminished real estate inventory, buyers are looking for more creative ways to find their dream home and lock in financing while interest rates are still near 4 percent.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Labeled "house stalkers" by some in the industry, buyers are canvassing neighborhoods for homes that fit their tastes, regardless of whether or not there is a sign out front. &amp;nbsp;The buyers then send a list of addresses to their agent, who proceeds to contact the homeowners with an offer of a willing and motivated buyer for their property.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;While the tactic isn't always successful, having a professional involved in the sales pitch is significantly increasing homeowners' willingness to hear the idea out. &amp;nbsp;One of home sellers' greatest concerns is a transaction that goes sideways and leaves them in between homes or already moved out of a home before a sale falls through. &amp;nbsp;The negotiation of a one-buyer listing and sale contract can relieve much of that tension, and bring a transaction to a close smoothly without ever touching the public MLS.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Considering the lack of availability in certain&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com"&gt;Seattle markets&lt;/a&gt;, it wouldn't be surprising at all to see more of these tactics occurring. &amp;nbsp;In&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/central-seattle-homes/magnolia-homes-for-sale/"&gt;Magnolia&lt;/a&gt;, for example, a look at the rolls of recently-sold properties shows that nearly three out of four homes sold after just a week on the market. &amp;nbsp;Of the just 40 or so homes available for sale, roughly half of them have been on the market for less than one month.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So, homeowners, if you hear of house stalkers in your neighborhood, never fear. &amp;nbsp;They're only out to give you money. &amp;nbsp;Rather than locking your doors, you might want to call a good Realtor for a CMA before they knock.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;copy;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Board of Directors, Washington Association of Realtors&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle"&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank"&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank"&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank"&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author"&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="agent_signature"&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&amp;copy;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style=""&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style=""&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style=""&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style=""&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;206.552.8820&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://twitter.com/share" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="twitter-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-twitter.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;t=SeattleHome.come%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="facebook-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-fb.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;amp;url=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;title=SeattleHome.com%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog&amp;amp;summary=Greater%20Seattle%20Real%20Estate%20News" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="LinkedIn Seattle Homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-linkedin.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/blog/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="rss-feed-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-rss-feed.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;Current Listings:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Homes For Sale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlecondo.com/"&gt;Condos&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes"&gt;Waterfront&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/luxury-homes"&gt;Luxury Homes&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bank-owned-homes"&gt;Bank-Owned&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img title="Seattle Realtors" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/9/4/1/ar135864031914956.jpg" height="145" alt="SeattleHome.com agents, Realtors" width="600"&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sam DeBord -  Seattle Real Estate Broker (SeattleHome.com -Coldwell Banker Danforth)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Thu, 11 Apr 2013 09:33:18 -0700</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3690970/stalking-a-home-buyers-use-agents-to-find-off-market-real-estate</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3684904/19-in-one-year-seattle-home-prices-surge-first-time-buyers-get-squeezed</guid>
      <title>19% In One Year? Seattle Home Prices Surge, First Time Buyers Get Squeezed</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Home prices in the Seattle metro have been rising significantly over the past 18 months, but King County's most-recent home sales are surprising even the most-bullish forecasters in our market. &amp;nbsp;As lack of inventory continues to create bidding wars locally, home prices have been pushed up to a median of $392,000 in March--a 19 percent increase over the same month last year.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/7/2/4/0/ar136517848804272.jpg" height="106" alt="" width="600"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;While it's always helpful to keep in mind that every home has not necessarily appreciated 19 percent in one year (medians can often signify a shift in price category, i.e. more luxury homes are being sold this year), there is a large component of this statistic that is due to increased home values. &amp;nbsp;Median&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Seattle home&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;prices are up 16.5 percent, Eastside prices are up 17.5 percent, and North King County (&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/shoreline-homes/"&gt;Shoreline&lt;/a&gt;,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/lake-forest-park-homes/"&gt;Lake Forest Park&lt;/a&gt;, and&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/kenmore-homes/"&gt;Kenmore&lt;/a&gt;) prices are up a staggering 28.1 percent. &amp;nbsp;Southwest King County followed closely behind with a 25.7 percent increase (&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/burien-homes/"&gt;Burien&lt;/a&gt;,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/tukwila-homes/"&gt;Tukwila&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/des-moines-homes/"&gt;&amp;nbsp;Des Moines&lt;/a&gt;,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/normandy-park-homes/"&gt;Normandy Park&lt;/a&gt;,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/seatac-homes/"&gt;SeaTac&lt;/a&gt;,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/federal-way-homes/"&gt;Federal Way&lt;/a&gt;,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/kent-homes/"&gt;West Kent&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The only downside to these improvements in the market is the squeeze that is being put on first time home buyers. &amp;nbsp;Prices are still relatively affordable, but the competition has heated up to the point that making a full-price offer isn't always enough. &amp;nbsp;Often cash buyers, or those with significant down payments, are scooping up sales because of their higher financial standing.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It's estimated that about one out of every four home sales in the King County region is an all-cash sale at the moment. &amp;nbsp;Those that are financing are still averaging 20 percent or higher down payments. &amp;nbsp;As most first-time home buyers are putting down smaller amounts, especially those with 3.5 percent FHA down payments, they're often overlooked in the competitive bidding process.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;First time buyers shouldn't despair, though, as there are still many ways to have their offers accepted, but the process requires more strategy these days. &amp;nbsp;Having your offer to purchase a home delivered with a convincing message is often necessary. &amp;nbsp;Whether that means letting a seller know that this is your one-and-only dream home, or that you're committed to closing on the property far more than an investor who may just want to rent it out, it's important for the buyer and their Realtor to present themselves as the most likely candidate to get the seller to a quick and guaranteed closing. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;More listing inventory will likely make its way to the market at some point, but there aren't many signs of new listing picking up yet. &amp;nbsp;For now, competition is fierce.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="agent_signature"&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&amp;copy;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style=""&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style=""&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style=""&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style=""&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;206.552.8820&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://twitter.com/share" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="twitter-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-twitter.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;t=SeattleHome.come%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="facebook-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-fb.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;amp;url=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;title=SeattleHome.com%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog&amp;amp;summary=Greater%20Seattle%20Real%20Estate%20News" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="LinkedIn Seattle Homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-linkedin.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/blog/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="rss-feed-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-rss-feed.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;Current Listings:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Homes For Sale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlecondo.com/"&gt;Condos&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes"&gt;Waterfront&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/luxury-homes"&gt;Luxury Homes&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bank-owned-homes"&gt;Bank-Owned&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img title="Seattle Realtors" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/9/4/1/ar135864031914956.jpg" height="145" alt="SeattleHome.com agents, Realtors" width="600"&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sam DeBord -  Seattle Real Estate Broker (SeattleHome.com -Coldwell Banker Danforth)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:14:16 -0700</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3684904/19-in-one-year-seattle-home-prices-surge-first-time-buyers-get-squeezed</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3681215/seattle-ranks-near-top-for-new-college-grads</guid>
      <title>Seattle Ranks Near Top For New College Grads</title>
      <description>&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;img title="seattle-skyline-blue-sm" class="alignright size-full wp-image-1915" src="http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlewaterfronthomes/files/2013/04/seattle-skyline-blue-sm.jpg" height="228" alt="Seattle top city for college grads" width="300" style="float: right; margin: 8px;"&gt;New college graduates are often focused on two big things: &amp;nbsp;moving into their own place, and getting a good job after graduation. &amp;nbsp;A new study by Rent.com ranked cities across the U.S., based on their friendliness to new college graduates' most pressing needs. &amp;nbsp;While some grads buy homes right away, the majority rent for 2-5 years after college graduation before buying their first home.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;The availability of homes in Seattle is somewhat tight, and housing prices are certainly above the national average. &amp;nbsp;However, the strong job market and higher-than-average incomes for new college grads outweight those factors.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Seattle's mean annual income stands at $54,800, according to the study. &amp;nbsp;For a single college graduate, that was plenty to make up for the median price to rent a one bedroom apartment in the city: &amp;nbsp;$1,300/mo.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;The rankings, in no particular order:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Atlanta, Ga.&lt;br&gt;Mean annual income: $46,600&lt;br&gt;Median price for a one-bedroom apartment: $800&lt;br&gt;Unemployment rate: 8.4%&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Boston, Mass.&lt;br&gt;Mean annual income: $57,500&lt;br&gt;Median price for a one-bedroom apartment: $1,590&lt;br&gt;Unemployment rate: 5.9%&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Houston, Texas&lt;br&gt;Mean annual income: $47,500&lt;br&gt;Median price for a one-bedroom apartment: $800&lt;br&gt;Unemployment rate: 6%&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Denver, Colo.&lt;br&gt;Mean annual income: $50,300&lt;br&gt;Median price for a one-bedroom apartment: $970&lt;br&gt;Unemployment rate: 7.4%&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn.&lt;br&gt;Mean annual income: $49,800&lt;br&gt;Median price for a one-bedroom apartment: $900&lt;br&gt;Unemployment rate: 5.1%&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Seattle, Wash.&lt;br&gt;Mean annual income: $54,800&lt;br&gt;Median price for a one-bedroom apartment: $1,300&lt;br&gt;Unemployment rate: 6.7%&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Dallas, Texas&lt;br&gt;Mean annual income: $46,200&lt;br&gt;Median price for a one-bedroom apartment: $900&lt;br&gt;Unemployment rate: 5.9%&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Raleigh, N.C.&lt;br&gt;Mean annual income: $45,200&lt;br&gt;Median price for a one-bedroom apartment: $800&lt;br&gt;Unemployment rate: 7.5%&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Washington, D.C.&lt;br&gt;Mean annual income: $62,900&lt;br&gt;Median price for a one-bedroom apartment: $1,600&lt;br&gt;Unemployment rate: 5.2%&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;St. Louis, Mo.&lt;br&gt;Mean annual income: $44,200&lt;br&gt;Median price for a one-bedroom apartment: $960&lt;br&gt;Unemployment rate: 7%&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Seattle's stats came in at #3 out of the top ten cities for highest income and for highest rent prices.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="agent_signature"&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&amp;copy;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style=""&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style=""&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style=""&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style=""&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;206.552.8820&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://twitter.com/share" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="twitter-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-twitter.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;t=SeattleHome.come%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="facebook-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-fb.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;amp;url=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;title=SeattleHome.com%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog&amp;amp;summary=Greater%20Seattle%20Real%20Estate%20News" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="LinkedIn Seattle Homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-linkedin.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/blog/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="rss-feed-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-rss-feed.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;Current Listings:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Homes For Sale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlecondo.com/"&gt;Condos&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes"&gt;Waterfront&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/luxury-homes"&gt;Luxury Homes&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bank-owned-homes"&gt;Bank-Owned&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img title="Seattle Realtors" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/9/4/1/ar135864031914956.jpg" height="145" alt="SeattleHome.com agents, Realtors" width="600"&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sam DeBord -  Seattle Real Estate Broker (SeattleHome.com -Coldwell Banker Danforth)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Tue, 02 Apr 2013 08:09:49 -0700</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3681215/seattle-ranks-near-top-for-new-college-grads</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3676003/foreclosure-rates-and-mortgage-delinquencies-drop-as-prices-equity-rise</guid>
      <title>Foreclosure Rates and Mortgage Delinquencies Drop As Prices, Equity Rise</title>
      <description>&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;img title="home_buyers_sm" class="alignright size-full wp-image-1911" src="http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlewaterfronthomes/files/2013/03/home_buyers_sm.jpg" height="159" alt="forclosures" width="240" style="float: right; margin: 8px;"&gt;The good news emanating from housing markets across the U.S. is bleeding into the distressed portions of those same market. &amp;nbsp;As prices have begun rising and inventories have remained low, we've seen the equity of homeowners increasing and sellers finding more confidence.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Many potential sellers who were underwater are now finding themselves relieved of that position, and able to sell their homes in the current market. Even more homeowners, who are not yet above water, are seeing the likely potential for regaining equity in the near future.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;This has led many homeowners to eschew the "strategic default" ideology and &amp;nbsp;stick to making their mortgage payments. &amp;nbsp;The rising confidence levels have caused delinquencies on mortgages to slow, and the resulting foreclosures to diminish somewhat. &amp;nbsp;This straightforward cause-and-effect will likely increase in scale if the housing market continues on its current path, and the overall economy doesn't make any significant moves to stifle the growth.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;From a recent&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2013/03/28/mortgage-delinquencies-foreclosure-rates-fall?om_rid=AADRTU&amp;amp;om_mid=_BRVF1MB8xqtUGk&amp;amp;om_ntype=RMODaily" target="_blank"&gt;Realtor Magazine article&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;blockquote style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;The foreclosure picture continues to show year-over-year improvement, with delinquencies down and foreclosure inventories falling, according to a report of February data from Lender Processing Services (LPS), which provides technology and data for the mortgage and real estate industries.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;The total U.S. loan delinquency rate &amp;mdash; loans 30 or more days past due but not in foreclosure &amp;mdash; dropped to 6.8 percent in February, according to LPS. The delinquency rate has fallen 6.51 percent in the past year.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;The foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate has fallen nearly 20 percent in the past year to 1.7 million homes, according to LPS.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;About 5.1 million homes in the U.S. are either in foreclosure or delinquent, according to LPS.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;The states with the highest percentage of delinquent loans are:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Florida&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;New Jersey&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Mississippi&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Nevada&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;New York&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Meanwhile, the states with the lowest percentage of delinquent loans are:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Montana&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Arkansas&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Wyoming&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;South Dakota&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;North Dakota&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Non-judicial foreclosure states like Washington seem to have less issues with transacting foreclosure sales than judicial states, which hold 7 of the top 10 spots for the number of homes in foreclosure.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="agent_signature"&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&amp;copy;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style=""&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style=""&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style=""&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style=""&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;206.552.8820&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://twitter.com/share" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="twitter-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-twitter.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;t=SeattleHome.come%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="facebook-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-fb.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;amp;url=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;title=SeattleHome.com%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog&amp;amp;summary=Greater%20Seattle%20Real%20Estate%20News" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="LinkedIn Seattle Homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-linkedin.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/blog/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="rss-feed-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-rss-feed.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;Current Listings:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Homes For Sale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlecondo.com/"&gt;Condos&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes"&gt;Waterfront&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/luxury-homes"&gt;Luxury Homes&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bank-owned-homes"&gt;Bank-Owned&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img title="Seattle Realtors" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/9/4/1/ar135864031914956.jpg" height="145" alt="SeattleHome.com agents, Realtors" width="600"&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sam DeBord -  Seattle Real Estate Broker (SeattleHome.com -Coldwell Banker Danforth)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Thu, 28 Mar 2013 09:56:44 -0700</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3676003/foreclosure-rates-and-mortgage-delinquencies-drop-as-prices-equity-rise</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3664941/homes-selling-quickly-seattle-10-nationwide-at-median-of-33-days</guid>
      <title>Homes Selling Quickly: Seattle #10 Nationwide at Median of 33 Days</title>
      <description>&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;img title="speed" class="alignright size-full wp-image-1902" src="http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlewaterfronthomes/files/2013/03/speed.jpg" height="249" alt="Fast home sales" width="202" style="float: right; margin: 8px;"&gt;Homes for sale across the country are selling faster and faster, according to new statistics. &amp;nbsp;USA Today and Realtor Magazine are reporting that demand for homes is outstripping the supply of new inventory in many of the country's hottest markets.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Seattle's lack of inventory is becoming a standard monthly report, with roughly half the homes available for sale this year as there were at the same time last year. &amp;nbsp;That has caused the median time for Seattle home sales to drop to just 33 days. &amp;nbsp;The quick pace of sales put Seattle in the #10 slot for the fastest real estate markets in the nation.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;From&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2013/03/18/demand-soars-homes-are-selling-faster?om_rid=AADRTU&amp;amp;om_mid=_BRRz2IB8xb-rHU&amp;amp;om_ntype=RMODaily" target="_blank"&gt;Realtor Magazine&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;blockquote style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Homes are selling faster as buyer demand picks up, leaving a very low supply of homes&amp;nbsp; left for sale, according to the latest February MLS data figures from Realtor.com. Homes in February sold faster than in any February since 2007, according to the site.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;In February, homes were on the market for a median of 98 days&amp;mdash;that&amp;rsquo;s down from 123 days in February 2011.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;In some markets, homes are spending even less than a month listed for sale, most notably in places like California.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;For example, in Oakland, Calif., homes spent a median number of 14 days on the market in February before they were either sold or removed from the market for other reasons, according to the Realtor.com data. Sacramento&amp;rsquo;s median number of days on the market was 21. A total of eight metros in the top 10 for fastest selling times were in California, with only Denver (median 28 days) and Seattle (median 33 days) rounding out the list.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;The median number of days on the market was also less than two months in places such as Phoenix, Washington, D.C., Detroit, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Dallas, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;With home sales picking up pace, buyers and sellers are less likely to see price reductions on homes and to see more multiple offer situations, Curt Beardsley, vice president with Move, which operates Realtor.com told USA Today.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Seattle home sellers continue to be in a uniquely advantageous position, with plenty of eager buyers and few competitive listings. &amp;nbsp;Buyers, and real estate agents, are ready. &amp;nbsp;Let's get those homes on the market.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="agent_signature"&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&amp;copy;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style=""&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style=""&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style=""&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style=""&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;206.552.8820&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://twitter.com/share" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="twitter-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-twitter.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;t=SeattleHome.come%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="facebook-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-fb.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;amp;url=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;title=SeattleHome.com%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog&amp;amp;summary=Greater%20Seattle%20Real%20Estate%20News" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="LinkedIn Seattle Homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-linkedin.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/blog/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="rss-feed-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-rss-feed.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;Current Listings:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Homes For Sale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlecondo.com/"&gt;Condos&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes"&gt;Waterfront&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/luxury-homes"&gt;Luxury Homes&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bank-owned-homes"&gt;Bank-Owned&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img title="Seattle Realtors" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/9/4/1/ar135864031914956.jpg" height="145" alt="SeattleHome.com agents, Realtors" width="600"&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sam DeBord -  Seattle Real Estate Broker (SeattleHome.com -Coldwell Banker Danforth)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Tue, 19 Mar 2013 06:38:38 -0700</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3664941/homes-selling-quickly-seattle-10-nationwide-at-median-of-33-days</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3660015/asking-prices-for-seattle-homes-up-13-1-inventory-down-38-</guid>
      <title>Asking Prices For Seattle Homes Up 13.1%, Inventory Down 38%</title>
      <description>&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;img title="seattle-skyline-blue-sm" class="alignright size-full wp-image-1897" src="http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlewaterfronthomes/files/2013/03/seattle-skyline-blue-sm1.jpg" height="228" alt="seattle real estate prices" width="300" style="float: right; margin: 8px;"&gt;The latest stats on the Seattle area's real estate market show some big shifts in home sellers' confidence. &amp;nbsp;As the market continues to recede in terms of the number of homes available for sale, sellers are raising prices in anticipation of more buyer competition.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Asking prices for homes in the Seattle market increased 13.1 percent year-over-year in February, according to a recent report by Trulia. &amp;nbsp;That's a significant shift, and goes along with the increase in closed sales prices which is hovering around 10 percent right now.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;At the same time, there has been a 38 percent reduction in inventory. &amp;nbsp;This constriction on the market is causing some of the unanticipated velocity in home price appreciation. &amp;nbsp;From Inman News:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;blockquote style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Asking prices of homes listed for sale on real estate portal Trulia.com in February were up from a year ago in 90 of the 100 largest U.S. metros, according to a monthly report from Trulia released today.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;The report, which covers roughly 4.5 million for-sale and for-rent properties listed on Trulia through Feb. 28, showed asking prices up 7 percent from a year ago, and growing by a seasonally adjusted 1.4 percent from January to February -- the biggest month-over-month gain since the housing recession began.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Despite these asking price increases, inventory will remain tight throughout 2013, said Trulia's chief economist, Jed Kolko.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;"The inventory turnaround depends not only on how fast prices are rising today, but also whether prices have been rising long enough to encourage homeowners to sell and builders to build," Kolko said in a statement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="agent_signature"&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&amp;copy;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style=""&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style=""&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style=""&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style=""&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;206.552.8820&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://twitter.com/share" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="twitter-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-twitter.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;t=SeattleHome.come%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="facebook-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-fb.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;amp;url=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;title=SeattleHome.com%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog&amp;amp;summary=Greater%20Seattle%20Real%20Estate%20News" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="LinkedIn Seattle Homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-linkedin.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/blog/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="rss-feed-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-rss-feed.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;Current Listings:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Homes For Sale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlecondo.com/"&gt;Condos&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes"&gt;Waterfront&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/luxury-homes"&gt;Luxury Homes&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bank-owned-homes"&gt;Bank-Owned&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img title="Seattle Realtors" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/9/4/1/ar135864031914956.jpg" height="145" alt="SeattleHome.com agents, Realtors" width="600"&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sam DeBord -  Seattle Real Estate Broker (SeattleHome.com -Coldwell Banker Danforth)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Thu, 14 Mar 2013 16:11:08 -0700</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3660015/asking-prices-for-seattle-homes-up-13-1-inventory-down-38-</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3649590/real-estate-constraints-reduced-banks-may-be-loosening-their-mortgage-requirements</guid>
      <title>Real Estate Constraints Reduced? Banks May Be Loosening Their Mortgage Requirements</title>
      <description>&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;img title="seattle-skyline-blue-sm" class="alignright size-full wp-image-1893" src="http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlewaterfronthomes/files/2013/03/seattle-skyline-blue-sm.jpg" height="228" alt="Seattle home buyers" width="300" style="float: right; margin: 8px;"&gt;Recent articles from a number of news outlets suggest that mortgage lenders are beginning to loosen up their standards for mortgage qualifications. &amp;nbsp;While some might be concerned that loose credit standards were part of the cause of our last real estate meltdown, we're in a very different league right now.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Mortgage qualification standards have become draconian in recent years, and the initial reasoning was sound. &amp;nbsp;Banks were reticent to lend money when their current portfolios were constantly in the loss category, as a large percentage defaulted while the market declined. &amp;nbsp;The changes in the current market have allowed lenders to begin realizing profits on real estate lending, though, and new standards in appraisals, combined with appreciating home prices, have made most of their mortgage portfolio less risky.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;The newly-loosened standards of mortgage lenders today will still look nothing like they did at the real estate boom's peak. &amp;nbsp;We still have income verification and qualification, credit score requirements far higher than in the past, and verifiable appraisers/appraisal companies. &amp;nbsp;However, there is now a shift toward allowing a more reasonable percentage of the population qualify for a loan. &amp;nbsp;This is good for the country and the real estate market as a whole. &amp;nbsp;Consumer spending on real estate has a huge positive effect on the economy, and responsible home buyers with reasonable credit strengthen their long-term financial picture when buying a home.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;From a recent article in&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2013/03/05/are-banks-easing-up-mortgage-standards" target="_blank"&gt;Realtor Magazine&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;blockquote style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Tight underwriting conditions have been one of the main obstacles for the housing market recovery. But the credit agency says that those conditions began to ease somewhat this year and likely will continue to.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;"Rising house prices give lenders more breathing room to extend credit," the analysts at Moody&amp;rsquo;s noted.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Over the past year and a half, large lenders have loosened up or held standards stable on prime loans for mortgage originations, according to the Survey of Senior Lending Officers.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Aiding lenders&amp;rsquo; confidence is that mortgage delinquencies have fallen to pre-recession rates.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;"Being right-side up on the mortgage improves a borrower&amp;rsquo;s credit profile. It also lowers the risk of default and increases the likelihood of trade-up buying," according to the Moody&amp;rsquo;s report.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div class="agent_signature"&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&amp;copy;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style=""&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style=""&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style=""&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style=""&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;206.552.8820&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://twitter.com/share" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="twitter-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-twitter.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;t=SeattleHome.come%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="facebook-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-fb.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;amp;url=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;title=SeattleHome.com%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog&amp;amp;summary=Greater%20Seattle%20Real%20Estate%20News" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="LinkedIn Seattle Homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-linkedin.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/blog/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="rss-feed-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-rss-feed.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;Current Listings:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Homes For Sale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlecondo.com/"&gt;Condos&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes"&gt;Waterfront&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/luxury-homes"&gt;Luxury Homes&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bank-owned-homes"&gt;Bank-Owned&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img title="Seattle Realtors" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/9/4/1/ar135864031914956.jpg" height="145" alt="SeattleHome.com agents, Realtors" width="600"&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sam DeBord -  Seattle Real Estate Broker (SeattleHome.com -Coldwell Banker Danforth)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Wed, 06 Mar 2013 07:32:33 -0800</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3649590/real-estate-constraints-reduced-banks-may-be-loosening-their-mortgage-requirements</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3644537/making-a-backup-offer-on-a-home-a-good-or-bad-idea-</guid>
      <title>Making a Backup Offer on a Home: A Good or Bad Idea?</title>
      <description>&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;This article was originally published on&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.realtor.com/blogs/2013/02/28/making-a-backup-offer-on-a-home-a-good-or-bad-idea-2/"&gt;Realtor.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.realtor.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/backup_offer.jpg" alt=""&gt;&lt;br&gt;Given the recent scarcity of homes available for sale to the buying public, there has been a sharp increase across the country in home buyer competition.&amp;nbsp; Low real estate inventory has been driving more multiple-offer situations and bidding wars on homes than we&amp;rsquo;ve seen in many years.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;The Seattle area is a prime example, with 60 percent of real estate listings near the major job centers being sold in under 30 days.&amp;nbsp; There are just 1.39 months of housing inventory available, when 6 months is the standard for a healthy, balanced market.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;For so many buyers, when they find their dream home today, the seller has just signed a contract with a different buyer.&amp;nbsp; Whether it&amp;rsquo;s the first home that the buyer has missed out on or the third, there can be a desperate feeling that says &amp;ldquo;This home is perfect for me, what can I do to save it?&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Backup Offers&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;One potential tactic that is becoming more popular is submitting a backup offer.&amp;nbsp; The home is already under contract with Buyer 1, but Buyer 2 submits a contract to the seller, and the seller can add a backup addendum.&amp;nbsp; When the seller signs the backup contract, it means that if Buyer 1 should cancel their contract for any reason, Buyer 2 is automatically under contract to buy the home.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Multiple backup offers are rare, but are possible as well.&amp;nbsp; The order that the seller signs these contracts would be the order in which they are entitled to buy the home.&amp;nbsp; Later offers would, of course, most often be at higher prices.&amp;nbsp; This would to entice the seller to sign a backup offer instead of putting the home back on the market if the first sale failed.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;False Motives?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;The problem with backup offers in a competitive buyer situation is that the backup offer actually increases the chances that Buyer 1 will close on the home.&amp;nbsp; Buyer 2 may feel better that they&amp;rsquo;re doing something constructive by signing a backup offer, but they&amp;rsquo;re really giving more incentive for Buyer 1 to expedite the sale.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Buyer 1 has plenty of potential reasons to back out of the contract.&amp;nbsp; They may find something they don&amp;rsquo;t like about the neighborhood.&amp;nbsp; An inspection could reveal structural issues.&amp;nbsp; A new home just down the street that Buyer 1 likes better might come on the market just a few days later.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;When there are multiple backup offers in place, though, Buyer 1 takes on a protective stance.&amp;nbsp; They know that others want what they have, and they are more likely to forgive inspection issues and be more cooperative in seller negotiations.&amp;nbsp; If Buyer 2&amp;prime;s offer is at a higher price than Buyer 1&amp;prime;s, it creates even more of a sense to Buyer 1 that they&amp;rsquo;re getting a great deal.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If It Fails, Do You Really Want It?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;There is always the possibility that Buyer 1 will not be able to finance the home, and the sale will revert to Buyer 2.&amp;nbsp; That&amp;rsquo;s fairly rare today with how zealously loan originators are scrutinizing loan pre-approvals, but it is a possibility.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Far more often, however, a sale fails because of an issue with the home.&amp;nbsp; Maybe the roof is falling apart.&amp;nbsp; The walls could be filled with mold.&amp;nbsp; The alley behind the home might be a favorite of the local drag-racing kids.&amp;nbsp; The next door neighbor might play his drum set every night at 3 a.m.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;A buyer who is in a backup position automatically takes on a contract for the home when the first buyer opts out.&amp;nbsp; If a material defect on the property is the reason for Buyer 1 to cancel the sale, why would Buyer 2 want to be automatically under contract to buy this same property?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In General, Backup Offers Reduce Your Competitive Edge&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Buyers submit backup offers in competitive situations.&amp;nbsp; Negotiations require buyers to gain any competitive advantage possible.&amp;nbsp; By submitting a backup offer, buyers often pigeonhole themselves into a subordinate position, and motivate their competition.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;This doesn&amp;rsquo;t mean that buyers can&amp;rsquo;t do anything.&amp;nbsp; Have your Realtor let the listing agent know that you&amp;rsquo;re waiting in the wings with your buyer if anything goes wrong.&amp;nbsp; Stay on top of the transaction as it moves along, and if for any reason the sale fails, have your offer submitted immediately.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;A buyer can still scoop up a failed sale in one day if their Realtor is on the ball and ready to submit the offer.&amp;nbsp; By being prepared, but not motivating the competition, home buyers put themselves in the strongest position possible.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&amp;copy;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="agent_signature"&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&amp;copy;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style=""&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style=""&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style=""&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style=""&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;206.552.8820&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://twitter.com/share" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="twitter-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-twitter.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;t=SeattleHome.come%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="facebook-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-fb.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;amp;url=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;title=SeattleHome.com%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog&amp;amp;summary=Greater%20Seattle%20Real%20Estate%20News" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="LinkedIn Seattle Homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-linkedin.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/blog/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="rss-feed-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-rss-feed.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;Current Listings:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Homes For Sale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlecondo.com/"&gt;Condos&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes"&gt;Waterfront&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/luxury-homes"&gt;Luxury Homes&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bank-owned-homes"&gt;Bank-Owned&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img title="Seattle Realtors" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/9/4/1/ar135864031914956.jpg" height="145" alt="SeattleHome.com agents, Realtors" width="600"&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sam DeBord -  Seattle Real Estate Broker (SeattleHome.com -Coldwell Banker Danforth)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Sat, 02 Mar 2013 06:23:11 -0800</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3644537/making-a-backup-offer-on-a-home-a-good-or-bad-idea-</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3640334/seattle-5-forbes-best-cities-for-jobs</guid>
      <title>Seattle #5: Forbes' Best Cities For Jobs</title>
      <description>&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;img title="seattle-ferry-sm" class="alignright size-full wp-image-1885" src="http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlewaterfronthomes/files/2013/02/seattle-ferry-sm.jpg" height="200" alt="Seattle job market" width="300" style="float: right; margin: 8px;"&gt;Seattle's employment market keeps getting kudos from national sources, as the tech industry continues to bolster the region's job market. &amp;nbsp;It's not just Microsoft anymore. &amp;nbsp;Google, Facebook, eBay, Amazon, and many other tech companies are broadening their footprints in the greater Seattle market as we speak.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Forbes is projecting an annual job growth rate in the Seattle region of 1.9 percent. &amp;nbsp;Wages, at the same time, are expected to grow by 2.6 percent through 2019. &amp;nbsp;The area's strong education system is cited as one of the many reasons for optimism in the Seattle job market. &amp;nbsp;Strong employment has certainly contributed to&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Seattle's stronger real estate market&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;as well.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;The unemployment rate, at 6.5 percent was a bit higher than many of the other cities listed in Forbes' Top 10, but it was made up for by wages, with a per capita income of $50,497. &amp;nbsp;Cities in Texas took up the top four spots in Forbes' list, with the low unemployment and low taxes making the state a magnet for businesses and employees.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&amp;copy;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div class="agent_signature"&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&amp;copy;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style=""&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style=""&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style=""&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style=""&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;206.552.8820&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://twitter.com/share" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="twitter-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-twitter.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;t=SeattleHome.come%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="facebook-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-fb.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;amp;url=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;title=SeattleHome.com%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog&amp;amp;summary=Greater%20Seattle%20Real%20Estate%20News" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="LinkedIn Seattle Homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-linkedin.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/blog/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="rss-feed-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-rss-feed.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;Current Listings:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Homes For Sale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlecondo.com/"&gt;Condos&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes"&gt;Waterfront&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/luxury-homes"&gt;Luxury Homes&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bank-owned-homes"&gt;Bank-Owned&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img title="Seattle Realtors" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/9/4/1/ar135864031914956.jpg" height="145" alt="SeattleHome.com agents, Realtors" width="600"&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sam DeBord -  Seattle Real Estate Broker (SeattleHome.com -Coldwell Banker Danforth)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Feb 2013 07:18:52 -0800</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3640334/seattle-5-forbes-best-cities-for-jobs</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3639216/seattle-home-prices-flat-in-december-at-a-2-year-high</guid>
      <title>Seattle Home Prices Flat in December, At a 2-Year High</title>
      <description>&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;img title="skyline-from-kerry-park-sm" class="size-full wp-image-1881 alignright" src="http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlewaterfronthomes/files/2013/02/skyline-from-kerry-park-sm.jpg" height="126" alt="seattle home sales" width="300" style="float: right; margin: 8px;"&gt;The most recent Case-Shiller Home Price Index is once again showing that&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Seattle's housing market&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;has a strong base. &amp;nbsp;While seasonal changes didn't allow for gains in December, the overall trend continues to be positive for the region.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Seasonally-adjusted home prices in King, Snohomish, and Pierce Counties showed a 0.7 percent month-over-month gain in December. &amp;nbsp;That is in contrast to the small dip in unadjusted prices, which was 0.5 percent. &amp;nbsp;In total, there wasn't much fluctuation in prices at all for the month of December.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;That's just fine for the current market, as it continues its slow price growth and rapid turnover of market inventory. &amp;nbsp;Home prices in November were at a two year high, and the overall market is still strong compared to much of the country. &amp;nbsp;The Seattle-area's index shows housing prices are 41.75 percent higher than they were in 2000, a welcome figure considering the rapid decreases of 2007-2009.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Home prices in the Seattle market are projected to rise anywhere from three to five percent in 2013. &amp;nbsp;The long, slow recovery seems to be in place.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&amp;copy;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="agent_signature"&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&amp;copy;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style=""&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style=""&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style=""&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style=""&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;206.552.8820&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://twitter.com/share" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="twitter-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-twitter.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;t=SeattleHome.come%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="facebook-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-fb.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;amp;url=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;title=SeattleHome.com%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog&amp;amp;summary=Greater%20Seattle%20Real%20Estate%20News" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="LinkedIn Seattle Homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-linkedin.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/blog/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="rss-feed-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-rss-feed.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;Current Listings:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Homes For Sale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlecondo.com/"&gt;Condos&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes"&gt;Waterfront&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/luxury-homes"&gt;Luxury Homes&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bank-owned-homes"&gt;Bank-Owned&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img title="Seattle Realtors" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/9/4/1/ar135864031914956.jpg" height="145" alt="SeattleHome.com agents, Realtors" width="600"&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sam DeBord -  Seattle Real Estate Broker (SeattleHome.com -Coldwell Banker Danforth)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Tue, 26 Feb 2013 09:49:44 -0800</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3639216/seattle-home-prices-flat-in-december-at-a-2-year-high</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3622412/home-sold-fast-or-languishing-on-the-market-the-deep-divide-in-real-estate-sales</guid>
      <title>Home Sold Fast or Languishing on the Market?  The Deep Divide in Real Estate Sales</title>
      <description>&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;img title="home_buyers_sm" class="size-full wp-image-1859 alignright" src="http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlewaterfronthomes/files/2013/02/home_buyers_sm.jpg" height="159" alt="Seattle Fast Home Sales" width="240" style="float: right; margin: 8px;"&gt;I'm noticing an interesting trend in the amount of time it takes for a home to sell in the current market. &amp;nbsp;We've been talking a lot lately about&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.seattlehome.com/blog/14-months-supply-real-estate-where-are-you-seattle-home-sellers/"&gt;how few homes are available for sale&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;. &amp;nbsp;The inventory is strikingly low, and it's creating a strange divide right in the middle of the market.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;It's beginning to look like there are two separate categories of homes for sale. &amp;nbsp;There are those that sell right away, and those that may not sell at all.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;The numbers on quick home sales speak for themselves. &amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Homes listed near the major metropolitan areas of Seattle are selling in less than 2 months, 60% of the time&lt;/span&gt;. &amp;nbsp;Those are quick sales. &amp;nbsp; When half of the market's inventory is turning over that fast, buyers begin making frenzied attempts at purchasing the next best thing, as soon as it comes on the market.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Then, there are the homes that don't sell in the first two months. &amp;nbsp;There are quite a few of them, but not many at the 3 month or 4 month stage. &amp;nbsp;When we get up to 5+ months, they start adding up. &amp;nbsp;The number of homes that have been on the market for more than 200 days often outnumber those on the market less than 200. &amp;nbsp;Between 90 and 120 days, there are just a few homes.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;As an example, I picked a few small markets.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;On the Eastside, there are 28 active&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes-for-sale/"&gt;waterfront homes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;. &amp;nbsp;Four are under 60 cumulative days on the market (CDOM). &amp;nbsp;Eight are between 60 and 120 CDOM. &amp;nbsp;Fifteen listings are more than 200 CDOM.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;The luxury market certainly has some unique characteristics, so I also looked at the Green Lake neighborhood in Seattle, and looked at all homes for sale. &amp;nbsp;The numbers were similar in that the "middle-aged" listings were missing.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Around&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/north-seattle-homes/green-lake-homes-for-sale/"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Green Lake&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, out of 20 listings for sale a full 14 have been on the market for less than 60 days. &amp;nbsp;11 have been on the market less than 1 month. &amp;nbsp;These listings will probably be sold soon.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Meanwhile there is only one 60-90 day listing, and one 90-120 CDOM listing. &amp;nbsp;However, four listings are between 173 and 215 CDOM. &amp;nbsp;Clearly, most of the listings are selling right away, and those that don't, sit on the market long-term.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/north-seattle-homes/wallingford-homes-for-sale/"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Wallingford&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, just to the South, was the same. &amp;nbsp;9 listings under 2 months. &amp;nbsp;2 homes at 161 and 285 days. &amp;nbsp;Nothing in the middle.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;This seems to replay in a lot of markets, and it probably has to do with the current buyer market and its mentality. &amp;nbsp;If the best deals are all getting scooped up quickly, old listings start to take on a "there must be something wrong with it" label. &amp;nbsp;While this may or may not be true, it's one of those cliches that still pervades many buyers' minds, especially in a hot market.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Why do these homes languish? &amp;nbsp;In a hot seller's market, there are only 3 reasons:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ol style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;The price is too high&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;The home isn't visually prepared for the market&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Not enough people have seen the home&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;
&lt;p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;If your home seems to be languishing on the market, it takes an honest re-evaluation to get that kind of home back in front of the willing buyer market. &amp;nbsp;Look strongly at your pricing and be realistic. &amp;nbsp;Make sure the home invites a buyer into a fresh, clean, bright, warm feeling as they enter the most important rooms (entry, kitchen, baths, living, master suite). &amp;nbsp;Get as much visibility online as you can. &amp;nbsp;90% of buyers are online. &amp;nbsp;Stick to the basics, and you'll be making the most effective use of your time and money.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div class="agent_signature"&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&amp;copy;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/" style=""&gt;SeattleHome.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: - Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/coldwell-banker-in-seattle" style=""&gt;Coldwell Banker Seattle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;: Coldwell Banker Danforth &amp;amp; Associates&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/#!/seattlehomeocom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Twitter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/SeattleHomeDotCom" target="_blank" style=""&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://linkedin.com/in/seattlehomes" target="_blank" style=""&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;|&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://plus.google.com/101669415833397825384?rel=author" style=""&gt;Google +&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-converted-space"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;| Sam (at) SeattleHome.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman','Bitstream Charter',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: #ffffff;"&gt;206.552.8820&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://twitter.com/share" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="twitter-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-twitter.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;t=SeattleHome.come%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="facebook-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-fb.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;amp;url=http://seattlehome.com/blog&amp;amp;title=SeattleHome.com%20-%20Seattle%20Homes%20Blog&amp;amp;summary=Greater%20Seattle%20Real%20Estate%20News" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="LinkedIn Seattle Homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-linkedin.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/blog/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img title="rss-feed-seattle-homes" src="http://medinawahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/icon-rss-feed.jpg" height="54" alt="" width="72"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br&gt;Current Listings:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/"&gt;Homes For Sale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlecondo.com/"&gt;Condos&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/waterfront-homes"&gt;Waterfront&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/luxury-homes"&gt;Luxury Homes&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;| &lt;a href="http://seattlehome.com/bank-owned-homes"&gt;Bank-Owned&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img title="Seattle Realtors" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/5/9/4/1/ar135864031914956.jpg" height="145" alt="SeattleHome.com agents, Realtors" width="600"&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sam DeBord -  Seattle Real Estate Broker (SeattleHome.com -Coldwell Banker Danforth)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Tue, 12 Feb 2013 06:45:52 -0800</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/3622412/home-sold-fast-or-languishing-on-the-market-the-deep-divide-in-real-estate-sales</link>
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