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Category: Industry News
Industry News
Students draft ordinance to enable tiny home villages in Lewiston
Photo courtesy of Washington State University Tiny home villages may someday provide an affordable housing option in Lewiston, Idaho, thanks in part to students at Washington State University. Nine senior landscape architecture students and an interior design student worked together to draft a model ordinance that would allow and regulate [..]
Industry News
Savvy developers attract buyers with health and wellness amenities
“Family friendliness” remains the top focus for developers of master-planned communities, but a new survey indicates “health and wellness” amenities are becoming increasingly important. The New Homes Trends Institute at John Burns Real Estate Consulting reported the once-prolific “resort lifestyle” is being unseated as the second-most important focal point. Researchers [..]
Industry News
Banking Inclusion Initiative launched to help unbanked individuals and communities
Pledging to accelerate unbanked individuals’ access to affordable mainstream accounts and to address long-standing inequities, Wells Fargo & Company last month launched a 10-year commitment dubbed the Banking Inclusion Initiative. The financial services company will focus on Black and African Americans, Hispanics, and Native American/Alaska Native families. Together, the target [..]
Industry News
Condo comeback fueling FOMO
Condos are making a comeback, declared Dean Jones, head of a Seattle-based real estate consultancy and brokerage that specializes in market research, product development, marketing and sales. In a recent blog for Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty (RSIR) where he is CEO and owner, Jones described the current market in the [..]
Industry News
Washington among states with strong employment in home building
Washington is among 15 states with the highest share of residential construction workers, according to NAHB Economics, an arm of the National Association of Home Builders. Using data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS), researchers estimate 4.4 million people work in residential construction. That accounts for 2.8% of [..]
Industry News
Homebuilder acquires large parcel in Woodinville
Thirty-two acres in Woodinville where one home, a barn, and an arena are currently situated, will be redeveloped by homebuilder D.R. Horton. The parcel, which is near 132nd Ave NE and NE 143rd Place, sold for $19 million. Public records indicate plans for 87 townhomes and seven single family homes. [..]
Industry News
Builders use various strategies to cope with volatile lumber prices
Builders have been beset with unstable lumber prices. In fact, rising prices and the availability of building materials ranked as the top challenge builders expect to face this year, according to the April 2021 survey for the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. In its monthly survey – which the National [..]
Industry News
National Association of REALTORS picks King County group to be part of new mentor program
Seattle King County REALTORS® (SKCR), in collaboration with the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), is launching a unique mentorship program for multicultural individuals who are interested in exploring careers in real estate and developing the necessary skills for success. SKCR is among eight associations – and the only one in [..]
Industry News
News In Brief: May 2021
Washington state’s economy has weathered the coronavirus pandemic better than any other state in the nation, a newly released study has found. The report, by personal finance website WalletHub, compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 13 key metrics, including the share of employment from small businesses to [..]
Industry News
DOL implements paperless license retention requirements
Paper copies of real estate licenses no longer need to be given to a broker’s firm or designated broker for retention. The Department of Licensing (DOL) eliminated that requirement effective April 29, 2021, although individual brokerages may have different policies requiring copies of licenses. DOL also abolished its requirement that [..]