Trulia’s analysts and editors put their heads together to choose the most romantic, interesting, and exciting locales from the “A” of metropolitan areas with the highest density of restaurants and bars. Seattle made the list! Here are their reservation recommendations…
Seattle ranks 5th on an inaugural Energy Efficiency Scorecard that compares 34 of the most populous cities in the country. Leading the list was Boston, which achieved 76.75 points out of a possible 100, and scored well in all policy areas.
The other top-scoring cities were Portland, with 70 points, New York City (69.75 points), San Francisco (also with 69.75 points), Seattle (65.25 points) and Austin (62 points).
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) conducted the assessment using five, variously-weighted metrics: building policies; transportation policies; energy & water utilities and public benefit programs; local government operations; and community-wide initiatives. Seattle topped the list that measured building policies.
Six years after being announced, a project that will transform a Bellevue warehouse/grocery distribution district into what developers call “a new kind of neighborhood” has broken ground. Called The Spring District, the 36-acre transit-oriented neighborhood will encompass “urban style housing,” plus offices, retailers, restaurants, parks, and a hotel, all built with a “focus on sustainability” and mobility choices, which will include nearby light rail.
Greg Johnson, president of Wright Runstad & Company, outlined the plans and timetable for the $2.3 billion project during a meeting of the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce. His Seattle-based company is partnering with San Francisco-based Shorenstein Realty Investors Eight on the joint venture.
The Seattle-Puget Sound area is the fourth best tech region in the nation, according to real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle. Three areas around San Francisco led the rankings. Portland was 16th.
In its third annual high-tech office outlook, JLL compared 26 markets using four primary factors:
A company representative said employment metrics are weighted most heavily in its rankings.
The housing headlines have been screaming all spring and summer about how home buyers have been pushing prices up in King County.
There have been bidding wars for some Seattle-area homes, and median home prices are up 15 percent over a year ago.
Around Lake Sammamish, home prices are back up to peak levels set in 2007. In West Seattle, homes in some turn-of-the-century neighborhoods have been selling for up to $650,000 or more. And in other areas, sellers are getting 10 or 20 offers on a single property.
But now it’s beginning to appear that the price and pace of sales may be cooling off in the Puget Sound housing market.
Middle-aged women have become the fastest growing group of single female home owners, according to a new study by the real estate brokerage Redfin. The number of 45- to 54-year-old single female home owners has soared 120 percent from 1982 to 2012.
The Redfin report revealed the top U.S. cities for single successful women, factoring in the percentage of women with four-year college degrees, percentage of women with a salary greater than $65,000, and the percentage of women who are single between 25 to 39 years old.
Read the rankings and more details…
And see where Seattle ranks!
Home prices in 20 major U.S. cities increased 12.2 percent in May compared to a year ago, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index released on Tuesday.
And according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, prices locally continue to rise. The median price for last month’s closed sales area-wide was $279,950, which is about 9.8 percent higher than the year-ago.
The red hot housing market is prompting some realtors to get creative to satisfy eager home buyers that are tired of losing bids on their home of their choice.
New figures from the MLS also show pending sales during June jumped 10.6 percent from twelve months ago as buyers scrambled to lock in loan rates and bid on a limited supply of homes.
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