On both a national and local scale, Housing Affordability is a great challenge, and one that has commanded headlines recently.
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Puget Sound Business Journal reports that the electric aerospace industry is growing, as local companies such as Magnix and Zunum Aero are “fighting to raise money and counter critics of emerging electric aviation technology, which could revolutionize short-haul aviation and revive regional air travel.” Experts estimate that there are roughly 100 worldwide companies developing electrically propelled aircraft and though many of the projects are in very early stages, “airline executives are lining up to buy them, lured by the promise of lower operating costs, bigger profits and much lower to zero emissions.”
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Tax season is here and homeowners in the region are receiving their property tax bills in their mailboxes. Following years of double-digit increases for homeowners, many are feeling a welcome relief this year, as Seattle Times reports that approximately half of the cities in King County are seeing a slight decrease compared to last year’s rates.
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If you’ve sold a home this year, then you can expect that come springtime, you’ll be facing a capital gains tax. As Homelight describes, “your house is considered a capital asset and, depending on how much you sell it for and how long you’ve owned and lived in it,” you may qualify for a number of tax deductions that will “lower your capital gains tax obligation.”
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As was expected, mortgage rates have increased again, putting them at the highest level seen since April 2011. Seattle Times reports on the change, which pushed the 30-year-fixed-rate up to 4.90 percent in a 19-basis-point jump (1 basis point = 0.01 percentage point), the “largest one-week spike in the 30-year rate since November 2016, when it increased 37 points.” Alternatively, fifteen-year rates reached 4.29 percent, up from 4.15 percent last week and 3.21 percent last year.
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With construction cranes at nearly every turn in downtown Seattle, it is easy for one to look around at all of the high-rises under development and assume they are condominiums. Yet, as Curbed Seattle reports, “the majority of new residential projects going up in the city—and downtown specifically—are destined to be rentals.” This means that out of the multi-family opportunities in the city, only 7.1 percent will be offered for sale. And this is a far-reaching figure, that covers “not just downtown proper, but lower Queen Anne, Belltown, Pioneer Square, Sodo, First Hill and western parts of Capitol Hill.”
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Now that the Senate and House of Representatives have come to an agreement on tax reform, it’s time to look at how the bill will impact the nation, particularly for homeowners. As IPX 1031 writes, “the broad-based incentives for capital formation and investment should lift demand throughout the economy and allow real estate to continue its role as a principal driver of economic growth and job creation.”
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