Gabriel Properties

The U.S. homebuilders’ outlook worsened in September, as foreclosures and anxious buyers hurt construction and sales activity.

The National Association of Home Builders said Monday that its index of builder sentiment in September fell to 14 from 15. The index has been below 20 for all but one month during the past two years.

Any reading below 50 indicates negative sentiment about the housing market. It hasn’t reached 50 since April 2006, the peak of the housing boom.

Last year, the number of people who bought new homes fell to its lowest level dating back nearly a half-century. Sales this year haven’t fared much better.

Builders are struggling to compete with foreclosures, which have made the price of resale homes more competitive.

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Tags: September, Worsens September

Dubai is one of the most popular cities of the Arabian Peninsula located to the south of the Persian Gulf and is also known as the business hub of the Middle Eastern region. It has also become one of the most popular tourists hot spot and is known for its oil based economy, real estate and amazing mega construction. The average purchasing power of the people in Dubai is also comparatively higher then other places in the world which makes it a perfect place for investments and business expansions.

This is why most of the business organization and multinationals look forward to establish its business base in Dubai as it is the key to business expansion in the Middle East. Growing economy and continuous inflow of foreign investments has created a lot of job opportunities and this is why people from all over the world migrate to Dubai for work.

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Tags: Dubai

Part D, the federal government’s prescription drug benefit for Medicare enrollees, relies on competition between private insurers to create savings for consumers. This “managed competition” model offers consumers dozens of coverage options with the goal of enabling them to reduce unnecessary out of pocket expenses.

 Critics of the plan have argued that Part D is too complicated and confusing for its target audience of senior citizens, including many who face cognitive challenges. Some have argued that the plan is so convoluted that even the insurers that participate in the plan don’t fully understand how it works. In fact, the New York Times reported in 2006 that 22 percent of calls made to Part D providers about the plan resulted in the delivery of inaccurate information.    Jonathan Ketcham, an associate professor in the marketing department of the W. P. Carey Sc Read all post…

Tags: Benefit, Prescription Benefit

Hi [John Doe],

I think the West Seattle market is at an interesting crossroads.  There are three major things going on right now.  The first is the recent change (since the beginning of the 2010-11 school year) in how elementary school districts are defined and governed.  This has actually been a very good thing for zip code 98116, because we have the three highest scoring public elementary schools (Lafayette, Schmitz Park, and Alki) in West Seattle.

There is a somewhat large divide between the others, although I’ve also heard good things about Gatewood and there are rumors of Fairmont reopening.  Right now a 3+ beds, 2+ baths home with a conventional configuration in 98116 is super desirable and typically flies off the market.

You’ll notice for the first time in the last several years the number of sold homes in 98116 exceeds the number of homes on the market (http://www.redfin.com/zipcode/98116–see the market trends section).  But the buying season for people with school-age children grinds to a halt starting the middle of August (the zero barrier for being settled prior to the start of school).

The second factor holding us back are the transit/commute issues reaching critical mass right now.  I’m actually of the opinion that the West Seattle Bridge/Spokane Street viaduct expansion is ultimately going to have a bigger impact on us than the 99/Alaska Way viaduct will.  The Spokane Street project is going to pose a lot of challenges for the next six months, but after that we’re going to have more avenues to and from downtown.   I expect that this project’s completion will establish the new normal for our commute.  This will then allay the anxieties of being stuck on our peninsula without a bridge (sorry for the amateurish play on “up the creek”.)

Finally, West Seattle is a bit of a lagging indicator of Seattle as a whole.  Much of our demand and gentrification for the past decade has come from a new infusion of people from other areas.  West Seattle is not somewhere you stumble into, and most Seattleites try to avoid it.  My wife and I are classic examples.  She went to grad school at UW and was renting in Fremont.  After a season of getting beat up in the Green Lake-Wallingford-Phinney-Ballard market we were looking for options.

I don’t mean to say that I think West Seattle is a consolation prize, quite to the contrary we feel VERY lucky to have landed here, but at the moment those other neighborhoods have come down in price and fewer people are broadening their search to West Seattle.  Unfortunately I’m not sure how to substantiate much of this with stats at the moment, so please excuse my gut instinct.

In short, we are lacking “good” inventory.  New listings that work for households with school-age children, that are well cared-for on the north end of West Seattle and below $600k are flying off the shelf (so long as the seller is realistic in price).  In fact I think the smartest strategy is to slightly under-price if your home fits these criteria.  That said I have no idea if you’re looking to buy or sell or both, or you’re just a real estate numbers’ junkie like us.  If you would like to go a little deeper or talk about what’s going in a specific neighborhood or price range, let me know and I’d love to connect on the phone or grab coffee.

Tags: Seattle, West Seattle