Housing Priced To Sell

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HOUSING PRICED TO SELL Slide opens city living to first-time buyers INSIDE MORTGAGES: U.S. government becoming No. 1 source of mortgage money. E2 MELTDOWN: Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke pleads for more government action. E2

BY AUBREY COHEN P-I reporter

Cassandra Donovan and Karlis Ogle started looking at homes for sale this spring. “We were looking up in Everett,” Ogle said Sunday. “And Bothell,” Donovan added. “We really initially didn’t even consider buying in the city,” Ogle said. They were standing outside an open house in Seattle’s Meadowbrook neighborhood. Now listed at $379,000, the home’s initial asking

price in July was $425,000. A house next door was on the market for $325,000, down from $350,000, the initial price in September. For first-time buyers such as Donovan and Ogle, sliding Seattle home prices mean a chance to buy in the city, rather than “driving to qualify” farther away in King, Snohomish or Pierce counties. The median price of a Seattle house was $415,000 in November, down from a high of $501,000 in August 2007. November’s median was

SALES DOWN

17.5% 16.4% IN CITY IN COUNTY FROM LAST MONTH

30.7% 35.8% IN CITY IN COUNTY

SEE BUYERS, A17

FROM LAST YEAR

PRICES DOWN MEDIAN IN CITY

$415,000

FROM HIGH OF $501,000 IN AUGUST 2007

Seattle-area market continues to slow, but inventory remains largely stable BY AUBREY COHEN P-I reporter

Area home sales showed no signs of rebounding in November, according to a report Thursday. November’s pending sales of houses and condominiums in Seattle and King County were down 17.5 percent and 16.4 percent, respectively, from October and nearly 36 percent and 31 percent from November 2007, according

to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. Total listings provided more hope for people seeking signs of a turnaround. There was just one more home on the market in Seattle than there was a year earlier, and listings were up just under 3 percent countywide. November’s median house sales prices were $415,000 in Seattle and $395,000 countywide. SEE HOUSING, A17

Rainier Beach at a loss

TOP STORIES

Proposed closure of high school shocks, saddens community

Pleading for rescue

U.S. auto executives again pleaded with lawmakers at a contentious Capitol Hill hearing for emergency aid before year’s end. But the skepticism about a bailout seemed as strong as ever. E4

Slow going at Boeing

Boeing, still struggling to get its production system up to speed after the Machinists’ strike, delivered only four commercial jets in November, down from 40 a month before the strike. E1

Strip club near Safeco

The city has issued a building permit for a Deja Vu strip club next to Safeco Field. The Mariners, who tried to block the cabaret, have 21 days to appeal. B1

ALSO IN THE NEWS WORLD Parliament closed: Canada’s parliamentary opposition reacted with outrage after Prime Minister Stephen Harper shut down the legislature until Jan. 26. A9

BRAD VEST / P-I

Angela Mealing and her son, Keano Debari, an eighth-grader at the African American Academy, look over data sheets about proposed school closures at a workshop Thursday.

SEATTLE

BY AMY ROLPH, JON NAITO AND CLAUDIA ROWE P-I reporters

Paid parking: Fremont will be the next neighborhood to get paid parking stations, probably by February. The announcement outraged members of the Fremont Chamber of Commerce. B1

Last week, it looked as if Rainier Beach High School was safe. The South Seattle school would keep its doors open and possibly absorb another school – a relief for parents and activists who fought to keep the iconic, yet sorely underenrolled high school, alive. But just one week later, things have changed. Parents, students and employees learned that Seattle Public Schools staffers have recommended a “merger” that would send all Rainier Beach High School students to Cleveland High School just a few miles away.

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– Nancy Panama, parent of student at Rainier Beach

And that was only one of several new school merger or closure possibilities announced Wednesday – a week after Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson unveiled the initial plan. The possible merger is troubling for some South Seattle parents, who say their schools are disproportionately targeted in the plan, and that disputes between rival gangs at the high schools could escalate with the change. They also wonder about class size at Cleveland and the fate of Rainier Beach’s powerhouse athletics. Despite concerns, the latest changes announced at the School Board meeting might not be the last. Closure plans may SEE SCHOOLS, A18

Mental health system ailing Major problems found in keeping ill off streets BY CAROL SMITH P-I reporter

Shannon Harps, a young Sierra Club worker, devoted her life to improving her community before she was killed last New Year’s Eve. But her death may spur major mental health system reforms that could result in improved public safety, better care for the severely ill and tighter control over dan-

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“It’s so sad. They’ve been doing so good. Everything – grades, test scores, enrollment – has been going up.”

READ THE REPORT ◗ For the full report, “Examining the Tools in the Toolbox: A Review of Community Supervision of Dangerous Mentally Ill Offenders,” visit seattlepi.com/390746. ◗ For previous stories in the P-I on mental illness, visit seattlepi.com/specials. gerous offenders. A task force convened by the King County Prosecutor’s Office and state Department of Corrections has completed a nearly year-

long investigation into the mental health and criminal justice systems that let James Williams roam the streets homeless and hallucinating in the hours before he allegedly chose Harps at random and stabbed her with a kitchen knife. Williams, a severely mentally ill man with a long history of violence, is now facing a murder charge. The 160-page report found glaring examples of poor communication, a critical shortage of hospital beds and commitment laws that don’t adequately address the comSEE MENTAL HEALTH, A20

DAVE SCHIEFELBEIN

Shannon Harps was believed slain by a mentally ill man.

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SEATTLE POS T-INTELLIGENCER | FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2008

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BUYERS: Question is what would six more months get FROM A1

$395,000 in King County as a whole, $320,150 in Snohomish County and $234,301 in Pierce County. Like Donovan and Ogle, newlyweds Lauren and Keith Denton want to spend about $350,000 on a house. “I thought we would definitely be north of 100th (Street),” Keith Denton said at a Loyal Heights open house Sunday. The house recently came on the market at $399,950. Realtor Mary Duran, the listing agent, noted two houses nearby for sale at virtually the same price. “Six months ago this would have been $450,000,” she said, adding that she sold a house across the street for $455,000 in April. Crystal Cheairs and fiance Timothy Buettner originally shopped for homes in the $400,000 range in Greenwood or Phinney Ridge, but then realized that was more than they could afford. “This past May we started looking in the

$200,000 range, and were looking in Burien and Tukwila,” she said, adding they thought they had no chance of finding a place in Seattle. They ended up buying a Rainier Beach house for $210,000 on Halloween. It’s a fixer that went back to the lender after foreclosure, but Buettner works in construction so he can make improvements. They’re painting and putting in carpet now, while continuing to live in Cheairs’ parents’ basement in Lake City, and plan to tackle larger projects after they move in. For Katherine Salinas, who was shopping casually for a home for about a year and got serious this summer, lower prices haven’t changed where she’s looking, but what she’s looking at buying. “Initially I was looking at only condos,” said Salinas, who wants to pay less than $250,000. “Within the past month I’ve started to look more at townhomes as they’ve gotten a little bit more affordable.” A townhouse means no homeowner dues, no-

body above or below her and more space, she said. “Seeing what was on the market in my price range (at first) was depressing,” Salinas said. “Now it’s actually starting to get fun to go out and look at places.” Salinas’ real estate agent, Windermere associate broker Tyler McKenzie, said those in the market for homes less than $300,000 wouldn’t have found much a year ago in West Seattle, where he does half his business. “They have many more options available to them now,” he said. McKenzie said the lower prices and interest rates have started to draw out more buyers, and more multiple offers on Seattle homes. He noted that Salinas lost out on one townhouse to another buyer. Of course, buyers who have seen the benefits of waiting this long might wonder what they’d be able to get in another six months. “That’s, like, the $60,000 question. I think

about that all the time,” Salinas said. “I just feel like (prices) are down now. If I find something that I truly like, I’m just going to get it because I know I’m getting a good price.” Donovan and Ogle said they’re getting serious about their home search now largely because they’re tired of their basement apartment. “We’re not trying to time the bottom at all,” Donovan said. “It’s just working out in our favor.” The Dentons also weren’t trying to time the market and were not worried about subsequent price drops after they bought, they said, because they planned to stay in the home for at least five years. “I have a lot of faith in the Seattle market,” Lauren Denton said.

P-I reporter Aubrey Cohen can be reached at 206-448-8362 or [email protected]. Read his Real Estate News blog at blog.seattlepi.com/realestatenews.

HOUSING: Effects of foreclosures felt NOVEMBER HOUSING MARKET

FROM A1 That was basically unchanged from October and down 12.6 percent and 9.2 percent, respectively, from a year earlier. The median condo prices were $303,000 in Seattle and $274,150 countywide. That’s up 5.4 percent in the city and down 0.3 percent countywide from October, and down 0.6 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively, from a year earlier. In a statement accompanying the numbers, real estate professionals emphasized the impact of foreclosure sales on price. “Until all the foreclosures and short sales are gobbled up, they represent a chunk of the inventory, and prices will fall,” said Dick Beeson, broker-owner of Windermere/ Commencement Associates in Tacoma. Others, such as Windermere Capitol Hill owner Pat Grimm, focused on differences in “real estate microclimates.” “I remind our agents that regional trends don’t always speak for all product types, property locations or price points,” he said. “The pressures on supply and demand are never evenly

Nov. ‘07 Area home sales continued to slump in November. Prices were down from a year earlier, but generally flat from October.

Oct. ‘08

Nov. ‘08

Change from a year ago

SEATTLE

Change from last month

KING COUNTY

LISTINGS Houses and condominiums

LISTINGS Houses and condominiums 0.03% -8.5%

13,188 3.0% 14,655 13,578 -7.3%

PENDING SALES Houses and condominiums

PENDING SALES Houses and condominiums

3,776 4,128 3,777

-35.8%

743 578 477

-17.5%

SEATTLE P-I

-16.4%

Houses only

$435,000 $392,000 $395,000

-12.6% -0.2%

Condos Source: Northwest Multiple Listing Service

-30.7%

MEDIAN SALES PRICE

MEDIAN SALES PRICE

Houses only

$474,975 $416,000 $415,000

2,084 1,727 1,444

ONLY 5 DAYS LEFT!

-9.2% 0.8%

Condos

$304,975 $287,450 $303,000

$284,450 $275,000 $274,150

-0.6% 5.4%

-3.6% -0.3%

GOING OUT OF BUSINESS

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distributed.” Recent drops in interest rates have brought “keen interest from sidelined buyers,” Beeson said.

TAKE AN ADDITIONAL

P-I reporter Aubrey Cohen can be reached at 206-448-8362 or [email protected]. Read his Real Estate News blog at blog.seattlepi.com/realestatenews.

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