Northwest Living | Bellingham Real Estate Market

Portland, Oregon, takes the top spot as the greenest city in the U.S., according to a ranking of the nation’s 50 most-populous cities by SustainLane, an online guide to news and products related to sustainable living. This is no surprise at all to us that live here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

The rankings “track the unfolding story of cities working to improve their residents’ quality of life,” SustainLane said on its website. “In this story, some cities are becoming more self-reliant and better prepared for an uncertain future, while others have been slow to act on opportunities to green their municipalities.”

In ranking the cities, SustainLane looked at sixteen factors, including transportation options, air quality, roadway congestion, tap water quality, housing affordability, solid waste diversion and local food availability.

Portland, which SustainLane said has been “thinking green since the 70s, when the rest of the country was still embracing the strip mall,” was noted for its strict land-use policies. It is in the process of converting itself into a so-called “20 Minute City” in which residents spend a maximum of twenty minutes commuting from their homes to work and other activities. Portland ranked first in all sixteen categories except affordability, natural disaster risk and water supply.

Third on the list was Seattle, WA for many reasons. It’s location between Puget Sound and Lake Washington and to its easy access to just about any kind of outdoorsy activity your sustainable heart desires. Seattle is very committed to it’s area wide recycling programs. SustainLane’s site said In 2006, more than 90 percent of Seattle’s energy supply came from renewable sources. And by the time light rail plans are complete in 2016, Seattle ’s streets should be free from car congestion, trees and green buildings ubiquitous, and two-wheeled commuter sightings more common than an overcast day.

San Francisco, Chicago, and New York rounded out the top five on the list. Chicago ranked first in the category of water supply and New York took top honors in the categories of metro transit ridership and land use.

SustainLane started ranking green cities in 2005, and the last report came out in 2006. In gathering the data, the site relied on the U.S. Census to determine the most populous cities, along with public data and its own research.

If they ever do a study on smaller cities, Bellingham, WA would rate pretty close to the top of that list. It’s no secret that our area is a leader nationally when it comes to Sustainable Connections, the Green movement, and the Quality of the outdoor life we enjoy here in Whatcom County.

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Seattle WA - Cooking Light magazine named it’s top twenty cities in the country that provide the resources people need to live healthful lives, and topping that list was our own Seattle, Washington. The magazine ranked major metropolitan areas on 15 different criteria, including healthfulness and exercise data, restraurant ratings, farmers market listings, and parks and recreation data. The result of that study were the list of the top 20 American cities that best fit their philosophy to eat smart, be fit, and live well.

The magazine said with an abundance of fresh local foods, walker-friendly streets, and inclusive attitudes helps make Seattle America’s best city for healthy living. 

Whether seen from the vantage point of a peaceful kayak excursion on the waters of Puget Sound or a morning tour of bustling food lover’s mecca Pike Place Market, Seattle always appears to be a place where healthful living comes easily and naturally. In our year-long countdown of U.S. cities that epitomize the Cooking Light philosophy, Seattle ranked highest for dollars spent on parkland—$266 per person annually, according to the Trust for Public Land. The American Podiatric Medical Association ranked pedestrian-friendly Seattle a top spot for walking. Nearly 85 percent of city residents report exercising regularly and 89 percent say they are in good or better health, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. And when Seattleites are ready to indulge, they can do so in any of the city’s many top-rated restaurants—it’s home to both numerous James Beard Award-winning chefs and restaurants ranked “extraordinary to perfection” by culinary review, Zagat. If you love Cooking Light, we think you’ll love Seattle, too.

Portland, Oregon came in second on this list making the Pacific Northwest a must stop for travelor’s looking for quality light dining. Life is good in the second-ranked city, thanks to its seemingly endless supply of outdoor activities, cutting-edge restaurants, and vibrant environmental consciousness.

Portland is called the City of Roses for its proliferation of brightly hued blooms, but the color that best describes this city is green. Portland prides itself on being environmentally friendly, boasting an award-winning public transportation system, 277 miles of bike paths, and city planning that minimizes sprawl.

The soft seasonal drizzle that falls over the city (actually, there’s more annual rainfall in Atlanta) makes it literally green as well. Consequently, Portlanders enjoy 227 parks and 146 miles of lushly forested hiking trails, rain or shine. The climate also nurtures the fabulous food and wine produced here, helping make Portland fourth in the nation in per capita farmers’ markets and top for its number of organic restaurants.

Portland earned the second spot on the top 20 list of Cooking Light cities because it also ranked highly in the following categories: acres of parkland per capita; percent of population that reports to be in good or better health; percent of population that exercised in the last month; and its walkability. Read more about Portland, Oregon restaurants.

Jerry Campbell - The Muljat Group - Bellingham, WA - Whatcom County Real Estate

 We recently updated the Northwest Living blog to include an entire category dedicated to the State of Oregon.  Under the Oregon State category viewers will eventually be able to find posts, links, and information on Oregon cities, towns, outdoors, relocation, travel, tourism, things to do, and so much more.

We will also discuss Oregon real estate since this blog covers the northwest with a real estate flavor. Since Oregon is one of the states that make up the Northwest we were very pleased with bringing in the idea of having topics on Oregon State.  Some future topics would include information about Portland Oregon, Eugene, Salem, Medford, Hood River, Cannon Beach, and the Oregon Coast.

Our main focus of our Northwest blog is about the Northwest corner of Washington State, but we felt we could provide a service by talking about other areas of the Pacific Northwest as well. If any viewer wants to suggest a topic to discuss, please add a comment below and we’ll consider it for sure.

For anyone looking for information on Oregon you might want to start with the Official Oregon Travel and Tourism.

Jerry Campbell - Muljat Group - Bellingham, WA - Northwest Living

 Portland’s once-soaring housing prices are cooling and heading into a buyer’s market.  Just  nine months ago Portland was one of the last hot markets left over from the hot market we all experienced.  However, housing economists say very few sellers are reducing asking prices but may have to soon.

The Northwest has been one area of the country that has weathered the slow down in the housing market over the last two years.  For the most part the Northwest has experienced relatively low unemployment, great retail numbers and just the natural beauty of living in such a quality area.  But, with the rest of the country experiencing this slow down, the downward housing market has now reached this area as well.

The median home price remained at $300,000 — flat from the month before — and homes required nearly two months to sell on average, according to the Regional Multiple Listing Service, the areas main MLS service for home-sales.

The inventory of available homes hit 6.2 months, tied for the highest since 2003 and nearly double the figure from a year earlier.

So far, most sellers have tried to avoid dropping their prices.  It appears the sellers are just reluctant to reduce the prices on their homes and have a false sense about what their home is worth in this market.

At some point sellers will have to reduce prices to start getting offers or risk the chance of chasing a down market.  

Portland prices still are holding as well as any in the country. August’s median sale price was 9 percent higher than a year earlier.  But thats the homes that sold.  the staticians never factor in the hundreds that tested the market and never sold.

Jim Cramer, CNBC News really ripped the housing market on wednesday, but on thursday he said one of the only areas of the country thats holding it’s own was the Seattle housing market.  Listen to Cramer’s comment on the homes market in a CNBC video at this link, Seattle Real Estate.

Hang in there Northwest and like all real estate cycles, we’ll get through this one as well and get back to a normal market once again.

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The local Puget Sound area is getting a lot of attention nationally from real estate investment firms.  Investors from around the region and other parts of the country are starting to realize this area is a hot bed for long term growth and investment.

People are expecting good things from investing in the local Puget Sound real estate market. Recently The Wall Street Journal was quoted about the nation’s commercial real-estate market, noting that population and job growth is prompting investors to take a fresh look at the Puget Sound area.  It cited a PricewaterhouseCoopers study of 45 areas in which Seattle ranked fourth behind New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles for investment.

As recently as last Thursday, a Portland, Ore.-based real estate investment firm purchased Paine Field Business Park. An executive there talked about our population growth and wanted to be part of what he expects will be a thriving area.

The deal wasn’t a huge one - $9 million and change. But there have been others of much larger proportions. This fall, a Lynnwood office building sold for $39 million to a San Francisco real estate investment firm. Two years ago, it had been picked up for $13 million.

Before that, a Chicago firm paid more than $39.5 million for Cosmos Lynnwood Center.  Office buildings weren’t the only big sales in Snohomish County. Apartment complexes were even more popular to outside investors.

In February, On the Green at Harbour Pointe sold for $69 million to an investment firm. In June, complexes in Everett, Lynnwood and Mill Creek sold for a combined $38 million. In October, Walden Pond apartments in Everett sold for $31 million. In November, Crystal Cove and Silver Lake Heights in Everett sold for a combined $53 million. Most sales were to outside investment groups. Via Heraldnet.com

Deals like these are usually not a big deal individually, but when it’s one deal after another, that’s something to take notice of.  Investors from around the country are buying up property all over Western Washington from Bellingham, WA to Portland, Oregon.  These people are putting their money where their mouth is.

All you have to do is look around the Bellingham area and one can see all the Commercial activity going on in Fairhaven, Barkley Village, Bakerview, Cordata and of course downtown Bellingham.  Good solid investments in a high quality area is going to naturally attract investment no matter where that money is located.  Real estate investment company’s want to be positioned where the next best markets are going to be.  Looks like a lot of that is going to appear right here in the Puget Sound region.

Jerry Campbell - Muljat Group - Bellingham, WA - Bellingham Real Estate

 Money Magazine just released its ratings for the smartest cities in America.  Sitting at the top spot this year was our own Seattle, WA for being the smartest city in America based on 52.7 percent of its residents having undergraduate degrees.

With more than half of Seattle area residents completing college degrees, it beat out San Francisco, CA 50.1 percent. Rounding out the top five were Raleigh, NCat 50.1 percent, Washington DC at 45.3 percent and Austin, TX at 44.1precent.

The computer software industry headquartered in the Pacific Northwest soaks up thousands of educated workers. Degrees in computer science and engineering are especially in high demand. Another Northwest city topped a second survey with Salem, Oregon being America’s fastest-appreciating housing market where prices grew by 24.7 percent year over year. Oregon’s capital city outpaced every city in America in percentage increase in the median house prices over a one year period ending September 30, 2006.

Most of the five cities with the largest gains in home prices were either near or below the nation’s median house price of about $225,000. The only city with a median price above $300,000 that recorded a double-digit price increase in the 12 months ended September 30 was Seattle, WA (median price $372,400), where prices rose 14.6 percent. Travel to the Pacific Northwest sometime and you’ll see why this area of the country is in such high demand with it’s beautiful natural setting, snow capped mountains, many flowing rivers and the Puget Sound.  I hear the coffee is pretty good to. Congratulations Seattle, Washington for being the smartest city in all of America.

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Every year the editors at Frommer’s Travel Guide and Frommers.com selects the top travel destinations for their readers.  Out of all the places on the globe they select only twelve places to refer to their viewer’s. This year two Northwest towns made Frommer’s list including British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley and Portland, Oregon.

Okanagan Valley, a lush region of British Columbia, dubbed by some as “Napa North” or “the Tuscany of Canada”, boasts a mild climate, with rolling hills and plentiful fruits, nuts and grapes. Vineyards are the big business now — with more than 120 in the region, it is an ideal place for wine tasting. As in Napa, the topography and climate of Okanagan Valley make it a great place for hiking, kayaking, and biking (bike tours will even take you from winery to winery). The gateway to the region is Kelowna and the center of the wine region is a town called Naramata.

Portland, Oregon situated one hour from the Cascade Mountains and one hour from the Pacific coast, serves as a convenient hub for the area’s excellent outdoor adventure opportunities — from summer hiking and mountain biking to winter snowboarding and downhill skiing on Mt. Hood, and kayaking and fishing on the Columbia River. Portland, an environmentally friendly town, has revitalized its waterfront along the Columbia as part of an overall commitment to responsible urban development. Here is one of only three U.S.-based sake manufacturers, where you can tour the facility and participate in a sake tasting. Foodies are starting to recognize Portland for its flourishing restaurant scene, especially in the Pearl River warehouse/loft neighborhood. There is also nearby Willamette Valley, a wine region touted for its up-and-coming Pinot Noirs.

Jerry Campbell - Muljat Group - Bellingham WA - Bellingham WA Homes.