Seattle Bubbles Over, All the Way to Olympia

It would seem that Seattle's red-hot bubble-market is bleeding over into the less-populous portions of the Puget Sound region, even as far down as Olympia.

Every month, the median sales price of Thurston County homes sets a record. The record set in June was $228,500

Far lower than the insane average in King County, but still quite high for that area. Too high for people to reasonably afford a house, in fact.

The affordability index for first-time buyers in Thurston County is 84 percent. That indicates that buying a first-time home takes 84 percent of their income, which obviously makes it tough to purchase a home in a market where home prices are rising. First-time buyers are obviously at a disadvantage. However, there are various programs available to first-time buyers to purchase that home and give them assistance.

And how do people "afford" to do that? Interest-only and adjustable-rate loans, of course!

(The Olympian, 07.10.2005)