The 2010 spring Washington Job Vacancy Survey Report recorded the first increase in the number of job vacancies offered since fall 2006. The survey indicated that companies were attempting to fill an estimated 38,732 open positions during the April 2010 survey period. While theses job opening indicate that the economy is improving, it is still unclear whether Washington state and the nation are indeed entering a recovery period.

This is good news for job seekers in Washington. According to the survey for this spring, it shows a 21 percent increase in openings since last fall. Most of the jobs are made up by the private sector, however, some public health care and education jobs are included.

Health Care was the leading industry in job growth. Registered nurses were the job that was most in demand with over 2,300 openings.

Software engineers were the next in terms of most needed, with almost 2,000 job openings.

For more information, please see the full survey.

In case anyone else has been wondering what the black boxes above SR 520, I-90 and I-5 were…

First, no, they don’t take your picture, have lasers, or mail you tickets. The black boxes hovering precipitously above the highways are there to help with traffic. They are Active Traffic Management tools. They are essentially a series of electronic speed-limit and lane status signs that will adjust automatically to help highway-goers navigate with a higher degree of safety and efficiency.

Using Technology Improves Traffic

Active traffic management tools have been proven to be effective at reducing collisions and improving traffic flow in Europe. The use of the technology has reduced collisions by around 30% and increased the total traffic capacity on the roadway.

The goal is to utilize the traffic management signs to reduce congestion and help make travel safer and efficient.

For more information, please see the WSDOT web page for SR 520 and I-90 active traffic management.

Held at the Seattle Center each year, the Bite of Seattle is one of the most popular and anticipated events each year. While the name suggests that food is the attraction, you’ll also have the opportunity to enjoy live music, cooking demonstrations, and family oriented entertainment.

When: July 16^th – 18^th, 2010
Hours: Friday 11am – 9pm, Saturday 11am – 9pm, Sunday 11am – 8pm
Admission: Free! (may be costs associated with food and drinks)
Where: Seattle Center
More Information: 425-283-5050

There’s Food!

Visitors will be treated to all kinds of tasty foods including entrees, desserts, fruit drinks, microbrews, and wine. Many varieties of ethnic foods will be available as well including Thai, German, Greek, Filipino, French, Russian, and Hawaiian. A majority of the food booths will have samples that you can indulge in for free!

There’s Drinks!

Adults can savor the Bite of Seattle’s beer and wine gardens. Beers of the world, Northwest wines, and brand name cocktails can be enjoyed at specifically designated areas throughout the Seattle Center.

There will be music!

In between chowing down or enjoying delicious cocktails or fruit drinks, live music will be performed all throughout the Bite of Seattle event from noon to closing. Rock-n-roll, jazz, swing, and several classical styles will be performed.

There’s more!

Visitors to the bite of Seattle will also have the opportunity to attend contests, comedy shows, commercial exhibits, and a comedy club.

On May 21^st, Seattle Symphony Music Director Gerard Schwarz will lead the Orchestra and local teen soloists in a free community concert 12:00 – 1:00 p.m., Friday, May 21, in the Seattle City Hall lobby, 600 Fourth Ave. This special performance is part of Seattle Symphony’s ACCESS Project (Artistic and Cultural Community Engagement with Seattle Symphony). ACCESS is dedicated to bringing classical music to communities throughout the region, especially those areas that don’t often have the opportunity to participate.

After the the concert, audience members can mingle with Symphony members at a post-performance reception in City Hall’s Bertha Knight Landes Room.

The Symphony will perform works by our own Seattle Symphony Composer in Residence Samuel Jones, Ernest Bloch, Charles Tomlinson Griffes, Tchaikovsky, and Mozart. Featured soloists include University of Washington freshman and violinist Jocelyn Chang, Roosevelt High School senior and flutist Lauren Glass, and Issaquah Pacific Cascade freshman and cellist Karissa Zadinsky.

This will be the fourth year in a tradition started in 2006 where the symphony will play to standing-room-only crowds of more than 300. Don’t miss this opportunity to listen to some of the greatest works of classical music and support the young soloists and the rest of the symphony.

During the regularly monthly meeting in Olympia, the Washington State Transportation Commission will continue to discuss the SR 520 toll setting.

Tolls for the SR 520 Bridge have not been set but will be discussed during the meeting. There won’t be any toll booths on the bridge; tolling will be done electronically. Motorists will prepay into a “Good to Go” account. When cars approach the bridge, an overhead device reads a transponder sticker on the windshield and automatically deducts the toll from the account. For those who don’t have an account, cameras will record license plates and send out a corresponding bill.

During the meeting, the Commission will work with the Washington State Department of Transportation to develop the toll rate structure. The discussions will cover the setting of the timeline, potential rate levels, and the rate structure.

The meeting is open to the public if you’re interested in attending.

The two-day meeting will be held at the Transportation Building in Olympia at 310 Maple Park Ave. SE. Meeting times are 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 18 and 9 a.m. on Wednesday, May 19.

Bank of America, one of the hardest hit lending institutions in the country, plans to offer nearly $3 billion in loan forgiveness beginning in May. The bank said Wednesday that it will forgive up to 30 percent of some customers’ total mortgage balance.

It was determined that to help the company stem greater losses, keeping people in their homes was their solution. By keeping homes out of foreclosure, Bank of America, while taking a loss initially on total principle, would be able to keep people in their homes, and paying a reduced mortgage.

Bank of America is taking an innovative “earned principal” forgiveness approach to HAMP modifications where mortgages are at least 60 days delinquent and the current loan-to-value ratio is 120 percent or higher.

• An interest-free forbearance of principal that the homeowner can turn into forgiven principal over five years which would result in a maximum 30 percent decrease in the loan principle balance, aiming to achieve 100 percent loan-to-value ratios.
• In each of the first five years, up to 20 percent of the forborne amount will be forgiven annually for borrowers that remain in good standing on their mortgage payments.
• Forgiveness installments for the first three years are set at the 20 percent level.
• In the fourth and fifth years, the amount of forgiveness will be updated based on the home’s value at that time.  This is toensure that the loan-to-value ratio won’t be reduced below 100 percent through principal forgiveness.

Hopefully other institutions will follow suit and will help distressed homeowners recover from the housing market collapse in 2007. This is a bold, progressive move on behalf of Bank of America to encourage a recovery of homeowners in distress.

For more information, see Bank of America’s website.

Bothell Assistant City Manager Terrie Battuello informed the public that the city would be taking advantage of an economic grant of $500,000 dollars that the city won last year.  The first course of action that Battuello says the city plans to make is to construct a nonprofit organization that will oversee the creation of the planned MedTech Discovery Center in Bothell, a center whose purpose is to promote the city’s already sizable medical device industry. » Continue reading “Bothell Earns $500,000 Grant”

Dear friends,

We encourage you to participate in STAND WITH HAITI. Please donate now to help Partners In Health’s efforts in Haiti: https://donate.pih.org/page/contribute/haiti_earthquake?source=earth

We appreciate your support!

SREA Development Team

The President has signed the Homebuyer Tax Credit legislation, which effectively extends and expands the home buyers tax credit. The legislation does include some modifications to the existing tax credit which will become active December 1st. Some of the details are below.

First-time Buyer – Amount of Credit:

• This will not change from the existing legislation. The amount of credit is still $8,000 ($4,000 if married and filing separately).

First-time Buyer – Definition for Eligibility:

• This will not change from existing legislation. To be eligible, the buyer may not have had an interest in a principle residence for 3 years prior to purchase.

Current Homeowner – Amount of Credit:

• This will change from having no provision to a credit of $6500 ($3250 if married and filing separately).

Effective Date – Current Owner:

• The effective date is the date of enactment, December 1, 2009.

Current Homeowner – Definition for Elligibility:

• The current legislation had no provisions, however, the new legislation stipulates that the home being sold must have been used as a principle residence consecutively for 5 of the previous 8 years.

Termination of Credit:

• The termination of credit will be extended to and end on, April 30th, 2010.

Binding Contract Rule:

• Legislation ending November 30th have no binding contract rule. However, the new legislation taking effect December 1st, stipulates that so long as a written binding contract to purchase is in effect on April 30, 2010, the purchaser will have until July 1, 2010 to close.

Income Limits (Note: Increased income limites are effective as of date of enactment bill):

• The income limit for legislation ending November 30, 2009, is $75,000 if you are single and $150,000 if you are married with an additional $20,000 phase out. New legislation taking effect December 1st, 2009, the income limit will be increased to $125,000 if you are single, and $225,000 if you are married, again with an additional $20,000 phase out.

Limitation on Cost of Purchased Home:

• The limitation for the cost of purchased home is being set at $800,000 for new legislation taking effect December 1st. Legislation ending November 30th had no such limitation.

Purchase by a Dependant:

• Homes purchased by a dependant will no longer be elligible for the upcoming home buyers tax credit legislation. Legislation ending November 30th had no provision for dependants purchasing a home.

Anti-fraud Rule:

• For legislation ending November 30th, 2009, there were no anti-fraud rules in place. The new legislation, taking effect December 1st, stipulates that the purchaser must attach documentation of purchase to their tax return.

What does all this mean? Despite some changes with how the current legislation handles the home buyers tax credit the extention will hopefully help spur the real estate market long enough until summer when people are more apt to purchase a home. The real estate market typically struggles in the winter months until spring and summer, when homes are fresh from a little spring cleaning that the market picks up again. Families who have children often wait untill the spring as they can prepare to move over the summer so their children won’t be out of school. This home buyer legislation should help the struggling real estate market until spring returns.