Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Eagle Bits
More news and notes from EWU. A top 25 ranking, heavy metal in Montana and an economist weighs in on the mortgage mess.
start something big.
From our own Sports Information office:
A 2-0 start -- including a 41-31 victory over UC Davis last Saturday (Sept. 15) -- has earned Eastern Washington its first national ranking since 2005 in The Sports Network NCAA Football Championships Subdivision top 25 poll of sportswriters, broadcasters and sports information directors released Monday (Sept. 17).
From the Great Falls Tribune:
Havre-based metal band Martriden knows a thing or two about composing extreme music. That knowledge has allowed them to reach unheard of heights for a Montana-based metal group, even though they have played only a few live shows in the state.
The band's quick rise to international metal ranks was thanks in large part to the Internet, which has allowed them to showcase their tunes to a mass audience.
Kyle Howard is joined by his brother Shane Howard and Will Thackery on guitar, Chad Baumgardner on bass and Michael Cook on vocals...Thackery currently is finishing his degree in music at Eastern Washington University in Cheney.
And from the Spokesman Review:
No subprime crisis - yet
Spokane keeps waiting to see if the credit crunch afflicting the mortgage industry across the country will spread to the Northwest. The region has averted the calamity caused by subprime meltdown elsewhere. The strong underpinnings of the state economy, highlighted by software, aerospace and even the robust prices and brisk exports of agricultural products, has helped keep the calm here.
“All this considered, the market here is still doing pretty well,” said Grant Forsyth, an Eastern Washington University economist and incoming chairman of The Real Estate Research Committee, which twice a years publishes the comprehensive Real Estate Report.
Nice homes that are priced right continue to sell quickly. In Spokane County there are 3,240 listings, about 26 percent more than a year ago. Those with a higher price tag need extra work, though, Forsyth noted, “people from outside are still kind of astonished about what you can get for your money and how modest the taxes are.”
He noted that the area’s economy continues to perform, even if job growth has slowed a bit from its previous torrid pace. “There’s no shame in that,” he said. “Things have been better here than in the United States (as a whole).”
Job and income growth are partly tied to area construction, and Forsyth said that as home-building ebbs there has been a surge in commercial construction work. Part of that, he acknowledged, has been driven by exceptionally low interest rates.
“The danger, what everyone is concerned about, is what happens if banks tighten or withdraw credit for commercial construction?”
It’s too early to tell if that will happen, Forsyth said.
Blog Editor's Note: Article on subprime crisis also mentions the fact that in 2008, many adjustable rate mortgages, or ARM's, will see their fixed rates expire and variable rates will kick in...so stay tuned.
start something big.
From our own Sports Information office:
A 2-0 start -- including a 41-31 victory over UC Davis last Saturday (Sept. 15) -- has earned Eastern Washington its first national ranking since 2005 in The Sports Network NCAA Football Championships Subdivision top 25 poll of sportswriters, broadcasters and sports information directors released Monday (Sept. 17).
From the Great Falls Tribune:
Havre-based metal band Martriden knows a thing or two about composing extreme music. That knowledge has allowed them to reach unheard of heights for a Montana-based metal group, even though they have played only a few live shows in the state.
The band's quick rise to international metal ranks was thanks in large part to the Internet, which has allowed them to showcase their tunes to a mass audience.
Kyle Howard is joined by his brother Shane Howard and Will Thackery on guitar, Chad Baumgardner on bass and Michael Cook on vocals...Thackery currently is finishing his degree in music at Eastern Washington University in Cheney.
And from the Spokesman Review:
No subprime crisis - yet
Spokane keeps waiting to see if the credit crunch afflicting the mortgage industry across the country will spread to the Northwest. The region has averted the calamity caused by subprime meltdown elsewhere. The strong underpinnings of the state economy, highlighted by software, aerospace and even the robust prices and brisk exports of agricultural products, has helped keep the calm here.
“All this considered, the market here is still doing pretty well,” said Grant Forsyth, an Eastern Washington University economist and incoming chairman of The Real Estate Research Committee, which twice a years publishes the comprehensive Real Estate Report.
Nice homes that are priced right continue to sell quickly. In Spokane County there are 3,240 listings, about 26 percent more than a year ago. Those with a higher price tag need extra work, though, Forsyth noted, “people from outside are still kind of astonished about what you can get for your money and how modest the taxes are.”
He noted that the area’s economy continues to perform, even if job growth has slowed a bit from its previous torrid pace. “There’s no shame in that,” he said. “Things have been better here than in the United States (as a whole).”
Job and income growth are partly tied to area construction, and Forsyth said that as home-building ebbs there has been a surge in commercial construction work. Part of that, he acknowledged, has been driven by exceptionally low interest rates.
“The danger, what everyone is concerned about, is what happens if banks tighten or withdraw credit for commercial construction?”
It’s too early to tell if that will happen, Forsyth said.
Blog Editor's Note: Article on subprime crisis also mentions the fact that in 2008, many adjustable rate mortgages, or ARM's, will see their fixed rates expire and variable rates will kick in...so stay tuned.
