Yakima makes national list for housing market
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YAKIMA, Wash. -- It's the kind of news Yakima home buyers were thrilled to hear. Prices dropped in Yakima. Home prices were down a little more than eight percent since the beginning of 2009. Dugan Underwood bought a house in Yakima a few years ago and thought the prices were pretty fair.
"With the economy the way it is, prices keep going down," said Dugan.
Dugan was glad to earn his own equity with the purchase.
"I think it's easier right now with the way the economy is to buy a house than to rent a house," said Dugan.
His observations were bolstered by realtors who watched the market closely.
"The sales figures are improving a little bit from figures in the past. We have a ways to go,” said Dennis Rose. “It's a great time to buy with interest rates the way they are."
Realtor Dennis Rose said buyers also had more choices in their price range.
"There's a good selection of affordable homes here in Yakima," said Dennis.
Business Insider predicts Yakima's growth would rise by 7.8 percent in the next five-years. That's why it was named one of the 15 best in the nation for housing markets. The average price of a home in Yakima was 168,000 dollars. Dennis knew a move to the city was worth it.
"She's taking a pay cut for the quality of life we actually offer out here in Yakima," said Dennis.
And now Business Insider has taken notice of Yakima as well.
"With the economy the way it is, prices keep going down," said Dugan.
Dugan was glad to earn his own equity with the purchase.
"I think it's easier right now with the way the economy is to buy a house than to rent a house," said Dugan.
His observations were bolstered by realtors who watched the market closely.
"The sales figures are improving a little bit from figures in the past. We have a ways to go,” said Dennis Rose. “It's a great time to buy with interest rates the way they are."
Realtor Dennis Rose said buyers also had more choices in their price range.
"There's a good selection of affordable homes here in Yakima," said Dennis.
Business Insider predicts Yakima's growth would rise by 7.8 percent in the next five-years. That's why it was named one of the 15 best in the nation for housing markets. The average price of a home in Yakima was 168,000 dollars. Dennis knew a move to the city was worth it.
"She's taking a pay cut for the quality of life we actually offer out here in Yakima," said Dennis.
And now Business Insider has taken notice of Yakima as well.
Let's get real, there are very few newly created jobs in Yakima, were you could afford, or should I say, get the credit to buy a  house.  All you have to do is drive around Yakima, within a one mile radius from my house, there are at least 15 empty houses that aren't even on the market yet, not counting the ones that are for sale, in areas where most of the new buyers don't even take care of their yards, let alone keep the value of the homes.  Property values are false in this town, and will get continually worse, lowering the price of housing, if there are not rich investors here locally, and there are hundreds, who don't return their money to Yakima.
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Charles Fredericks...The really sad thing about the crime rate is that most of it is controlled. There is very little crime here that the "behavioral research" geniuses don't know about. Would it shock you to find out that 99% of drug dealers are completely protected ? What Costello our dope expert wants is not to bust hardened criminals but to get at those fairly nice people who may take a puff or two a month, but that will still show on a test. Those breakins are usually controlled, too. Maybe an area with a development coming in and shortly before a final deal the violence will be enormous. There's nothing you can do because Comp Mental Health will immediately declare you an extreme schitzo and your kids will be told if they help you they may end up in prison.. Yes, yes, I know this is insane, but it was insane when we let in the Nazi shrinks to experiment on all the Thaludamide babies and now we're paying for it. Whose idea do you think it was to put all the illegal youth centers right where all the sex offenders live? How do you think these gangsters are created. Have you ever seen the anger in an 8 'year olds face whose been getting molested for the last 2 years and still can't tell his mother. Why do you think it's against the law to have unlocked rooms at a youth center. Do we have a decent market here because the far right are importing more criminals? What if it's really true?
I worry that our decent real estate market is because the city tries to keep it tight. Houses condemned, that don't need to be, drug addicts imported from around the state that are supposed to go back to where they came from, lots of felons brought in and living out in West Valley. A small influx of people would keep a market tight, but massively importing what some would call undesirable could make a market look great.
Here is a summary of crime and trends in Yakima by. http://www.cityrating.com/crime-statistics/washington/yakima.html#.UL1yKuRWyuI
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"Yakima crime statistics report an overall downward trend in crime based on data from 11 years with violent crime increasing and property crime decreasing. Based on this trend, the crime rate in Yakima for 2012 is expected to be lower than in 2010.The city violent crime rate for Yakima in 2010 was higher than the national violent crime rate average by 41.48% and the city property crime rate in Yakima was higher than the national property crime rate average by 120.07%.In 2010 the city violent crime rate in Yakima was higher than the violent crime rate in Washington by 81.99% and the city property crime rate in Yakima was higher than the property crime rate in Washington by 74.67%."
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 Oh sure, your getting a house for a cheap price. But the quality of life is lacking, and your homes value will not hold well. Best to outfit it with a good burglar alarm system. Do your research on schools too, a recent study found 15% of all middle school students are gang-related, and that's conservative.Â
"She's taking a pay cut for the quality of life we actually offer out here in Yakima," said Dennis"
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WOW, let me take you for a "tour of homes" here in Yakima.  You'll be renting a truck and bailing out in 24 hrs. Highest welfare county in the state, top 5 in the nation for car theft, and a runaway crime problem beyond belief. Take a look at the pretty graffiti and notice the burglary rate in all sections of town. Even bedroom community's like Selah now have gang shoot-outs. With a crime index of "3" (100 is safest) don't take my word for it...do your own research:  http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/wa/yakima/crime/  Â