Hot home prices for Washington
Forget California and Arizona: Money Magazine is predicting that Washington state will be the hottest real estate market in the country in the next year.
In a package of stories in its June issue, Money lists the real estate markets with the fastest forecasted growth from June 2006 to June 2007, and Washington cities take five of the top 10 spots.
Home prices in Wenatchee are forecast to rise by nearly 17 percent, followed by Mount Vernon/Anacortes, where prices are expected to rise about 15 percent; Olympia and Yakima, at about 13 percent each; and Spokane, about 12 percent. Bremerton, the Tri-Cities, Bellingham and Seattle all appear among the top 20 markets.
The magazine, in noting the decline of previously hot markets such as Las Vegas, notes that “ugly-duckling markets will see surprising gains.”
The full rankings are available at http://money.cnn.com/.
New Delhi, India
India automaker plans $2,000 car
India’s largest automobile manufacturer, Tata Motors Ltd., said Thursday it plans to set up a plant in the communist-ruled West Bengal state to manufacture a family car that will cost little more than $2,000.
The plant will be set up with an investment of 10 billion rupees ($220 million), and is expected to start production in two years, said Ratan Tata, the company’s chairman.
A prototype of the five-seater model to be manufactured at the West Bengal plant is undergoing tests at a Tata facility in the western Indian city of Pune, Tata said.
Washington
Housing market cools slowly
The housing market, after flying high for five years, has lost altitude and appears headed for a safe landing, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday.
“It seems pretty clear now that the U.S. housing market is cooling,” Bernanke said in a question-and-answer session following a speech he delivered on banking in Chicago.
He noted that home sales are slowing as is housing construction.
“Our assessment at this point … is that this looks to be a very orderly and moderate kind of cooling,” Bernanke said.
One of the things that Bernanke and his Fed colleagues are keeping close tabs on is the extent to which a housing cool down will slow overall economic activity.
Detroit
GM revamps vehicle engines
General Motors Corp. said Thursday it is introducing 19 new or significantly redesigned engines and transmissions in its 2007 model year vehicles, including a new hybrid system and a fuel-saving V-6.
The world’s biggest automaker also said it will offer 14 models — or about 400,000 total vehicles — that can run on E85 ethanol in the 2007 model year, compared with nine models in 2006. New ethanol-capable vehicles are the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vans, the Chevrolet Uplander minivan and two more models that haven’t yet been announced.