Galloway in Renton is now FHA approved, which means buyers may only need a 3.5% down payment to purchase a new condominium.

The new condominiums at Galloway are ready to move in today, with three unique one-bedroom and one-bedroom+den styles available. Unbelievable value, priced from $179,950 for quality new construction with upscale features:

Fully furnished and ready for your visit, the new model home is now complete at Greenfield Park in Everett. The current phase of homes is ready to move in, including the model home - a three-bedroom, 2.5 bath home with open main level living, dining and kitchen area plus a flex room downstairs that's perfect for a home office, media/game room or fourth bedroom. The home also has a double-car garage. (See photos below.)

This is a freestanding, new construction, single-family home on a condominiumized lot. The community is near the Everett Mall, very convenient to shopping, dining and freeway access. It's a gated community with a private soccer/play field and dog run area.

Downtown Bellevue: the city of haute couture, destination dining and shiny new high-rise towers.  And quiet residential living? Only when you break away from the east side of downtown and head west to Main Street where you’ll find charming, locally owned boutiques and cafes. There you’ll find One Main Street Condominiums, the residential alternative to high-rise living in Downtown Bellevue, where Meydenbauer Bay beaches, Downtown Bellevue Park, Lincoln Square, Bellevue Square and the shopping and dining of Main Street are at your doorstep.

One Main Street is the hassle-free alternative to high-rise living with just 57 homes in a high-quality concrete-and-steel boutique building in the quiet, walkable Main Street neighborhood where you will feel right at home. With only 10 homes remaining for sale, now is the time to visit One Main Street.

Matrix is pleased to welcome a new member to our team, Vicki Paulo, our new Graphic Designer. Vicki will work side-by-side with the Vice President of Marketing, Kim Sharpe Jones, to create unique, target-focused branding, ads, signage, websites and sales tools for new home communities.

Vicki brings over five years experience as the Creative Director of Caldecott Properties of Oakland, CA., a boutique real estate brokerage that specializes in condominium and apartment marketing and resale real estate. (Sound familiar?) She has past experience creating branding and advertising for urban condominiums and apartments in Oakland, as well as with resale real estate marketing.

How Our Neighbors View the Puget Sound Real Estate Market Today and the Year Ahead

By Leslie Williams, Partner, Matrix Real Estate

For the last several years, we at Matrix Real Estate have surveyed our neighbors, people interested in the Puget-Sound area real estate market. Our goal is to find out what they are thinking and feeling about real estate, the economy, job prospects and their general outlook for the coming year.

The real estate industry has still been going through a lot of change this past year. Real estate brokers and firms have to continually change and adapt in order to stay viable. Buyers and sellers of real estate are also adapting in order to be a player in today’s market. Some buyers are finding it difficult to buy as they make offers at or above full price and lose their opportunity to purchase the property of their choice. Others find it difficult to locate the property they desire at any price. Other buyers are frustrated in their inability to finance the property of their choice. Sellers find it hard to find buyers.

Spacious and contemporary, this handsome Laurelhurst home sold the first day it hit the market. Matrix broker Trisha Quigley heard rumors the home was to be listed and brought her buyers, a couple who had been looking for homes in this neighborhood, to the home while it was still under construction. Trisha negotiated the sale with the listing broker and her clients, and the home went pending just as quickly as it was listed. The home successfully closed on Friday and Trisha delivered the keys to the happy new homeowners.

This home has four bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and 3,480 sq. ft. including a finished basement with rec room. (Click "see more" for photos.)

Four homes are now complete in the first new phase at Greenfield Park in Everett, so this Sunday, January 8th we'll be holding the premier sneak preview open house from 12 to 3 p.m.

Conveniently near the Everett Mall, these homes are in a gated community with its own soccer field/play area and dog run. From the entry gate, a row of old-fashioned lightposts welcome you home to your single-family style detached townhome with charming architectural details and landscaping.

With the local housing market coming to life, Matrix has new opportunities for experienced Community Sales Managers in South King, North King and Snohomish Counties. We anticipate having at least six new communities with positions to fill between now and June, some starting this month.

We set high expectations for our Community Sales Managers, including regular office hours, daily reporting and weekly meetings. To be considered, you must have a current, Washington State real estate broker's license and at least one year experience managing sales at a new home community or apartment leasing office.

A new survey shows how conflicted people in the greater Seattle area are about the housing market.

Seventy-two percent think now is a good time to buy, though participants in the survey are split on what they think will happen to housing prices next year. About half said prices will be stable or increase in 2012, and the other half expect prices either will drop or just bounce along the bottom.

Kitchen countertops and cabinets are being installed, a sure sign that the homes at Greenfield Park in Everett are nearing completion.The four homes currently under construction are available for pre-sale now, and will be ready to move in within weeks.

Homes in this phase have three bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, extra bonus rooms and attached garages - with over 2,000 sq.ft. priced at $254,950. Click here to view the listing.