The New York Times published an interesting piece Sunday on how the "housing market looks sickest in cities that once seemed immune," with a not-all-that-surprising focus on the oozing, putrid pustule of a housing market that is Seattle's. And the gray lady isn't exactly flattering when it comes to the real estate reporting at its Bothell counterpart...

It has been a long, painful slide. At the peak, a downturn in real estate in Seattle was nearly unthinkable. In September 2006, after prices started falling in many parts of the country but were still increasing here, The Seattle Times noted that the last time prices in the city dropped on a quarterly basis was during the severe recession of 1982.

Two local economists were quoted all but guaranteeing that Seattle was immune “if history is any indication.” A risk index from PMI Mortgage Insurance gave the odds of Seattle prices dropping at a negligible 11 percent.

These days, the mood here is chastened when not downright fatalistic. If a recovery depends on a belief in better times, that seems a long way off.

Ouch.

Now, I wouldn't want to suggest that the Seattle Times propitious reportage was in any way influenced by the profitable influx of real estate ads during the peak of the bubble, but... well... I guess I just did.