During the local evening news, I’ve been seeing what appear to be political ads. What’s strange is that the election ended months ago, so the timing of this multi-media blitz is rather curious. The ads in question, are part of the It’s A Priority media campaign paid for by the Washington Association of Realtors. The ads encourage folks to contact their lawmakers to address the housing crisis in Washington state.

[photopress:ItsAPriority.jpg,full,alignright] At first, I thought it was a public relations / branding effort by the WAR, but I’m seeing the ad way too often for that to be feasible reason. Oddly enough, like our friends in Seattle Bubble land, I can’t help but wonder what the ulterior motive is. Perhaps, I’m confused because the ads don’t really have a clear “call to action”, other than contact your legislator. Most political ads have a clear and simple message (vote No or Yes on this initiative or that candidate) and these ads are rather vague on what they want me to do (other than make this cause a priority).

Here I am thinking the local economy and housing market is healthy, and now I’m seeing ads paid for by Realtors telling me that home prices have gone up too much and that’s not good. I’m confused here, aren’t housing prices supposed to go up? Microsoft, Boeing, and a cast of a hundred start ups are hiring and growing, so by all appearances the local economy doing well enough. Why don’t I see these kinds of ads when I visit California (which would seem to be a more logical place for a housing bubble that might occur)? What’s the real purpose of the ads?

The folks in bubble land believe it’s a ploy to loosen land use restrictions to allow greater density of smaller (i.e., “more affordable”) homes. I suppose that makes as much sense as anything else I’ve heard, but I wanted to get a second opinion before I form my own conclusions.