HousingUpdate.com is published by Robert E. Rothstein.

Licensed in the real estate business for 38 years, Mr. Rothstein works as a real estate broker and market analyst based in Seattle, Washington. Between 1976 and 2000, in private practice as a real estate appraiser, Mr. Rothstein focused on the valuation of high end residential properties for estate planning, litigation, and development clients.

As a broker and market analyst, Mr. Rothstein has served a diverse range of clients including the Federal Bankruptcy Court, trust departments of several large banking institutions, numerous law firms, residential development companies and private individuals. He maintains an active broker license and holds a GRI designation from the Pennsylvania Realtors Institute.

Housing Update Letters: Mr. Rothstein has published research letters discussing market dynamics in the Greater Seattle, residential real estate market since the late 1980's as a service to consulting and brokerage clients.

The Market Strength Index (MSI) In the mid 1980's Mr. Rothstein initiated work on new analytical models for measuring changes in the highly dynamic housing market of the Pacific Northwest. The result of this endeavor was the development of the Market Strength Index (MSI) also known as the Strand™ Index for publication purposes.

Based upon the measurement of supply and demand trends, the Strand™ Index accurately measures the strength of a real estate market. This metric can be applied to a regional market or a sub-market within the region such as specific neighborhoods or price ranges, new home construction, condominiums, etcetera. Two US Patents have been issued for the Strand™ Index and foreign patents are pending. To date, this remains the only analytical methodology in the history of the real estate industry to have been granted US Patent protection.