In The News Headed for Recession? What Does That Mean? We’re all hearing headlines about a looming recession in the near future but what does this actually mean? In general terms recessions are defined as 2 consecutive quarters where the US GDP, Gross Domestic Product in our economy, declines. Since our great recession of 2007 to 2011 or 12, many fear hearing of this word. […]
In The News i-Buyers and the Changing Face of Real Estate Photo by Valentin Petkov on Unsplash Technology and outside businesses, mainly backed by financial firms and venture capitalists, are fiercely competing and investing to get deeper into the real estate business. For the past 10 to 15 years these efforts have had minimal success. With their focus now more narrowly set on the amount of money involved in […]
In The News Home Buying Confusion–On the Path to Chaos In our increasingly global economy, outsiders from everywhere in the world want an “in” to the U.S. real estate market. There seems no end to the amount of money people, companies and investment groups can and will spend to get in to our market. Most claim they “know” how to improve efficiencies, speed up and […]
In The News A Christmas Present For You to Enjoy   After a 20% run up in market values early this year, we’ve settled back to a more normal 4-8% gain in home prices over 2017 values for most of our region. Buyers and agents have been asking when will we see a return to a more normal market for the past 3 years. It’s […]
In The News Eastside communities Q3 Report for 2018 There are no major surprises to the latest sales numbers for Seattle’s Eastside communities from Renton to Bothell; East of Lake Sammamish to Kirkland & Lake Washington. Prices are mostly up, modestly in most areas but a few with price reductions over 2017 prices. Inventory levels have doubled their 2017 levels and the sales pace […]
In The News Trend vs. Vision; Is the Herd Blocking Your View? Photo by William Milliot on Unsplash   We’ve all seen the headlines: home sales slowing, prices dropping, inventories rising. Unfortunately, too many people are getting the wrong impression about the actual market conditions. Yes, the headlines can be stated as factually accurate, even if statistically exaggerated, but they leave out major pieces of information that must be considered. […]
In The News Market update for August 2018 While the headline stories seem cataclysmic, the reality is still that we are seeing a shift from our escalating home values. We’ve come off the peak numbers by 3-5% but much of this is from buyers bidding over the asking prices. Where list prices were and where they are today are only 1-2% different. Home […]
In The News Q2 2018 Market update We’ve been seeing a shift in the feel and overall tempo of the market since around Mother’s Day weekend of this spring. The statistics are a bit slow to show some of this as many sales have 30-60 day closing schedules, especially heading into the end of the school years. Still, it’s good to see […]
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In The News Q1 2018 Market Data Report See the following report for an update on market prices, inventory levels and comparison between eastside areas. While the market, as a whole, has improving inventory levels, what almost all areas are still seeing is a lack of homes for sale in the $400-750K range. We have pretty high levels of homes above $1.5M but […]
In The News Home Sale Stats YTD in 2018 Below is a general market update for Western Washington. As with all general area statistics, some of the biggest changes are minimized by the scope of the area selected. What most buyers and agents are seeing the most is the lack of more affordable priced homes. If your definition is under $250K-that market is almost […]
In The News Make a Better Real Estate Resolution in 2018 Most of us will make resolutions with no expectations or true intentions of keeping them in the New Year. However, if one of your life goals for 2018 is to buy a home, I hope you will make and keep this resolution. Resolve to find an agent who is willing to listen to your needs […]
In The News Loan Limits Increase in Western Washington Most buyers need to borrow money to buy their homes. While interest rates do impact buyer’s ability to purchase, so does the amount of money they need to borrow. Most lenders plan to sell the loans into the secondary money market, typically FNMA (Fannie Mae) or FHMLC (Freddie Mac). These government sponsored entities set loan […]
In The News Gardner Report Q3 2017 Windermere’s local economist, Matthew Gardner, does a great job of monitoring and reporting on the economic health, trends and real estate related information in our region and breaking out specific areas too. See the info link below for the latest updates. Our region continues to experience record job and population growth, leading the country for […]
In The News Home Values, Can you believe ……? Every week, often daily, I’m asked, “Paul, can you believe how much ……, home prices are rising, over asking price bids are climbing too, quantity of people came thru an open house, submitted offers on a home…….  On and on it goes. The simple and short answer is “No, I cant believe it.” I can […]
In The News Market Froth Continues The frenetic pace of the real estate market continues to frustrate home Buyers while rewarding home Sellers. The data shows 13% appreciation on the eastside from last year but for those of us on the streets and in the negotiations, it's not abnormal to see prices up 20% since the beginning of this year. Bidding […]
In The News Q1 2016 Market Review for Western Washington Enjoy this report from Windermere's Chief Economist, Matthew Gardner, on economic and real estate changes. If you don't see the hyper link, hover on "this report" above to go to full report. The main takeaways to me are that our dramatic decline in available homes for sale in the King & Snohomish areas are finally […]
In The News March 2016 Update Some interesting statistics on our prices and activity levels so far this spring for the eastside and Snohomish County areas and how they compare over the last 10 years. The low quantity of homes for sale is beginning to be noted in the sales figures but overall the charts point to a very strong market for sales […]
In The News Bubbles vs. Affordability There are a lot of worries and speculation being voiced about home values in our area being at bubble levels and worries about when and what will cause the bubble to burst. The graph below may help allay some of those fears as it shows the monthly payments for homes over the past 27 years […]
In The News Interest rates & you…. Economists and financial forecasters have been telling us to expect interest rates to rise for the past 5 years or more, yet rates resisted. Now they have dropped back down to a 3.625% range for 30 year fixed rate mortgages; even for jumbo loan amounts–loans above a $417,000 amount, that typically aren't bought or secured by government […]
In The News Communication is a two-way street The information age is changing the speed and style of our communications; this can be seen in all phases of our lives but has unique negative implications in the real estate market. Obviously everyone wants to have information available to them and real estate information is wide open for anyone to find. Buyers can find […]