Uncategorized “2% Inflation Objective” After every Fed meeting where they decide whether to raise, lower, or leave the federal funds rate unchanged, it is explicitly stated that they are trying to meet a “2% inflation objective.” I don’t know how many people think about that goal but what it essentially means is that the prices of goods and services […]
Listings 2017 Real Estate Recap Happy New Year! The real estate market was a tale of two halves in 2017 in North King and South Snohomish Counties. January through June was a frenzy of multiple offers and escalating prices. The lowest average sales price during the year was in January at $582,000. That ballooned 18% through June to a high […]
Listings Spring Fever in the Seattle Housing Market! This is officially the wildest housing market I have seen in my 15+ years in the business! 2005-2007 was wild too but the exuberance wasn’t quite as high, especially outside core Seattle. Now, bidding wars are escalating home prices significantly (sometimes 10% or more) over the asking price nearly everywhere. However, overpricing your home will […]
Buyer Tips How Rising Mortgage Rates Affect Home Affordability (2017 Update) I made a similar post a few years ago as mortgage rates were rising slightly, but low and behold, they then turned lower again. Now, rates have increased noticeably since the election and are forecast to continue to rise, albeit at a moderate pace. So again, I thought I would talk a little about mortgage […]
Buyer Tips 7 Steps to Multiple Offer Success Since multiple offers are so common right now, I thought I’d throw out some key tips for when you are sitting down with your broker to write an offer on a home. These aren’t exactly secrets, but it’s surprising how often one or more of these steps aren’t taken which can easily lead to buyers losing […]
Listings Happy New Year! As 2017 kicks off, I get to celebrate my 15-year anniversary at Windermere! I’m proud to be associated with such a great company, and I’m grateful to be able to work with so many enjoyable, well-educated, and ethical colleagues. In an ever-changing real estate market and political landscape, it’s nice to have some consistency. To […]
Buyer Tips How Rising Rates Affect Home Affordability Happy almost spring! As far as I’m concerned, it can’t come soon enough! In this post, I thought I would talk a little about mortgage interest rates and how, as rates rise, affordability decreases. Rates for a 30 year fixed mortgage are currently hovering around 4.32%. In the first quarter of 2013, the same 30 year […]
Buyer Tips Summertime Melt-up? I hope everyone enjoyed our beautiful Pacific Northwest summer! While I've been able to enjoy some of it myself, I've also stayed very busy as the housing market continued to be strong over these past two months. I thought it might be a good time for a market update so below you will find a few […]
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Seller Tips Leaves, leaves, and more leaves… Is it just me or does it seem like there are more leaves to clean up this year?.?.? I suspect it's about the same, but I probably just selectively forget the countless hours of raking every October and November. Anyway, this time of year does give me a reason to remind myself about some preventative home maintenance […]
Listings Rational Exuberance? Is the housing market in a state of rational exuberance? Since the beginning of this year, activity, sentiment, and even prices, have taken a turn for the better. And it does seem that a solid case can be made that the housing market finally bottomed in late 2011 into the beginning of 2012. BUT, let’s not get too far ahead […]
Real Estate Stats and Trends More Support for a Housing Turnaround The latest NW Multiple Listing Service press release title says that the “Western Washington housing market is energized and showing signs of a definite turnaround.” You can read the entire release here. One big fact given is that the year-over-year change in selling prices was positive for the first time in four years! It was a modest […]
Real Estate Stats and Trends Has the Housing Market Reached the Bottom? The latest NW Multiple Listing Service press release titled ‘Washington Homebuyers Realizing “Market may have Reached Bottom of Cycle”‘ suggests that confidence in a market bottom is increasing across the Puget Sound. Very low inventory and very low interest rates contributed toward a huge pending sale increase in February. For example, the release states: “Within King County, […]
Buyer Tips Low Inventory = Good News for Sellers? So far, the theme of 2012 is that there is definitely a lack of inventory. The housing market has been extremely busy in the low to median price ranges, but the upper middle to higher price ranges are starting to pick up steam too. The fact is, many buyers literally can’t find good homes to buy! […]
Real Estate Stats and Trends North King County Real Estate Recap for January 2012 January housing market stats are out so let’s do a little recap and analysis of housing market activity in North King County. The charts below include statistics for the cities of Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Kenmore, and the King County part of Bothell. This first graph shows the active homes for sale in light green, the […]
Real Estate Stats and Trends Housing market starting to heal itself?   Latest NW Multiple Listing Service press release:  “Housing market “healing itself,” numbers are “astoundingly good.” Click here for the full release: http://www.nwrealestate.com/nwrpub/common/news.cfm
Real Estate Stats and Trends King County Real Estate Recap for December 2011   Happy New Year! This month, I would like to give a perspective of King County real estate activity over the last 5 years…   If you recall, at the end of 2006 and at the beginning of 2007, the housing market was starting to shudder a bit in other parts of the country, but things […]
Buyer Tips What Can a REALTOR® Do For You as a Buyer?   When we think of selling a home, the services a REALTOR® can provide usually seem worth the cost of their commission, but what about as a buyer? What can a REALTOR® do for you as a home buyer, and is the commission worth the services they can provide?  Remember, even though the commission is usually […]
Real Estate Stats and Trends King and Snohomish County Real Estate Recap for November 2011   See below for charts and stats for the housing market as of the end of November for King and Snohomish Counties combined. As it often happens this time of year, the inventory of available homes is decreasing steadily. There are actually 25% fewer homes for sale this year than there were last year. However, sales are holding up […]
Real Estate Stats and Trends November Home Sales Outpace New Listings in NWMLS Data   Latest NW Multiple Listing Service press release: “Home sales outpace number of new listings for first time in five years.” Click here for the full release:  http://www.nwrealestate.com/nwrpub/common/news.cfm  
Buyer Tips Five Ways to Make Your Home Bright, Cozy, and Cheerful   December is a great month to cozy things up at home.  The brighter and warmer a house looks and feels, the happier you will be.  Here are a few tips to make your house as cheery as possible as we head toward the shortest day of the year!   Fix it up: The light […]