Current Real Estate Market The “Magic” Interest Rate to Motivate Sellers Many would-be buyers and sellers are sitting on the sidelines waiting for rates to drop before they decide to buy or sell their home. With roughly half of homeowners in the U.S. have 50% equity in their homes and more than 80% of them having a mortgage rate of 5% or less, it doesn’t make […]
New Post Interpreting the Latest Market Numbers There is a lot of information in the latest real estate market statistics! Here are the highlights for the period ending March 31, 2023: 1. Sales volume is down considerably from one year ago. Volume has dropped from the low 20’s to low 30 percentage points depending on area. Sales volume represents the number of […]
Community Tulip Season is Here! I don’t know about you, but I LOVE tulips! I sort of identify with them because they are hardy little things and even when you cut their stems, they continue to grow!  Isn’t that inspiring? If you are considering visiting, here some great articles to help you have a great trip: Seattle Times Guide to […]
Current Real Estate Market 2022 Recap As we finish 2022, in North King and South Snohomish counties, at the end of November the median sold price went up 2.5% from one year ago but down 14.4% from its high of $900k in March of this year. Price fluctuations vary from neighborhood to neighborhood, at different price points, and depending on the […]
Community Emergency Preparedness As we have seen recently, cold weather can bring lots of challenges. Here are a few tips to stay safe when it snows and during power outages: First and foremost, use caution around debris and downed power lines. Be mindful of trees and branches that have been uprooted or broken but have not fallen all […]
Current Real Estate Market Our Current Game of Musical Chairs The recent rise in interest rates coupled with high inflation has caused the real estate market to slow and has sidelined both buyers and sellers:  Would-be buyers are waiting for rates and inflation to come back down (so they can afford more house or even get into one), and many sellers are waiting for prices […]
New Post Price and Location Matter! In this blog post, I want to show you why it is important to use targeted data when considering trends for a specific property, area, or price point–it is imperative to not overgeneralize. Why? County-wide trends may or may not apply to a particular property. Knowing neighborhoods is paramount when either listing a property for […]
Current Real Estate Market Home Equity Gains This Past Year This past year home values across the nation rose sharply: The average equity gain in the U.S. was $64,000. In  Washington, it was much higher, a whopping $114,000. All totaled, U.S. homeowners gained $3.8 trillion in equity since the first quarter of 2021, a year-over-year gain of 32.2%. Wow! If you are interested in how […]
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Community The Pivot of All Pivots… Pre-COVID, the ideal, “all the rage” office environment was a communal, “open concept,” shared-workspace office. When the pandemic hit in early 2020, there was a hard stop to this and and demand for shared spaces ground to a halt. Companies like WeWork who invested in shared workspaces hit hard times. For a developer who built […]
Current Real Estate Market Q1 2022 Western Washington Gardner Report First quarter real estate numbers are in for Western Washington! Here are a few key highlights: Inventory and sales volume levels are lower in most counties compared to one year ago Pending sales outpaced listings by a factor of 6.7. This means that houses sold 6.7 times faster than they came to market Prices continued […]
Community Maintaining Your Independence As You Age Maintaining independence is a key factor in being able to age in place well. What are the secrets to doing this? What are some things to consider in working towards this goal? If you or a loved one would like to find out, Northwest Neighbors Network, which works to help seniors age well in their […]
Current Real Estate Market Contract Signings Slide in February Across the U.S., pending home sales slid 4.1% month over month in February 2022 and 5.4% annually from last year. Why? In a nutshell, lack of inventory.  NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun states it eloquently: “One cannot buy what is not for sale.” It is important to note that these numbers quoted by NAR are […]
Community Black History Month: Ways to Increase Black Homeownership Recently I participated in a Zoom discussion/presentation with Nicole Bascomb, the National Association of Real Estate Broker’s Local President. Nicole discussed Black Homeownership programs, partnerships, and ways REALTORS® can support breaking barriers to homeownership. Watch the recording by clicking on the “Play” arrow below. To watch other webinars on the Washington REALTORS®  website, click this […]
Current Real Estate Market 8 Seattle Suburbs With the Biggest Price Increases This past year prices rose an average of 15.1% in Western Washington. However, price growth has not been evenly distributed either geographically or across price points. For example, consider these 8 Seattle Suburbs that had home price increases ranging from 30-100% year-over-year. Yes, you read that correctly: One of these areas actually DOUBLED in price […]
Current Real Estate Market Housing As an Employee “Perk” Wow! That is my reaction to the article below. Shocking, but a smart way to attract talent. This Florida employer bought two lots with plans to build homes for employees. They are offering the homes as a reward to two of their employees who will randomly drawn to win. This makes sense! Employees might be […]
Current Real Estate Market Top 10 Predictions for 2022 Last year we saw huge increases in home price appreciation. In Snohomish County, prices went up 22% overall in Snohomish County. Some areas saw even larger increases, especially on the eastside. To help you know what is coming this year, watch Matthew Gardner’s video here. For the condensed version of Matthew’s Top 10, here you […]
Current Real Estate Market Q4 Gardner Report for Western Washington The final Q4 numbers are in! Matthew Gardner’s analysis of the Western Washington housing market is complete. Here are some key highlights: The ratio of pending sales (demand) to active listings (supply) showed sales outpacing listings by a factor of 5.2. High buyer demand is putting upward pressure on prices. Home prices rose 15.1% compared […]
Current Real Estate Market Reasons to Sell your Home During the Holidays If you think selling your home during the holidays is a bad idea, think again! Here are 10 Reasons why it makes sense to sell now before inventory increases in the spring. To demonstrate what this video says, I recently listed a home for sale (on 12/16) in Shoreline. There was little else for sale […]
Current Real Estate Market Investors, Inventory, and the Home Purchase Market As you probably have probably heard, home inventory levels are at record low levels. There is a complex set of reasons why this has happened, some of them dating back to the housing crash of 2007+ when home builders went bankrupt and never came back. Recently, in Q3, more investors entered the housing purchase market, […]
Gardner Report Q3 Western Washington Real Estate Report Matthew Gardner recently published his Q3 2021 Western Washington Real Estate Market Update. Here are a few key highlights: Despite more listings becoming available, the ratio of pending sales (demand) to active listings (supply) showed pending sales outpacing listings by a factor of 4.6 Thurston (+14.3%), Snohomish (+10.8%), and King Counties (+7.8%) saw the biggest […]