Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Northwest Real Estate Federal Way & Puyallup

If you’re thinking about  selling your house  but wondering if buyers are still out there, know that there are still people who are searching for a home to buy today. And your house may be exactly what they’re looking for. While the millennial generation has been dubbed the  renter  generation, that namesake may not be appropriate anymore. Millennials, the largest generation, are actually a significant driving force for buyer demand in the housing market today. Here’s why. Millennial Homebuying Power While there’s no denying higher  mortgage rates  are making it more challenging to afford a home today, many millennials are still eager and able to buy homes – whether it’s their first or they’re moving up. That’s in large part because of the value they place on education. A  recent article  from  First American  says millennials may be the most educated generation in our nation’s history. Because of that, they tend to earn higher wages, and that translates to greater homebuying power. Od

With all the headlines and talk in the media about the  shift  in the housing market, you might be thinking this is a housing bubble. It’s only natural for those thoughts to creep in that make you think it could be a repeat of what took place in 2008. But the good news is, there’s concrete data to show why this is nothing like the last time. There’s Still a Shortage of Homes on the Market Today, Not a Surplus For historical context, there were too many homes for sale during the housing crisis (many of which were short sales and foreclosures), and that caused prices to fall dramatically.  Supply  has increased since the start of this year, but there’s still a shortage of inventory available overall, primarily due to almost 15 years of underbuilding homes. The graph below uses  data  from the  National Association of Realtors  (NAR) to show how the months’ supply of homes available now compares to the crash. Today, unsold inventory sits at just a 3.2-months’ supply at the current sales p

Since the 2008 housing bubble burst, the word recession strikes a stronger emotional chord than it ever did before. And while there’s some debate around whether we’re officially in a recession right now, the good news is experts say a recession today would likely be mild and the economy would rebound quickly. As the 2022 CEO Outlook from KPMG  says : “Global CEOs see a ‘mild and short’ recession, yet optimistic about global economy over 3-year horizon . . .   More than 8 out of 10 anticipate a recession over the next 12 months, with  more than half expecting it to be mild and short .” To add to that sentiment, housing is typically one of the first sectors to rebound during a slowdown. As Ali Wolf, Chief Economist at  Zonda ,  explains : “Housing is traditionally one of the first sectors to slow as the economy shifts but is also  one of the first to rebound .” Part of that rebound is tied to what has historically happened to mortgage rates during recessions. Here’s a look back at rates

If you’re planning to  buy a home  this year, one of the first steps on your  journey  is getting pre-approved. Especially in today’s market when  mortgage rates  are higher than they were just a few months ago, getting a  mortgage pre-approval  can be a game changer. Here’s why. What Is Pre-Approval? To better understand why pre-approval is key, it’s important to know what pre-approval is. The  Mortgage Reports  explains  it like this: “When you’re ready to take the leap into homeownership, your first step is mortgage preapproval. . . . A mortgage preapproval is when a lender determines you’re qualified for a home loan.  Your preapproval letter shows the maximum loan amount you’re approved for (your home buying budget), as well as the specific interest rate and loan term you can expect. ” As part of the pre-approval process, a lender will look at your finances to determine what they’d be willing to loan you. From there, your lender will give you a pre-approval letter to help you under

Good Morning! Data supports the known truth that the real estate market faces growing headwinds that are cooling down the nation’s decade-long housing market boom. The Federal Reserve has succeeded in its objective to slow down the housing market. The National Association of Realtors reported This Week in Real Estate that total existing-home sales contracted 1.5% in September from August, to an annual rate of 4.71 million sales. While sales have retracted due to economic uncertainty home prices continue to be resilient thanks largely to lack of inventory. For a record 127 th consecutive month, the median home price increased year-over-year with more than a quarter of homes on the market selling above list price. According to ATTOM’s Q3 2022 U.S. Home Sales Report, the typical investment return or profit margin on median-priced single-family home and condo sales across the U.S. was 54.6 percent, up from 48.8 percent in the third quarter of 2021 and near record levels for this centur

Some Highlights If you’re planning to  sell your house  this year, you likely have  questions  about what the shift in the housing market means for your home sale. You might be wondering:  Should I wait  to sell ? Are  buyers  still out there? And can I afford to buy my  next home ? Connect with a trusted real estate professional so you can get answers to these questions and learn about the opportunities you still have in today’s housing market.

As the  housing market  cools in response to the dramatic rise in  mortgage rates , home price appreciation is cooling as well. And if you’re following along with headlines in the media, you’re probably seeing a wide range of opinions calling for everything from falling home prices to ongoing appreciation.  But what’s true? What’s most likely to happen moving forward? While opinions differ, the most likely outcome is we’ll fall somewhere in the middle of slight appreciation and slight depreciation. Here’s a look at the latest expert projections so you have the best information possible today. What the Experts Are Saying About Home Prices Next Year The graph below shows the most up-to-date forecasts from five experts in the housing industry. These are the experts that have most recently updated their projections based on current market trends: As the graph shows, the three blue bars represent experts calling for ongoing home price appreciation, just at a more moderate rate than recent y