Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Northwest Real Estate Federal Way & Puyallup

  When shelter-in-place orders brought the economy to a screeching halt earlier this year, many believed the residential housing market would follow suit. Countless analysts predicted buyer demand would disappear and home values would depreciate for the first time in almost a decade. That, however, didn’t happen. It appears the opposite is taking place. After the bottom fell out of the real estate market immediately following the shutdown, it has come roaring back – and seems to still be gaining steam. Here’s a look at two recent reports – one from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and one from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) – showing this growing strength. Builder Confidence Hits All-Time High Last week, it was reported that applications for new home purchases with home builders were 39% higher than in July of 2019 . That has builder confidence soaring. Each month, NAHB releases its Housing Market Index , a survey of NAHB members who rate ...

    Some Highlights Sometimes it helps to see the dollars and cents you’ll save when you purchase a home while mortgage rates are low. Today’s low rates mean it’s less expensive to borrow money, so the savings over the life of your loan is significant. Reach out to a real estate professional to determine the best way to position your family for a financially-savvy move in today’s market.

  With the strength of the current housing market growing every day and more Americans returning to work, a faster-than-expected recovery in the housing sector is already well underway. Regardless, many are still asking the question: will we see a wave of foreclosures as a result of the current crisis? Thankfully, research shows the number of foreclosures is expected to be much lower than what this country experienced during the last recession. Here’s why. According to Black Knight Inc. , the number of those in active forbearance has been leveling-off over the past month (see graph below):   Black Knight Inc. also notes , of the original 4,208,000 families granted forbearance, only 2,588,000 of these homeowners got an extension. Many homeowners have once again started to pay their mortgages, paid off their homes, or never went delinquent on their payments in the first place. They may have applied for forbearance out of precaution, but never fully acted on it (see...

Today’s homebuyers are not just talking about their plans, they’re actively engaged in the buying process – and they’re serious about it. A recent  report  by the  National Association of Home Builders  (NAHB) indicates: “…. Of American adults considering a future home purchase  in the second quarter of 2020, about half   (49%) are not simply planning it, they are actively engaged in the process to find a home.  That is a significantly higher share than the comparable figure a year ago (41%), which suggests that the COVID-19 crisis and its accompanying record-low mortgage rates have converted some prospective buyers into active buyers.” It’s no surprise that buyers are out in full force today. Many Americans now need more space to work from home, and the current  low mortgage rates  are providing an extra boost of motivation to enter the housing market. If you’re considering selling your house, know that today’s buyers are serious about makin...

With businesses reopening throughout the country and some experts indicating early signs of a much-anticipated economic  recovery , more homebuyers are actively entering the housing market this summer. Today, housing is truly driving the U.S. economy forward. With so many buyers looking for homes to purchase and so few houses for sale right  now , there’s a disconnect between supply and demand. This imbalance is pushing home prices upward while driving more bidding wars and multiple-offer scenarios. Danielle Hale,  Chief Economist  at  realtor.com  explains : “People are surprised that prices are rising, not falling, because in the last  recession  home prices fell, the difference this time is the severe shortage of homes for sale…We are seeing bigger price increases with [a limited] number of homes…That is likely to lead to more competition and potentially multiple offers and bidding wars.” According to the recent  Realtors Confidence Index ...

Whether you’ve owned a home before, or you’re ready to jump into homeownership for the first time, there are always a lot of questions swirling around about what is truly required for a down payment, and how to best source down payment assistance. Let’s tackle these two today. 1. How much do you really need for a down payment? There is a long-standing misconception about down payment requirements. A survey from Fannie Mae shows only 17% of consumers know the minimum options are actually between 1 – 5% of the purchase price and 40% don’t know how much they need at all. There are many mortgage loans available that require as little as 3% down for first-time buyers, and some ask for only 3.5% down from repeat buyers. There are even loans available for Veterans that provide 0% down payment options too. We’ve mentioned recently that you don’t need to come up with a 20% down payment to buy, and we’ve also shared how quickly you can save for a 3% or 10% down payment,...