Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Northwest Real Estate Federal Way & Puyallup

  You may have heard that pre-approval is a great  first step  in the homebuying process. But why is it so important? When looking for a home, the temptation to fall in love with a house that’s outside your budget is very real. So, before you start shopping around, it’s helpful to know your price range, what you’re comfortable within a monthly mortgage payment, and ultimately how much money you can borrow for your loan. Pre-approval from a lender is the only way to do this. According to a recent  survey  from  realtor.com,  many buyers are making the mistake of skipping the pre-approval step in the homebuying process: “Of over 2,000 active home shoppers who plan to purchase a home in the next 12 months,  only 52% obtained a pre-approval letter before beginning their home search , which means nearly half of home buyers are  missing this crucial piece of paperwork. ” This paperwork (the pre-approval letter) shows sellers you’re a qualified buye...

  Existing-home sales set a record in July for month-over-month increase as July sales were up 25% over June sales according to the National Association of Realtors  This Week in Real Estat e.  In addition, home builder confidence has reached its highest reading in the 35-year history of the Housing Market Index, matching the record set in December 1998. Below  are a few newsworthy events from the  third week of August  that influence our business:    *  U.S. Home Sales And Median Price Soar to a Record in July.   Existing-home sales jumped 25% in July from June, beating the prior record gain of 21% set a month earlier, as low mortgage rates fueled demand for real estate.   Sales of single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops rose to a seasonally adjusted 5.86 million, the highest level since 2006, the National Association of Realtors said in a report on Friday. The median price increased 8.5% from a...

  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...

Inventory is arguably the biggest challenge for buyers in today’s housing market. There are simply more buyers actively looking for homes to purchase than there are sellers selling them, so the scale is tipped in favor of the sellers. According to the latest  Existing Home Sales Report  from the  National Association of Realtors  (NAR), total housing inventory is down 18.8% from one year ago. Inventory is well below what was available last year, and the houses that do come to the market are selling very quickly. Sam Khater,  Chief Economist  at  Freddie Mac   notes : “Simply put, new housing supply is not keeping up with rising demand. We estimate that the housing market is undersupplied by 3.3 million units, and the shortage is rising by about 300,000 units a year. More than half of all states have a housing shortage.” Why is inventory so low? There are many reasons why it’s hard to find a home to buy today, stemming from an undersupply of newly ...

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 ...

For the first time since at least World War II mortgage rates are below 4% while at the same time the unemployment rate is below 4%. As a result, CoreLogic Chief Economist Frank Nothaft predicts  This Week in Real Estate  that home prices will increase at a faster pace over the next 12 months than they have in 2019.  Below  are a   few highlights from the  first week  of  October  that influence our business : *  CoreLogic Says U.S. Home-Price Gains Will Accelerate Through 2020.  CoreLogic Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said the pace of home-price gains will quicken over the next 12 months as low mortgage rates give buyers the ability to pay more for properties. Home prices probably will increase 5.8% in the 12 months through August 2020, Nothaft said in an exclusive interview with HousingWire. That’s a faster pace than the 3.6% growth seen in August 2019 from a year earlier.   Rates for fixed mortgages will p...