The housing markets in Snohomish, Island, and Skagit counties are shifting gears in 2024. While home prices remain high, the breakneck pace of appreciation seen in recent years is starting to slow down. Here are some trends we are seeing: What’s Driving the Change? Rising mortgage rates are making homeownership more expensive, potentially impacting affordability […]

The amount of money a homebuyer puts down to purchase a home hit a historic high at the end of 2023, but that sum is finally falling. A new report from Realtor.com® shows that the median down payment homebuyers laid on the closing table in the first three months of 2024 was an average of 13.6%—which translates […]

A mortgage rate is highly subjective and can vary for a variety of reasons.  A news story that provides an outright level like 7.5% requires context and qualification.  Some online advertisements (especially among builders) could still be showing rates in the high 6’s.  Some borrowers will be seeing rates of 7.625 or higher.  Loans with less than 25% […]

A panel of housing experts anticipates continued growth in home prices, though at a slower pace than in recent years, according to the latest Fannie Mae Home Price Expectations Survey (HPES). The panel has upgraded its Q1 2024 projection to a 3.8% rise in home price growth this year and 3.4% in 2025 – a […]

Sales of existing homes slid 1% from November to December, though sales are expected to move higher this year. Existing Home Sales fell 1% from November to December to a 3.78-million-unit annualized pace, coming in below estimates of an unchanged reading per the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Sales were also 6.2% lower than they were […]

January 2024 After several months of low sentiment from home builders, January has finally seen a turn of the tide, according to the National Association of Home Builders monthly index. While still not quite feeling overly optimistic about the future, we did see a 7 point increase from home builders and the first monthly increase […]