2024 Mortgage Rate and Real Estate Forecast


Spoiler alert! I (along with many others) predict that mortgage rates will be below 6% by the end of this year and that we’re going to see a very competitive housing market due to the lack of inventory. I don’t believe we will see home prices come down or a “correction” with home prices. It is so important to make sure that you are fully approved and have your offer structured correctly when you’re ready to buy a home.

Please check out my video for more information and reach out to me if you would like to create a strategy for purchasing your next home!

Greater Seattle’s Shifting Real Estate Market

You’ve probably heard that the Seattle’s sizzling real estate market has cooled a bit with home prices starting to come down. This is great news for folks who have grown weary battling in bidding wars only to have their offers rejected time after time. It looks like, at least right now, things may be returning to be more “normal”. [Read more…]

It’s Hard Being a Home Buyer in Seattle – Here are some tips!

CNN recently published an article about a couple’s experience buying a home in Seattle. In a nutshell, their seventh offer was accepted with multiple offers well over the list price and they were able to close quickly without contingencies with a large earnest money deposit.

Home prices and lack of inventory (which I hope is starting to change) have created a highly competitive situation for those who want to buy a home in Seattle. Buying a home just about anywhere in the tri-county area these days is not for the feint of heart. [Read more…]

King County Home Prices are up 7% from last year

The Seattle Times reports that home prices for King County have jumped up 7.2% from July last year. This pencils out to $25,250 with the median sales price of $375,250. The article also notes that closings are up 26% YOY which is great news for the housing industry. It doesn’t matter how low mortgage rates or home prices are unless transactions can actually close.With less inventory, many buyers are finding themselves in bidding wars or having a property in contract before they can get their offer together. From the article:

“Another recurring theme is the dramatic drop in the number of homes for sale. Home listings have been sliding for a full year; in July the number of home listed for sale was down 38 percent year-over-year…

…distressed home listings — bank-owned properties and short sales — are down 60 percent from last year. This also contributes to the small number of listings and brings up home prices.”

Part of the reason for the low inventory, per Seattle real estate economist Matthew Gardner, is that many people are not able to sell because they are underwater with their mortgages and don’t want to go through a short sale.

If you’re considering selling and your property is non-distressed (you have enough equity to sell), this could be a great time with more buyers than sellers.

If you’re underwater with your home and would like to sell once you have equity, you might consider a HARP 2.0 refinance (if your last conforming mortgage closed prior to June 2009) or an FHA streamlined refi (if your existing mortgage is FHA). While you wait for home values to continue to trend higher, why not save on your monthly mortgage payments?

If you’re a home buyer, I cannot stress enough how important it is to be fully preapproved BEFORE you start shopping for a home. If you’re considering buying or refinancing a home in Seattle, King County or anywhere in Washington state, I’m happy to help you!

Sunday Drive to the Tri-Cities: Washington’s Wine Country

Cari_2Editors Note: This Sunday Drive is brought to you by Cari McGee who knows her way around Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and surrounding towns as a Realtor in the Tri-Cities for Windermere.  Cari is also the author of The Real Estate Blog by Cari McGee.

Now that gas prices are back at feasible levels, you should think about taking a drive over to the OTHER side of our fair state.  The Tri-Cities (3-4 hour trip by car, depending on how fast you drive and what the traffic on the Pass is like) is a great place to spend a peaceful Sunday afternoon.

Now, I’m not an outdoorsy type of girl.  When I have free time, I’m curled up on the sofa reading a novel that takes place near a town that ends in ‘shire and where all the houses sport Aga ranges.  However, I realize that not everyone is like that.  In addition, one big reason anyone would come over here from Seattle is to enjoy the sunshine we see on more than 300 days in a year. So, the list of possible activities here include boating, fishing, golfing, shopping, and my new favorite – wine-tasting.

Carivines One sip of alcohol and I become flushed, my heart beats wildly and I feel light-headed.  Strangely, it’s not all alcohol that does it (or maybe it IS but because I love champagne and daiquiris so much I don’t notice it when I drink them!). Usually, though, one sip of wine begins the process and I can’t have more than three or four sips before I quietly set the glass down and go look for a diet Coke. So it was a great surprise to me to go winery-hopping through the Tri-Cities and have a GREAT time doing it because the whole flush thing didn’t happen!

Due to Eastern Washington’s location on the lee side of the Cascades, the entire areaCaribarnardgriffin  is sheltered from the more dramatic marine climate. A mix of light rainfall and irrigation from nearby rivers provides the ideal amount of water for growing grapes. The Tri-Cities is in the South Columbia Valley, which is part of the vast Columbia Valley Appellation.  Wines have been produced in the region only since the mid 1980’s, and yet the quality and reputation of the wines here is exceptional.

Three wineries are very close together along Tulip Lane in Richland; Barnard Griffin, Bookwalter and Tagaris.  One of them offersCaribookwalker  tastings for free, and the other two charge 5 or 6 dollars, but that is refunded if you buy a bottle of wine.  Breadsticks and crackers or chocolate chips provide a break for your palate in between selections and the atmosphere is laid back and relaxed.  The pourer will chat you up or let you and your group do all the talking, whichever option you wish.                                                       Caritagaris

Travel fifteen minutes away from those wineries (and the joke in the Tri-Cities is that everything is just fifteen minutes away from everything else) and you’ll find Badger Mountain/Powers Winery.  The vineyard at Badger Mountain is a certified organic winery, and so the wines made from grapes harvested there taste a bit differently than traditional wines.  There are no added sulfites as well, and even I, an inexperienced wine-drinker, noticed the difference.Caripowers

Further away than the famous fifteen minutes allows are Hogue Cellars (closer to Prosser), and Preston Wineries (out beyond Pasco).

Jump in the car some Sunday morning, zip across the state and enjoy some fantastic wine by mid-afternoon (or golf, or fish or shop!). There are all kinds of things to do here in the Tri-Cities, pick your fun and dive into it.  We’d love to have you!