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Blog How Will the Presidential Election Impact Real Estate? The year 2020 will be remembered as one of the most challenging times of our lives. A worldwide pandemic, a recession causing historic unemployment, and a level of social unrest perhaps never seen before have all changed the way we live. Only the real estate market seems to be unaffected, as a new forecast projects there may […]
Blog Windermere Insights: Second Home Purchases on Some Buyers’ Minds With COVID-related economic stressors mounting for those in the local hospitality and tourism industries among other impacted sectors, many area residents are wondering about the sustainability of their current rent or mortgage. In conjunction with this, mortgage brokers are experiencing a deluge of refinance applications for homeowners looking to lower their monthly overhead and take […]
Blog Sellers Are Returning to the Housing Market In today’s housing market, it can be a big challenge for buyers to find homes to purchase, as the number of houses for sale is far below the current demand. Now, however, we’re seeing sellers slowly starting to come back into the market, a bright spark for potential buyers. Javier Vivas, Director of Economic Research at realtor.com, explains: “Seller confidence has […]
Blog Homes Are More Affordable Right Now Than They Have Been in Years   Today, home prices are appreciating. When we hear prices are going up, it’s normal to think a home will cost more as the trend continues. The way the housing market is positioned today, however, low mortgage rates are actually making homes more affordable, even as prices rise. Here’s why. According to the Mortgage Monitor Report from Black Knight: While […]
Blog Local Market Update: August 2020 While the pace of daily life may seem slow right now, the local real estate market has had an unusually busy summer. The number of new listings in July was up, sales increased, and home prices followed suit. • While overall inventory is at historic lows, more sellers put their homes on the market. New […]
Blog A Message from Sheri & Matt   As longtime realtors and residents of the Eastside we have seen this market go in all different directions; from its highest highs to its lowest lows we’ve seen it all. When this pandemic hit it became apparent early on that this was not going to be business as usual, there was something very different […]
Blog Add Value to Your Home With These 9 DIY Improvements Whether you’re prepping your house to go on the market or looking for ways to maximize its long-term appreciation, these nine home improvement projects are great ways to add function, beauty, and real value to your home.   The best part is, once you’ve secured the materials, most of these renovations can be completed over […]
Blog The Gardner Report – Second Quarter 2020   The following analysis of the Western Washington real estate market is provided by Windermere Real Estate Chief Economist Matthew Gardner. We hope that this information may assist you with making better-informed real estate decisions. For further information about the housing market in your area, please don’t hesitate to contact your Windermere agent.   REGIONAL […]
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Blog How Low Inventory is Influencing the Market The local real estate market is recovering so well from the statewide shutdown that it may soon have a hard time keeping up with itself. While active listings are being snapped up by assertive buyers, new inventory is being added at a relative snail’s pace. May and June have seen so much homebuyer demand that […]
Blog Local Market Update: July 2020 While our lives are very different than they were a year ago, the local real estate market has recovered to 2019 levels. Record low interest rates are helping spur demand. Sales were up, home prices increased and multiple offers were common. The number of pending sales, a measure of current demand, was higher in June than for […]
Blog A Historic Rebound for the Housing Market Pending Home Sales increased by 44.3% in May, registering the highest month-over-month gain in the index since the National Association of Realtors (NAR) started tracking this metric in January 2001. So, what exactly are pending home sales, and why is this rebound so important? According to NAR, the Pending Home Sales Index (PHS) is: “A leading indicator of housing activity, […]
Blog What Are the Experts Saying About Future Home Prices? A worldwide pandemic and an economic recession have had a tremendous effect on the nation. The uncertainty brought about by both has made predicting consumer behavior nearly impossible. For that reason, forecasting home prices has become extremely difficult. Normally, there’s a simple formula to determine the future price of any item: calculate the supply of […]
Blog Is a Recession Here? Yes. Does that Mean a Housing Crash? No. On Monday, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) announced that the U.S. economy is officially in a recession. This did not come as a surprise to many, as the Bureau defines a recession this way: “A recession is a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, normally visible in production, employment, and other indicators. A recession begins when […]
Blog Local Market Update: June 2020 As we move to the next phase of reopening, life feels like it’s slowly inching back towards normal.  The same is true in real estate. Statistics on home sales in May provided the first true picture of the effects of COVID-19. Those reports confirmed the incredible strength and stability of the local real estate market. […]
Blog Happening Online: June 2020 Each month, we bring you the up-to-date list of community and special events happening across the Eastside in cities like Kirkland, Bellevue, and Redmond, and despite our current state of affairs we’re feeling the importance of connection, now more than ever. So, during these strange quarantimes, we’ve put together an online/virtual events calendar that offers […]
Blog Windermere Insights: How COVID-19 is Really Impacting Local Real Estate The challenges presented by COVID-19 have been felt locally by every home buyer, seller and real estate broker. Residential real estate, which was moving at breakneck speed through February, came to a screeching halt for two weeks in March after the initial Stay Home order was implemented. As soon as Governor Inslee declared real estate […]
Blog Why This Summer Is the 2020 Real Estate Season With stay-at-home orders starting to gradually lift throughout parts of the country, data indicates homebuyers are jumping back into the market. After many families put their plans on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, what we once called the busy spring real estate season is shifting into the summer. In 2020, summer is the new spring for real estate. […]
Blog Housing Market Positioned to Bring Back the Economy All eyes are on the American economy. As it goes, so does the world economy. With states beginning to reopen, the question becomes: which sectors of the economy will drive its recovery? There seems to be a growing consensus that the housing market is positioned to be that driving force, the tailwind that is necessary. Some may […]
Blog Local Market Update: May 2020 [THE STATE OF] REAL ESTATELOCAL ECONOMY We hope you are weathering the new normal as best as you can. With everyone spending more time than ever at home, real estate has taken on a whole new importance. For those who are interested, here is a brief update on how COVID-19 continues to affect our local […]
Blog Think This Is a Housing Crisis? Think Again. With all of the unanswered questions caused by COVID-19 and the economic slowdown we’re experiencing across the country today, many are asking if the housing market is in trouble. For those who remember 2008, it’s logical to ask that question. Many of us experienced financial hardships, lost homes, and were out of work during the […]