•       Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA): “Long-term rates have already peaked. We expect that 30-year mortgage rates will end 2023 at 5.2%.”
  •                   National Association of Realtors (NAR) senior economist and director of forecasting, Nadia Evangelou: “If inflation continues to slow down—and this is what we expect for 2023—mortgage rates may stabilize below 6% in 2023.”
  •                   Freddie Mac: Forecasts the average 30-year mortgage rate to start at 6.6% in Q1 2023 and end up at 6.2% in Q4 2023.
  •                   The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage dropped to 6.57% on Monday, according to Mortgage News Daily.
  •                   If rates continue to drop now, buyers could return to the housing market…

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Weekly Review
Newsletter - 03/13/2023

Week of March 6, 2023 in Review

A deeper look at labor sector data shows the job market may be weaker than the headlines suggest. Plus, the latest forecast on home price appreciation and the Fed’s vow regarding inflation:

  • Jobs Data Shows Cracks in the Labor Sector
  • Leisure and Hospitality Led the Way in Job Gains
  • Continuing Jobless Claims Match 14-Month High
  • Home Prices Still Forecasted to Appreciate This Year
  • Fed Vows to “Stay the Course” in Inflation Fight

Jobs Data Shows Cracks in the Labor Sector

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that there were 311,000 jobs created in February. While this was stronger than estimates, revisions to the data from December and January…

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Weekly Review
Newsletter - 03/06/2023

Week of March 6, 2023 in Review

Contract signings for existing homes surged in January while the latest appreciation data for December addressed concerns about a housing bubble. Read on for these important stories, plus news on unemployment claims and manufacturing:

  • Pending Home Sales Rose for Second Straight Month
  • Reports of a Housing Crash Not Supported by Appreciation Data
  • What’s Really Going on With Jobs?
  • Contraction in Manufacturing Continues

Pending Home Sales Rose for Second Straight Month

Pending Home Sales rose 8.1% from December to January, which was much stronger than expectations and follows the 1.1% gain in December. Sales were down 24.1% from a year earlier, though this…

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How Homebuyers and Sellers Can Avoid the Same Mistake when Pricing a Property in 2023

 

Hard lessons from the Zillow fiasco: Why Zillow and Redfin pricing is wrong, and how homebuyers and sellers can avoid the same mistake when pricing a property in 2023

Key Takeaways

  • The Redfin Estimate and the Zillow Zestimate calculate a home’s market value by using publicly available information and user-submitted data.
  • Both tools are often used by buyers when shopping for a home.
  • Redfin’s median error rate is 2.28% for on-market homes, while Zillow’s is 1.9%, according to the two companies as of this writing.
  • Neither home value estimator can or should replace a professional appraisal.

If you’ve ever wondered what you could get for…

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Weekly Review
Newsletter - 02/27/2023

Week of February 20, 2023 in Review

Sales of new homes and consumer inflation were both hotter than expected in January. Plus find out what the latest data on Existing Home Sales says about inventory and the demand for homes.

  • Consumer Inflation Higher Than Expected
  • More to Existing Home Sales Data Than Meets the Eye
  • New Home Sales Jumped Higher in January
  • What Jobless Claims Data Suggests for Workers and Job Seekers
  • Recession Signal Flashing

Consumer Inflation Higher Than Expected

The Fed’s favorite measure of inflation, Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE), showed that headline inflation increased 0.6% in January, while the year-over-year reading rose from an upwardly revised 5.3%…

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POWER BALANCE IS SHIFTING IN FAVOR OF BUYERS.

  • Prices are dropping at the fastest rate in 5 years.
  •          Existing-home sales fell for the twelfth straight month in January, with year-over-year sales falling 37%, the biggest decline since 2010.
  •          Seattle posted the second-highest decrease in close-to-list price ratio of any metro area in the U.S. last month.
  •          Sellers are paying for rate buy-downs.
  •          Sellers are offering concessions.
  •          Inspection and other key contingencies are back in play.
  •          Many buyers are negotiating a combination of (Lower offering price, Seller Rate Buy-Downs, AND still including Inspection and other contingencies)

The housing market today remains in a hazy no…

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Today’s housing market has everyone wondering: Is it still a seller’s market, or has the power dynamic finally shifted in favor of buyers?

Try neither.

Uncertainty about the future of inflation, the economy, mortgage rates, and more have seized up the market—and wrenched power away from buyers and sellers alike.

“Today, real estate is ‘nobody’s market,'” notes Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale in her analysis of housing data. “The number of homeowners deciding to sell continues to lag, but inventory and time on market continue to climb, reflecting still-hesitant buyers.”

The real estate game is at a stalemate that shows no signs of budging anytime soon, with neither buyers nor sellers willing to make the first move.

Buyers…

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Weekly Review
Newsletter - 02/21/2023

Week of February 13, 2023 in Review

Home construction slowed in January, but rising confidence among home builders this year is an encouraging sign. Also encouraging is the continued decline in the annual rate of inflation, although the drop was less than expected last month. Read on for these stories:

  • Mild Progress on Consumer Inflation
  • Wholesale Inflation Hotter Than Expected
  • Household Formations Continue to Outpace Completions
  • Builder Confidence Rose for Second Straight Month
  • Continuing Jobless Claims Continue to Creep Higher
  • Was the Rebound in Retail Sales an Anomaly?

Mild Progress on Consumer Inflation

The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation on the consumer…

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  •  U.S. weekly average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.09%
  •          The “new normal” for mortgage rates will likely be in the 5.5% to 6.5% range.
  •          While interest rates have tempered a bit, many buyers are moving forward to purchase with an intent to refinance once rates come down more.
  •          The unemployment rate fell to 3.4%, the lowest level since 1968.
  •          The spring real estate market is here early.

KIRKLAND, Washington (February 6, 2023) – Pending sales around Washington state reached the highest level since October and surged nearly 44% from December, according to the January report from Northwest Multiple Listing Service. Last month’s 5,776 mutually accepted offers were down about 9% from a year ago,…

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Weekly Review
Newsletter - 02/06/2023

Week of January 30, 2023 in Review

The Fed hiked its benchmark Fed Funds Rate, while there’s more to January’s job data than the headlines suggest. Plus, find out what the latest news on home price appreciation really means, all ahead in these stories:

  • Are More Fed Rate Hikes Ahead This Year?
  • January Job Growth Not as Strong as It Appears
  • Private Payrolls Disappoint in January
  • Jobless Claims Reflect Tight Labor Market
  • Talk of Housing Crash Not Supported by Appreciation Data

Are More Fed Rate Hikes Ahead This Year?

As expected, the Fed hiked its benchmark Fed Funds Rate by 25 basis points at its meeting last Wednesday. The Fed has now hikedthe Fed Funds Rate eight times since last…

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