Tips from The Cascade Team Agents

  •                   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…

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If you’re the type of homebuyer whose mood soars or plummets depending on the latest mortgage rates, then this week was a tough one.

Mortgage rates continued to climb this week, with the 30-year loan averaging 6.73%, Freddie Macreports. Rates began climbing more than a month ago and are now prompting concerns that they could again head back above 7%. This means today’s homebuyers will have to pay almost 50% more per month for home than they would have just a year earlier.

Still, economists are largely forecasting rates to trend downward in 2023, even if there are some blips ahead.

For now, “rates may rise further in subsequent weeks, depending on how strong other economic data is,” says Nadia Evangelou, senior economist and director of real…

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Seattle among cities likely to see big slump in housing prices.

Some of the biggest cities in the U.S. that became boom towns during the pandemic are set to see a drastic decline in home prices, according to Goldman Sachs analysts.

In a recent note to clients, the strategists warned that by the end of 2024, home prices are set to plunge by 19% in Austin, 16% in Phoenix, 15% in San Francisco and 12% in Seattle. That's because those four cities have seen large increases in inventory, and supply is now overwhelming demand.

"While overall levels of housing inventory remain tighter than pre-pandemic levels, some vulnerable metropolitan areas have seen supply increase rapidly. Unsurprisingly, our home price appreciation forecasts have been most…

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When you’re ready to buy your dream home, you’re committing to living in one location for a while. A great way to find out what it’s like to live somewhere before you commit is doing a little research about the neighborhood you’re interested in.

For example, reading reviews of residents who have shared their firsthand experiences of living in their neighborhoods will help you determine whether the zip code you’re interested in is the right fit for you and your family live in.

So, before you put your money on the line, take a peek around the neighborhood. We won’t use a certain cliché, but there is a reason the pros emphasize location when buying real estate. You can change your house—but you can’t change the neighborhood. And if your…

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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 your home, you probably pulled up the real estate listing site Zillow to check its Zestimate or…

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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 have…

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What does selling your home have in common with online dating? Probably a whole lot more than you think.

Two-thirds of home buyers said they searched for more than three months before going under contract on a home, according to a new survey by the National Association of Home Builders. Buyers also complain that homes are getting too pricey. Forty-two percent of respondents said that the homes they wanted were too expensive for their budgets, which further delayed their search. Twenty-seven percent said that the increase in interest rates over the past 12 months had severely affected their home search parameters.

For Valentines: How Home Shopping Can Feel Like Dating

Are your home shoppers desperately trying to find “the one?” Finding the…

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One of the safest cities in the United States is in Western Washington, according to a report from moneygeek.com.

While the majority of the safest small cities are in the northeast, Sammamish, Washington, is 13th on the list.

A small city or town is defined as having between 30,000 to 100,000 residents.

According to the report, crime statistics were analyzed to rank the cost of crime in 660 small cities nationwide, in every state.

The report says while the cost of crime has gone down by 5% from 2020 to 2021, the cost of crime has gone up in larger cities by 6%.

The city of about 66,000 is located 21 miles east of Seattle. Located on the east bank of Lake Sammamish, the city is perched on a plateau. The city has one of the highest median…

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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…

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Mortgage Rates Just Hit a 4-Month Low, but Do Homebuyers Even Notice—or Care?

Recognize that media outlets and social media influencers are competing for scoops and eyeballs. As a result, their reports sometimes exaggerate issues, don’t tell the whole story, or get it wrong…. And the same thing can be said about the local housing market.

Mortgage rates are down again this week, which means things are looking up for homebuyers.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage ticked down 2 basis points to 6.13%, according to Freddie Mac, continuing a pattern of rates seesawing lower since topping 7% in the fall. In fact, mortgage rates are at their lowest levels since mid-September 2022.

Yet, while lower borrowing costs are a boon for…

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