The Cascade Team Blog - Selling A Home

Is the Housing Market Finally Thawing—or Is Another Deep Freeze To Come?

After a particularly rough stretch, the frozen housing market has begun to thaw.

Mortgage rates have tumbled, more homes are being listed, and sales are rising as buyers are pouncing on their sudden change in fortune.

“The worst is over for the housing market,” says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. But “it will take a number of years for the housing market to fully normalize.”

Indeed, the signs of a gradual sea change have been abundant in the past two months.

Market Recap

Real estate market activity has remained slow in accordance with typical seasonal patterns. Interest rates held steady through the month of January to end at 6.69%; at the time of this publication, there was a slight decrease to 6.63%. For the…

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The New Era of Buyer Brokerage Agreements

On January 1, 2024, the revised “Agency Law” that governs real estate brokerage relationships (RCW 18.86) becomes effective. Among other changes, a significant revision to the law requires real estate firms to enter into a written brokerage services agreement with a buyer before, or as soon as reasonably practical after, commencing real estate brokerage services for that buyer.

These revisions to Agency Law require that brokers enter into a brokerage services agreement with their client before — or as soon as reasonably practical after — the provision of real estate brokerage services. This contract will include stipulations like length of partnership, exclusivity vs. non-exclusivity and the rate of compensation.

Looking at the law

It may…

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Why You Should Buy a Home Early in 2024

For everyone who buys a house between now and February 29th, you're going to look at those people in the same way you look at people who bought houses at the beginning of covid.

You're going to look back and be like *darn it* why wasn't I that smart? Why was I so scared? What was I thinking?

I’ll repeat again because it’s that important….

Anyone who buys a house right now is going to get the best deal you'll see in years.

There is no competition right now. The second interest rates drop again you're going to see millions of buyers jump into the market and housing prices will never be the same...

Mortgage rates have fallen to their lowest level since May 2023. Additionally, I am optimistic regarding mortgage rates, but not overly. I…

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Relationships that last a lifetime

Building relationships that last a lifetime is and always has been one of my lifelong  goals. 

As we grow and life moves forward, know that I am here for you. I love hearing about your current muses, life changes and of course anything real estate related! I always find it interesting how so much our life is centered around our home with regard to job changes, growing families, planned adventures and retirement. At the end of the day, HOME is so much more than where we lay our hat, it is where we raise our family, entertain, dream, eat, play and plan for the New Year. 

Want to talk about life, current market conditions, the process of home ownership or anything else? Give me a call, I would love to catch up! 

Cheers, 

Hailey…

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Housing Market Shows Signs of Optimism Despite Reduced Inventory

Market Recap

The new year kicks off with some hopeful signs for buyers within the real estate market. Interest rates proceeded to drop through the month of December to a current rate of 6.61% from the November level of 7.1%, with the Fed signaling additional cuts on the horizon. Yet inventory remains stagnant in accordance with typical seasonal patterns, and low inventory persisted to pressure home prices in the region, which were up about 5% year-over-year. According to Selma Hepp, chief economist for CoreLogic, “strong home price gains over the course of the year indicate that home prices in most Washington state markets have fully recovered from 2022 losses and are reaching new highs once again.”

CoreLogic’s Home Price Index forecasts another…

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Buyers Find a Surprise Gift Under The Tree

The Federal Reserve played Santa for Christmas this year and delivered the best gift for homebuyers nationwide, leading to lower mortgage rates. The 10-year yield and mortgage rates fell together after the Fed meetings, which gave us mortgage rates under 7% last week.

•          Mortgage Rates hit 6.95%
•          Median List Price up 1.5%
•          Time on Market drops 4 Days.
•          New Listings UP 6.8%

Homebuyers have a lot to be joyful for right now with mortgage rates have dipping below 7% for the first time since August.

For the week ending Dec. 14, rates for a 30-year fixed-rate home loan averaged 6.95%, according to Freddie Mac.

And odds are, mortgage rates will continue their long-awaited downward trend, providing some…

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Our Housing Market Predictions for 2024 and Beyond (“It’s going to stop getting worse.”)

Will 2024 will be the year the housing market finally becomes unstuck. The answer is sort of…

At long last we finally are set to say goodbye to 2023. This was a year where interest rates went from 6% to briefly topping 8% back in October. Adding to that, many builders worried about the economy scaled back the number of new homes being built. Additionally, millions of homeowners who locked in historic rates near 3% during the pandemic felt little compulsion to sell their homes and consider buying new homes at higher interest rates.

And all of this left buyers with few choices and the homes available continued to climb in price along with interest rates due to the lack of available inventory.

Looking back in a few years I honestly believe we…

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Reduced Inventory/Interest Rates Produces Increased Home Prices

Market Recap

A slight decrease in interest rates has raised cautious optimism – interest rates now sit at around 7.2%, in comparison to 7.8% in October 2023, and a continuation of that decrease would have a positive impact on the market in general. However, the decline in seasonal inventory continues to drive home prices upward, spurring an increase of 4.6% in prices from November 2022:

• NWMLS brokers reported 4,367 closed sales in November 2023, which is a 16% drop from closed sales in November 2022 (5,194). However, this is a slight improvement from October’s year-over-year change in closed sales, which decreased 18% when compared to October 2022.
• While most counties in the NWMLS report (19 of 26) saw a decrease in the number of homes…

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Home Buyers Get a Present For The Holidays: Improving Inventory and Better Rates!

Homebuyers who brave the cold to get out there and shop for homes right are finding something strange, really good news!

First up, increasing inventory.

A new report has found that 7.5% more home sellers listed their homes in November than this same month last year. It’s actually “the first-time inventory has increased this late in the fall season since our records commenced in 2016. This turnaround is a big deal, “ending a four-month streak of annual inventory declines,”. Plus, seasonal housing stock in November increased by 2.4% above October levels, which is another first.

November saw the first annual growth in newly listed homes in 17 months. If you look at total inventory—of both new listings and old—that’s improved, too, with the…

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TIPS FOR SELLING YOUR HOME AROUND THANKSGIVING

With everything going on from Holiday parties to shopping and visits from the in-laws we know that it’s easy to turn away from listing and selling your home during the holidays. Plus, almost everyone says the market slows down in the Winter and you should just wait until Spring, right? WRONG!

While it’s true the market is usually slower around the holidays, the current market trends of constrained inventory and desperate buyers have in fact made the Holidays an excellent time to put your house up for sale. With fewer sellers listing during the Holiday period, buyers are left sitting around with pre-approval letters in-hand just starving for inventory!

Here are 5 TIPS FOR SELLING YOUR HOME AROUND THANKSGIVING

1. Make Curb Appeal a Top…

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