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  1. Highest Number of New Listings to Hit The Market In 10 Years
  2. Increased Inventory Leans Towards a More “Balanced” Market
  3. Home Price Increases still up but Slowing
  4. Some Neighborhoods Now Seeing Slight Price Decreases  

Improving inventory creating long-awaited opportunities for buyers
KIRKLAND, Washington (June 5, 2018) – Member-brokers of Northwest Multiple Listing Service added 14,524 new listings during May, the first time that volume topped 14,000 since May 2008.

“With eyes peeled for potential shifts in a market that’s felt like ‘more of the same,’ the recent uptick in new listings hitting the market catches my eye -- the most new listings in more than a decade,” commented Robert Wasser, owner/broker at Prospera Real Estate in…

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Mortgage rates are edging noticeably higher this week, and would-be home buyers and refinancing homeowners may have missed out on a chance to lock in a lower rate. 

  • The average contract rate on the 30-year fixed will likely end the day as high as 4.875 percent for the highest creditworthy borrowers and 5 percent for the average borrower.
  • Tuesday's move follows positive economic data in retail sales, suggesting that newly imposed tariffs would not hit sales as hard as expected.
  • With supply and demand so far out of whack, Mortgage Rates are unlikely to affect home prices in the near term.

Mortgage application volume for refinancing and home purchases dropped 2.7 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted week-to-week…

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Looking for local information on Issaquah Highlands real estate? You've come to the right place. The community information shown below will give you a quick snapshot of what Issaquah Highlands housing market is doing. Be sure to check out the local homes for sale stats and the available properties below. The numbers shown are inclusive of condos and single family homes, so you'll have a better all round view of the market.

Good News For Home Buyers As Area Housing Inventory Increases By 14%!

Issaquah Highlands: Name Your Selling Price And We'll Bring The Buyers!

2017 was a record year for The Issaquah Highlands. Some sections of the housing market increased by nearly 30% with the over-all price for a home increasing just under 18% for…

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  • Inventory increase by 14%
  • Total Homes For Sale increases to over 10,000 for first time in months
  • King, Snohomish & Kitsap Counties still under 1 months housing supply however
  • 4-6 Month Supply creates a Balanced Market

 KIRKLAND, Washington (May 7, 2018) – Home buyers may be cheered by an uptick in inventory, but the improving supply is unlikely to reverse rising prices, suggest industry leaders from Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

Commenting on just-released figures for April, which showed the highest level of active listings since August, OB Jacobi, president of Windermere Real Estate said, “For the first time in a long time we had good news for buyers.” Noting supply is still lower than year-ago levels (down 5.6 percent), it…

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Home purchasers seeking to stand out in competitive housing markets should consider a mortgage professional based in the area.

Don’t discount the benefits of shopping local—even for a mortgage professional.

In tight housing markets where bidding wars are common, buyers who need financing can strengthen their offers by working with a locally based mortgage broker or loan officer, real-estate agents and lenders say. “Getting a local person helps you over certain humps—it just really does,” said Laura Hodgson, a real-estate agent with The Cascade Team , who works in The Greater Seattle Area, and keeps a list of trusted mortgage pros on her website HERE.

Agents want to work with buyers whose lenders know the local market and have a record of…

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A basic beginner's explanation for our soaring home prices in King County: There are a lot more people searching for homes, and far fewer homes available for them to buy.

There just aren’t enough homes for sale.

The number of homes on the market is at a low point for records that date back to 2000, despite the big increase in population over that span.

King County had only about 2,000 homes (single-family and condo) for sale last month. During the average month of March over the last two decades, the region had more than 7,800 homes for sale — nearly four times as many.

You may think homeowners would want to cash out: The average homeowner across the metro area who sells today has owned the home for about 10 years and makes a 64…

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In Seattle — home appreciation exceeded the median household income over the past year.

  • Home values in Seattle have been appreciating more than 3.5 times faster per working hour than the cities’ minimum wage workers earn.
  • In Seattle, the typical homeowner is gaining $54.24 of equity in their home every hour they’re at the office. The city’s hourly minimum wage is $15.00.
  • The typical U.S. homeowner is gaining $7.09 of equity in their home every working hour, $0.16 less than federal minimum wage.

The rapid pace of home value appreciation over the past year may present homeowners in Seattle with an interesting dilemma: Why work a 9-5 slog, when you can sit back and collect substantial hourly home equity “earnings” instead?…

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“Information and statistics derived from Northwest Multiple Listing Service.”

  • Even as more homes come on the market for this popular sales season, they're flying off fast.
  • Home prices have now surpassed their last peak, and at the entry level, where demand is highest, sellers are in the driver's seat.

Spring homebuyers are pounding the pavement at a furious pace, but the pickings are getting ever slimmer.

Even as more homes come on the market for this traditionally popular sales season, they're flying off fast, with bidding wars par for the course. Home prices have now surpassed their last peak, and at the entry level, where demand is highest, sellers are firmly in the driver's seat.

Northwest MLS figures for last month show a…

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Be careful: You and your buyer may be under surveillance when touring a property. Some sellers are using surveillance cameras inside their home to record the sight and sound as prospective buyers walk through. 

The increase in these home recordings—many from security systems that owners already have installed—are raising some concerns surrounding privacy in real estate transactions, MarketWatch reports. 

The trend has spurred what Joan Rogers, a broker with Windermere Realty Trust in Portland, Ore., calls a “Hey, be aware of this” conversation among her colleagues and counterparts. Rogers says the discussion started in her area about three years ago, “about the same time that integrated home media and security became a thing, with devices that…

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The spring selling season is upon us, and while it’s traditionally the busiest time of year for real estate, this spring promises to be even more competitive than usual—particularly for first-time home buyers. With ultra-tight inventory and continually increasing home prices, it’s imperative that your buyers be ready to make an offer and move forward on a purchase contract at a moment’s notice.

The Cascade Team is a real estate brokerage whose focus is centered on customer service.  Our customers are our number one priority and our local agent team works hard to not only find properties that meet your needs and wants, but also leverages their local market knowledge to help guide you through the home search process.  Our commitment to excellence in…

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