Buyers and brokers across the Puget Sound Region are currently enjoying sharper listing prices and greater negotiation amid decreased competition but experts say mortgage rate hikes will reverse course prompting more buyers ahead

SEATTLE, March 23, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Leading brokerage firm Realogics Sotheby's International Realty (RSIR) has announced their campaign to "Paint the Town Blue" with open house signs Saturday, March 25, as global real estate advisors across Western Washington will hold open houses featuring Sotheby's signature blue on their signs. All open houses will be promoted online by the brokerage, with the goal of aligning qualified buyers with their dream homes to kick off the spring sales season.

As 2022 came to a close, housing inventory dwindled, along with buyer demand setting up for what's been considered the chilliest winter season housing market since the Great Recession. The local housing market was coming off one of the hottest and most competitive periods in recent memory in a pandemic-era sales surge, but by mid-2022 buyers faced rising interest rate hikes, and other economic turbulence, causing their noted absence from the market, until now.

In January, a combination of more inventory, along with listing prices that better reflected current market conditions, prompted more activity. So begins the traditional "spring selling season" in real estate. Many sellers and their real estate advisors have been preparing homes to list during this optimal time of year, and they are pricing their homes to move, with the goal of not letting their listing linger on the market. In an alternative strategy, less motivated sellers have opted to rent their properties, awaiting perceived higher prices ahead.

"Home prices and stocks have likely bottomed," says RSIR President and CEO Dean Jones. "Investors and economists have already factored in the uncertainties, rising mortgage rates, high inflation, and political turmoil. There are signs of a strong rebound in our historically, 'first-in-first-out' Puget Sound economy. This is the window of opportunity for buyers to make a move—the housing market is rebounding faster than the headlines can keep up with."

The brokerage released "Why This Could Be the Best Homebuyer Season in a Decade," to emphasize these findings. The observation comes just a day after the Fed raised the bank rate by another quarter point on March 22, 2023, the ninth and perhaps last one or two such rate hike in this cycle, according to RSIR pundits, adding "It's just another signal that perhaps the worst is now behind us, and buyers will regenerate the market," said Jones.

Jones timed his comments with his attendance of a UBS Wealth Management roundtable event hosted in Bellevue on March 22, 2023. Keynote presentations by UBS' Jonathan Woloshin CIO Equity Strategist, U.S. Real Estate & Lodging published a report on "How might commercial real estate be impacted by recent banking challenge in the U.S.?", with comments also by AJ Agarwal from Blackstone, the world's largest private owner of real estate. Among the most pivotal findings were that residential real estate is going to thrive, because of the credit crunch imposed by tightening underwriting with banks, and inflation faced by developers means even less new supply in a market already suffering from anemic inventory. The challenge stems from the growing differential between demand growth and supply growth ahead, as market pundits predict the Consumer Price Index will be around 3% and mortgage interest rates will be around 5% by December 2023. In a direct question to Agarwal about what's the best bet for investment in the Seattle/Bellevue metro area across all asset classes and he responded immediately, "buy single-family homes in preferred school districts", citing the expanding demographics and approaching baby boom of young, affluent families on the rise, and the inherent challenge of delivering new product in these closely held municipalities. Currently, more than half of Seattle's population is renting, but as capital gains in real estate are rising and mortgage rates are falling, a great migration to ownership is likely.

Also today, March 23, 2023, marks the three-year anniversary of Washington Governor Jay Inslee's "Stay Home, Stay Safe" decree, an order that is inextricably tied to the onset of a housing market boom experienced over the course of the pandemic. Analyzing the trajectory, RSIR expects this spring selling season will likely offer buyers the greatest opportunity for home ownership and meeting their long-term real estate goals as a new housing cycle takes root. Savvy buyers and brokers are focused more on the permanent "strike price" of the purchase than the temporary "mortgage rate" of the loan. As most predict mortgage rates to fall by the end of the year, and with less fiscal policy changes in the 2024 Presidential election year, there will likely be a chance for today's buyers to refinance at a lower rate, soon. Agarwal agreed, stating timing the market has more to do with "you will have the benefit of a lower purchase price forever."

In the attached graph displaying February 2019 through February of 2023, King County single-family and condominium active, pending, and sold homes display the anomaly of the "Stay-Home" decree on March 23, and delayed the normal "Spring Sales Surge", instead creating a "Summer Sales Surge" in that year. Mortgage rates doubling in the first half of 2022 had a far greater and more sustained impact on housing than the pandemic did. Now it appears that listings are getting priced for the market now, as well as the return of buyers. Jones anticipates a similar trend in 2023 as that of 2020, where the spring and summer sales surge will combine for an extended sales season, leading to more buyer opportunities for those that act in the short term, but more competition and higher prices for those that wait.

RSIR also recently released their 2023 Market Forecast Report, which among other observations, confirmed that the Puget Sound Region is already 50,000 housing units shy of meeting demand and will need another million homes to meet the updated budget estimates outlined by Inslee and demand anticipated the Puget Sound Regional Council by 2050. (https://www.rsir.com/forecastreport)

In Seattle, the cherry blossoms are about to burst into their seasonal debut on the University of Washington quad, as well as across the city, lining city streets with bursts of pink and white and welcoming a new season of opportunity. Likewise, buyers are about to burst on the scene to take advantage of this unprecedented opportunity to avoid the fear of missing out once the media confirms the bottom had already passed.

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About Paint the Town Blue from Realogics Sotheby's International Realty (RSIR) (https://www.rsir.com/paintitblue/)

The brokerage's inaugural Paint the Town Blue campaign will be shared across their web and social platforms in real-time Saturday, March 25, 2023, using the hashtag #PaintItBlue. With rising broker participation, RSIR executives anticipate hosting additional Paint It Blue campaigns throughout the selling season to provide additional visibility to exclusive and extraordinary brokerage listings on the market.

About Realogics Sotheby's International Realty (RSIR) (https://www.rsir.com)
A leading global sales and marketing brokerage firm in the Pacific Northwest, RSIR is a boutique real estate firm of 300+ brokers, with service branches in downtown Seattle, Bainbridge Island, Bellevue, Kirkland, Mercer Island, and Madison Park. RSIR is a leading project marketing specialist throughout the Puget Sound region. The firm was recognized again in 2022 by The Puget Sound Business Journal among the region's "Top 100 Largest Private Companies", "Fastest-Growing Private Companies", "Largest Residential Real Estate Brands" and "Largest Family-Owned Companies".

Media Contact

Alyssa Morrison, Realogics Sotheby's International Realty, 206.448.5752, alyssa.morrison@rsir.com

SOURCE Realogics Sotheby's International Realty