Seattle Real Estate Podcast

Mortgage rates have fallen to their lowest level since August, lender Freddie Mac said on Thursday, sparking a refinancing of loans, suggesting homeowners were quick to jump at opportunities to save on their mortgage payments. The 30-year fixed rate mortgage fell to an average of about 7 percent for the week, a drop of nearly one percent from a little over a month ago. "The 30-year fixed-rate...

The 30-year mortgage rate will fall below 7% by April 2024, Realtor.com says in its housing forecast for next year. The average mortgage rate in 2024 is expected to be 6.8%, and the 30-year may fall to as low as 6.5% by the end of the year, according to Realtor.com’s report. “We’re gonna to start to see some relief for buyers who have been priced out,” Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com...

An October jury ruling against the nation's largest trade organization could have sweeping consequences for anyone looking to buy or sell a home. The class-action lawsuit – Sitzer v. the National Association of Realtors – alleged that NAR, Keller Williams Realty, Anywhere Real Estate (formerly known as Realogy), RE/MAX and HomeServices of America (all major real estate brokerages), colluded t...

 The nearly $1.8 billion jury verdict in a home seller’s class action lawsuit in Missouri against the National Association of Realtors and large brokerage franchisors has consumers and brokers in Washington state asking questions about residential real estate brokerage.  The jury found that the defendants conspired to artificially inflate commissions paid to real estate brokers based on a mandator...

The Federal Reserve is going to shock investors next year by aggressively cutting interest rates amid a slowing economy, UBS says. The firm said in its 2024 economic outlook it expected economic growth to slow considerably next year after this year's brisk pace of growth, and that should lead to reduced retail spending, a worsening consumer balance sheet, and a continued rise in the unemploym...

Google ended its agreement with Australian construction firm Lendlease to develop $15 billion worth of master-planned districts in San Francisco amidst a major cost-cutting drive this year, Lendlease announced Friday.  The two companies were planning to develop four campuses across the Bay Area including a site called Downtown West in San José, Moffet Park in Sunnyvale, as well as Middlefield Park...

Mortgage rates ticked down this week, snapping a seven-week streak of increases. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to an average of 7.76% in the week ending November 2, down from 7.79% the week before, according to data from Freddie Mac released Thursday. A year ago, the 30-year fixed-rate was 6.95%. The news comes a day after the Federal Reserve said in a widely anticipated move that it would...

A federal jury in Kansas City on Tuesday found the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and some of the largest real estate brokers in the country guilty of colluding to inflate real estate commissions. Why it matters: The verdict is a major shake up to the U.S. real estate market and could change how Americans purchase homes, or specifically, how they pay for broker fees. The big picture: The j...