Headlines - April 2026

Mortgage rates have recently moved higher, driven by geopolitical uncertainty and rising energy costs that are contributing to inflation concerns. The uptick in morgage rates is likely to blunt improvement in arrodability. However, affordability is not determined by mortgage rates alone.

High housing costs and rising inventory have made homebuyers more selective. Home sellers outnumber buyers by a record margin, meaning the buyers who are in the market have options and may walk away if they believe they can find a better or more affordable home.

What states are people moving to? from?  Blue represents people moving out of state.  And the tan to orange represents states people are moving To.  Many people moving to Florida and Arizona.  

Home prices have held steady, with most experts predicting small, modest appreciation this year (1-3%).  We are seeing a significant increase in foreclosures, unemployment is still low and the last jobs report was better than expected. So most likely we won’t see the Fed lower % rates. I think % rates will stay in low to mid 6s for Spring.

If you are thinking about buying or selling let’s continue the conversation and dive into more localized data to give you everything needed to make a great decision. Connect

Despite persistent doomsday predictions, many experts and data points as of early 2026 suggest a national housing market crash is unlikely, with the market instead undergoing a "correction" or normalization following the pandemic-era boom. The market is characterized by high, yet slowly growing, home prices and significant supply constraints rather than the oversupply that led to the 2008 crash. 

Since I started doing real estate in 2011 I have always said we will have a storage of houses because there just isn't any more land in Seattle to build on, given our geography. There has been lots of development north of Seattle, particularly Bothell and Marysville, where there is available land.  However, Seattle's lack of buildable land may finally change with Seattle's recent implementation of House Bill 1110 (the "middle housing" bill), which effectively ends single-family-only zoning. The city now allows at least four to six units per lot in residential areas, with increased density near transit and a consolidation of Neighborhood Residential (NR) zones.

As of early 2026, housing inventory in the Northwest is rising but remains fundamentally scarce, especially for affordable homes. Active listings increased by 29.3% year-over-year in March 2026, yet the market is still considered undersupplied, keeping prices high and housing out of reach for many, with some areas facing extreme shortages.

Many people were saying the market was going to crash, and many buyers were waiting for home prices to come down.  That did not happen, and the data shows that home prices will most likely increase slightly this year.  Remember our advice to get on the real estate escalator sooner (vs later).  Noone can time the market.  That said, Buyers can still get great deals on houses, especially if the seller is motivated.  I helped my Buyers negotiate $68,000 off a new build in Kirkland!  There are some great opportunities out there. 

This is the big thing to watch as AI becomes more and more commonplace.  Goldman Sachs previously estimated that 6% to 7% of US workers (about 11 million people) could have their jobs displaced by AI.