NEWS & INSIGHTS
What’s Happening
Industry News
Gap between home sales and starts reaches historic level
Homebuilders can’t keep pace with demand – and that gap reached historic levels during 2020, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Home building staged a dramatic rebound during spring 2020, which NAHB officials attribute to “low mortgage rates, an evolving geography of housing preferences, and favorable demographic [..]
Industry News
NAR devises plans to boost homeownership for Black Americans, other minorities
Minority homeownership lags the rate for non-Hispanic white Americans, with Black Americans experiencing the largest gap — nearly 30% — according to “Snapshot of Race & Home Buying in America,“ a report from the National Association of Realtors®. Using data from the 2019 American Community Survey and the 2020 Profile [..]
Industry News
News In Brief: March 2021
A new study ranks Seattle as the second-healthiest city in the nation. The study, by personal finance website WalletHub, compared more than 180 of the largest U.S. cities across 44 key metrics, from the cost of medical visits to fruit and vegetable consumption to fitness clubs per capita. San Francisco ranked [..]
Industry News
NWMLS revises, clarifies various forms
Northwest Multiple Listing Service revised several forms and unveiled various new forms on March 3. In some cases, MLS officials said there are significant revisions, while in other cases the revisions include minor clarifications and updates to outdated vernacular. Documents with significant revisions include the Purchase and Sale Agreements, the [..]
Industry News
Walla Walla Realtors join Northwest MLS to further enhance tools and services
The Walla Walla Association of Realtors® voted to merge its multiple listing service with Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS), based in Kirkland. With the addition of Walla Walla and Columbia counties, NWMLS expands its service area to 26 counties across Washington and adds a service center within the Realtor office [..]
Industry News
Risk fund manager explains why US housing “is smashing every record in the books”
Stephen McBride Calling it one of the greatest comebacks in American history, professional fund manager Stephen McBride contrasted the current booming housing market with the downturn from 2006 to 2009. The crisis was devastating to millionaires and millennials alike who could not get mortgages. The housing bust of 2006-2009 “shattered [..]
Press Release
Walla Walla Realtors join Northwest MLS to further enhance tools and services
The Walla Walla Association of Realtors® voted to merge its multiple listing service with Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS), based in Kirkland. With the addition of Walla Walla and Columbia counties, NWMLS expands its service area to 26 counties across Washington and adds a service center within the Walla Walla [..]
Monthly Market Update
Pandemic presents new option for home buyers as market “kept foot firmly on the accelerator”
KIRKLAND, Washington (February 4, 2021) – Home buyers who have been precluded from entering Puget Sound’s competitive market may want to consider condominiums as an option, according to industry experts who commented on the latest housing statistics from Northwest Multiple Listing Service. “With the trend toward telecommuting and moving to [..]
Industry News
The Missing Middle: A Solution for Adding More Housing
Duplexes, fourplexes, plus 2-to-4-unit townhomes, courtyard buildings, and cottages could provide much needed entry-level housing and/or more affordable housing for certain homebuyers. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) believes such structures offer viable solutions to the housing shortage and would help meet the needs of many first-time buyers as [..]