More Jobs, Heathly Spring Market
Spring has sprung here in Seattle and with that comes a more bustling city. Events every weekend, residents enjoying the sunshine at local parks, the city awakens from its winter slumber and comes alive. Spring is also when we see more activity in new jobs and the housing market.
National mortgage rates fell for the first time in a few weeks to 4.14% for a 30 year fixed loan. Since the end of March, rates were about 4.06% and climbed steadily to 4.2%. According to Freddie Mac, a weak inflation caused the dip. For comparison, Bank Rate has a rate of 4.05%, while Wells Fargo has 4.125% and Bank of America is at 4.0%. The 15 year fixed rate also dropped to 3.6% nationally. So what causes the rates to go down? A stronger economy, jobs, and inflation.
Nationally, we are hitting very low unemployment rates. During the month of April, the unemployment rate fell from 3.8% in March to 3.6%. Historically, we haven’t hit these low rates since 1969. In just April alone, the US added 263,000 jobs, compared to the month before of estimated 196,000 jobs. The best industries that are adding jobs are the professional and business services, which include architects and engineers, healthcare, leisure and hospitality, and construction.
Locally, we know Amazon has been the driving force of our city in adding jobs and boosting our economy. But this tech giant is not the only company making headlines in Seattle. Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, has been adding thousands of jobs over the last few years. We have also seen Facebook expanding their offices in the South Lake Union neighborhood, adding thousands of square footage of office space and jobs.
With lower rates and lower unemployment rates, we are seeing a more balanced market. According to the Northwest MLS, April saw an increase in active listings throughout the state, marking the beginning of the spring market. Increasing inventory, coupled with a recent dip in mortgage rates and a steady price increase, is great news for buyers and gives them more confidence in this housing market. Confident buyers and sellers show a healthy, steady market with 1.69 months of inventory. This same time last year had only 0.94 months of inventory.
As more buyers are hitting the housing market, trends tend to show the mortgage rate continuing to slow or dip again. Nationally, we are seeing more inventory and prices softening. There is a sense of confidence for the spring market and more activity as we move into summer.