In early October, the Seattle King County REALTORS® Young Professionals Network presented their third annual broker breakfast panel: The Edge. As guests dined, panelists offered a look at their day-to-day lives, providing advice on how they operate their successful businesses in today’s competitive real estate market. The panel was comprised of top real estate agents from a variety of local brokerages, and included Phil Greely, who represented Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty. Following the panel, Matthew Gardner, chief economist at Windermere, took the stage for a local housing market update.
Greely (speaking above) and other panelists give key insights on how they’ve established successful businesses in the real estate industry.
“I feel so inspired by what I heard at the breakfast,” reflected RSIR broker Blakeney Wisner, who was recently appointed Vice Chair of YPN. “It’s always great to have an opportunity to build better business tools and network with other real estate professionals at these events—I look forward to many more in the future!”
Wisner (third from right) and the YPN Board were thrilled at the outcome of The Edge 2018.
Gardner’s presentation outlined the latest economic and housing trends in the Puget Sound region and forecasted what we can expect in the coming year.
Matthew Gardner presents at The Edge 2018.
Economic Trends
- Unemployment is stable—hovering around 4%—and the U.S. has added jobs for 99 consecutive months.
- The United States GDP suggests the economy will continue to grow.
- 20.4 million new jobs have been added to the U.S. since 2010.
- Washington state employment is expected to grow 2.6% in the coming year, with growth most pronounced in the tech sector.
- Income growth rates are expected to increase 5% in 2019, outperforming national rates.
Real Estate Trends
- Sales are beginning to soften, which has slowed down the rise in values from double-digits to single-digits.
- Mortgage rates are climbing.
- The cost of land, labor, materials and regulation for new development is growing.
- A forecast of the metro region for 2019 indicates estimated home price growth of 7.8% in King County and 7.5% in Snohomish County.
A portion of the proceeds for this event were donated to The MORELove Project, a local non-profit organization whose mission is to connect the community to those in greatest need while teaching love and compassion through all things.