May Market Update

And that is exactly why this moment matters. We are standing in a strange economy where GDP is still positive, inflation is still sticky, oil and energy costs keep pressure on the consumer, and interest rates remain the gatekeeper between buyers who want to move and buyers who are frozen in place. Mortgage rates have backed off their highs, but they are still high enough to make affordability feel like a locked door for many households. At the same time, the Fed is trying to interpret lagging inflation data, Treasury yields are moving, and real estate professionals are stuck translating all of it into real conversations with buyers, sellers, builders, and investors.

Then we zoom into Washington state, where the story gets even more interesting. Inventory is rising. Days on market are stretching. Prices are softening in some categories. But underneath the noise, Washington still has a massive housing shortage, long term population growth, and a building pipeline that is nowhere near what the state needs. That means the headlines may feel negative, but the fundamentals are not dead. They are distorted. For agents, that distortion is where the opportunity lives. The market is slightly beat up, but it is not broken. And beat up markets create better questions, better conversations, better negotiations, and better deals.

This talk is for the agents who refuse to be spectators. Newer agents need to understand what is happening so they do not get scared out of the business before they build momentum. Experienced agents selling twenty million dollars or more a year need to understand where the next wave of opportunity is hiding before everyone else sees it. We are going to break down the economy, inflation, oil, rates, Washington housing data, and then get practical: how to find leads, create appointments, uncover listing opportunities, use AI, build teams, invest in real estate, capitalize on ADUs, DADUs, middle housing, rezones, distressed debt, and creative financing. Most people will look at this market and say, “This is tough.” The agents who win will say, “Good. Less competition.”