2024 Year In Review

Christian: [0:01] Hello there, and welcome to another episode of the Awesome in Seattle podcast. This is your host, Christian Nossum, of the Awesome Nossum Group at Wilson Realty Exchange, Inc. And today, just wanna say first off, Happy New Year. First episode of the year. Yeah. Happy New Year. Thank you guys for being here. Yeah. Today is one of the, my favorite episodes of the year, and if you're thinking about buying in 2025, this is a must-listen to because it's our annual year in review episode. This is where we take a look at what happened last year in real estate, both nationally and in the local Seattle area. We will discuss interest rates, home prices, both in Seattle and nationally. We'll also delve into the condo market, the rental market, our predictions from last year, and we'll even have a special guest talk about mortgage rates. So this is gonna be a lot of info, but it's really going to be helpful for you because in order to understand where we're going, you first need to understand where we have been. That's what this episode's all about. And don't worry, next episode is all about our 2025 predictions, which is my second favorite episode of the year, 'cause that's when we get to go, "Hey, this is what we think's gonna happen." And then next year we get to go back and go, "We were right. We were wrong. Here's what happened differently." It's fun. All right. So I wanna welcome my two co-hosts today, both of whom are agents here on the Awesome Nossum Group. We have the lovely Joanna Beecher.

Joanna: [1:24] Hello.

Christian: [1:25] And the awesome Varun Jain- Hey … who, like myself, is also an investor, and will share his insights on real estate investing this year as well, so this is gonna be a really good episode. Let's dig into this first. First, let's go over prices, 'cause that's the first thing everyone really always wants to understand. So in, overall, in 2024, this was actually a pretty strong year for house price growth in Seattle, and this is strictly Seattle that I'm talking right now. I will go to the east side and also break it down a little bit differently, uh, nationally. But first off, let's just start Seattle. Between December 2023 and 2024, the median sale price on single-family homes and condos, so both combined, in the city of Seattle increased from $760,000 to a median price of $825,000, which is an increase of 8.6%. This is quite a bit more than anyone was predicting last year. Most of the, quote-unquote, "experts" were thinking zero to maybe 3%. We went way over that, which was pretty surprising. Yeah.

Varun: [2:33] Yeah.

Christian: [2:33] On average, homes and condos in Seattle sold in 13 days on the market compared to 15 days last year. That said, for the first half of the year, it was much tighter. Uh, the average days on market was just around seven days, and then the second half of the year it was more around 14. And then, like every winter, December and January are always the longest days on market. So they were 30, 31 days on market, and that ki- to help skew that, that winter average up a little bit. This data indicates a relatively stable market with good appreciation, which was, again, higher than what we all predicted and what all the experts predicted for the Seattle area. Last year, I personally predicted a 3 to 5% growth in 2024. I was a little under. I'd rather be under than way over, so It's, uh, yeah, I'm, I'm glad that happened. On the east side, including Sammamish and Issaquah, the median sale price of both single family homes and condos actually went down just a tiny bit by 2.2%. That was a bit surprising, especially since single family homes, not including condos, actually increased 9.8%. So condos really messed with these stats. Yeah. It was kind of surprising when we started playing around with the, with the numbers. And in King County, single family homes and condo prices increased a more modest 2.6%. Joanna, let's go over the condo market. Sure. What happened there?

Joanna: [3:59] Yeah. Well, the condo market in Seattle, it showed some interesting trends in 2024. Overall, Seattle home prices were down 5.1% compared to last year. Yep. So the selling for a median price about 558,750. Mm-hmm. And on average, condos in Seattle sold just after 24 days on market, compared to 45 days- Wow last year.

Christian: [4:24] Yeah.

Joanna: [4:24] Or 2023, I guess. Um- 2023,

Christian: [4:26] that condo market was struggling.

Joanna: [4:28] It was not doing too hot. Yeah. Um, I think, you know, who knows? Maybe that's Amazon coming back in and people getting prepped for that, the, you know, every day work, uh-

Christian: [4:37] Yeah. Yeah. I mean, they did announce that earlier in 2024 so that people- They could prep could have been prepping it. They didn't really implement it. Yeah. They kept pushing that implementation b- date back.

Varun: [4:46] Right. And they staggered it. It was three days, and then it was five. Yeah. So even the three would have pushed a bunch of people to come back. Yeah. Could be. Could be. Yep. Could be.

Joanna: [4:53] Could be, yeah. And I mean, it does, this data does suggest a little bit of cooling in the condo market, and that could be because of, you know, the inventory.

Christian: [5:03] Mm-hmm.

Joanna: [5:03] Increased inventory, and maybe some changing buyer preferences.

Christian: [5:07] Yeah. We kinda discussed this a little bit, too, where the influx of DADUs being built in Seattle- Mm-hmm has… And some of those are on the lower end of that price point-

Joanna: [5:18] Yeah … Speaker: where you could either choose to live in a condo, uh- With shared walls and- With

Christian: [5:22] shared walls and floors and all that … Joanna: and all that. Yeah. Or you could get a completely detached, not a town home with a shared wall or two, but completely detached, get a DADU- And that gives- a detached accessory dwelling unit, D-A-D-U.

Joanna: [5:35] Yep. That gives you that, that feeling of freedom-

Christian: [5:38] Mm-hmm … Joanna: a bit more. You don't feel like you're, you know, in that kind of just that building with all these people on top of you. Yeah. Some people love that feeling- Totally … and some people just really do not wanna do it, and that's fine. And that's where these DADUs are coming in really clutch, I think. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Joanna: [5:55] Mm-hmm.

Christian: [5:56] Speaking of DADUs, let's go over the investor market, Vern.

Varun: [5:58] So the investor market, Christian, as you mentioned, the inventory was low, and so investors also found it difficult to find the right deals. But we did see a lot more of the DADUs being built. Yes. And this was the hot trend, right? Yep. Investors build more DADUs. Investors shied away from town homes, which are- Usually more expensive because of the MHA fees in Seattle. Yes,

Christian: [6:18] yes.

Varun: [6:18] But,

Christian: [6:19] uh- An MHA fee, again, is mandatory housing affordability fees.

Varun: [6:23] Right.

Christian: [6:24] They're not cheap. It adds an additional, depending on where it is, it could be a few hundred thousand dollars- Just for the project, yeah just fees.

Varun: [6:31] Just in fees, right. And then there's also restrictions on where you can do that. Mm-hmm. So it, it's dictated by zoning. Right. Whereas when you're building DADU, it's a free-for-all because e- most neighborhood residential lots- Yep … allow for a DADU.

Christian: [6:44] Yes,

Varun: [6:45] exactly. And so investors move towards that play, and we saw a lot more of the three packs where you have a house, an ADU- Mm-hmm and a DADU- Yep … built on the same lots. Mm-hmm. They would tear down the existing house, and then build three dwelling units there. Yep. And that's what we saw a lot more of. Yep. And I expect that trend to continue. What would be really interesting to see coming up here is how the new Seattle 1 Plan changes things. Yes. We'll talk a little bit more about that in our 2025 predictions. Yep. But that would be the other kind of next phase of this investor journey.

Christian: [7:17] Yeah. And we did point out, I do wanna say that in our 2024 predictions, we talked about how DADUs were going to be a big game changer in the Seattle area market. Yeah. And they did. Like, we saw it coming. Absolutely. We saw the writing on the wall, and it did happen. Right. Joanna, let's go over some client examples because we've had, there was kind of two different markets going on, which again happened in 2023 as well. Mm-hmm. Where sometimes it was super competitive, and sometimes some houses sat forever, and you can negotiate, or maybe not forever, but they sat for more than two weeks. Right. And you could do some fun negotiating.

Joanna: [7:53] I had a lot of that throughout the year, and I, I, I like to say that just because it wasn't, you know, oh well, this only happened in the summer or the spring. It wasn't something- Mm-hmm … that was just-

Christian: [8:05] Like

Joanna: [8:05] a timing thing … it wasn't a timing thing. It was basically per listing. Mm-hmm. It's where are you finding these houses that you don't have to compete on. Yeah, yeah. You know? And that, and that was amazing. I got to have, at one period of time, norm- spring is hot, right? That's what everybody knows about the housing market. Mm-hmm. Or if you didn't, now you know. Um, it's usually very hot- Yes to get out and to start looking, right? So I had a good chunk of clients that were all looking at the same time, that all happened to find houses at the same time. Mm-hmm. And so that was interesting, but each one was so different. Each client was so different that basically I had… I was writing, uh, offers for these clients all at different times, and one set of clients, or actually two sets of clients, had very competitive offer situations. And so I- That I had to kind of, you know, deal with that, and at the same time, I had another set of clients that had very different offer situations we were able to negotiate.

Christian: [9:10] Yeah.

Joanna: [9:11] And that was huge. So what I'm trying to say is that it was just, it was per listing. It, there was nothing specific as to area because- Mm-hmm the one that was negotiable was in Ballard- Yeah … which is normally very hot. Yeah.

Dan: [9:25] Mm-hmm.

Joanna: [9:26] There was, in Queen Anne, that was the more competitive, in West Seattle, super competitive last spring. Yeah. But, you know, and that… Well, I guess I, I just kind of talked myself into that, too. My clients that, my other competitive clients were in West Seattle.

Varun: [9:39] Mm-hmm.

Joanna: [9:40] I had two sets that were looking there and one in Queen Anne, and it was, it was an interesting year. Yeah. I'll just say that. Yeah. And it was all just per listing. It didn't matter exactly where it was or the timing. This did follow me throughout my year- Mm-hmm … with all of my different clients that got into their homes, so.

Christian: [9:59] That's awesome. And I will say, too, that- Probably n- 99% of the people that you helped last year in 2024, their very first step in the home buying process was da, da, da, da, da, da, da, attending our beers and home buying class.

Joanna: [10:13] Oh, I was gonna say the next thing.

Christian: [10:16] They did. They all came to our beers and home buying class first. It's

Joanna: [10:19] true.

Christian: [10:19] Yeah. They understood our process, which is much more simplified than I've ever seen anyone else do, if I do say so myself. And as long as they just follow the steps that we have outlined, which are very step-by-step, very simple, very common sense- Mm-hmm … they follow those steps, it's really not difficult to purchase a house.

Varun: [10:38] Yeah. It, it seems daunting for a lot of- It does … new home buyers. I remember- I remember that too. Yeah. Yeah. But then when you simplify it, and I've, I've now been in that class a few times to really kind of see, okay, yeah, now this is, like, really step-by-step. Yep. You're holding your ha- that, their hand through the whole process. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. It makes a huge difference.

Joanna: [10:56] And it- I think, yeah, you don't understand it until you are in need of buying a home- Mm … and everything just feels like a big wave coming at you, and you need someone to break it down because it, it can be so overwhelming.

Christian: [11:12] So- Yes. It

Joanna: [11:12] can be. Yep.

Christian: [11:13] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So if you are thinking of buying in 2025 or '26 or '27 or '28, doesn't really matter when, definitely start the process by coming to one of our classes. Yes.

Joanna: [11:23] Come let us hold your hand.

Christian: [11:24] Yes. And we'll- Yes … and when you attend, what we do after that, the step that we do next is helping you build that roadmap- Yep. Yeah … so that you can come up with a plan. Whether it's one month or three years, we don't care, we just wanna help you build out that roadmap so that you are prepared when you're ready.

Joanna: [11:41] We help you make it make sense.

Christian: [11:42] Yes. So just wanna point that out that I think everyone that you helped last year did start the very first step-

Joanna: [11:49] Only one that didn't- Yeah … but they found us through our podcast.

Christian: [11:53] Oh, that's right. Yep.

Joanna: [11:53] So-

Christian: [11:54] And then they did- That's awesome … actually watch- And then

Joanna: [11:55] they did, yeah, watch

Christian: [11:56] the- Come to the class class. Yeah.

Joanna: [11:57] Yeah.

Christian: [11:58] So they all did come to the class at some point. Let's go over some mistakes that some buyers made in 2024, and I'd like to actually hear from both of you. I'll start with Joanna first, just 'cause I was just chatting with her. So what do you think the biggest mistake that people made in 2024 was?

Joanna: [12:12] I think the biggest mistake is not listening to me, uh, really. No, I'm just… Kind of. But no. But seriously, like, and I think we- Or we've talked about this in length, but, um, it's just thinking that they wanted to time the market. Mm. I have people bringing this up to me now, and I've already called them on this mistake of just wanting to either wait till they have a bigger down payment or, you know, just wanting to find perfect. Yeah. And without delving into that too much, 'cause, you know, I think we've already done a podcast episode on that- Yes … I think it's really important to talk it through with your agent who does this every day- Mm-hmm … to understand more about what the Seattle market is and how to really just, once again, figure out your own path for it. Because I- If you have- are working with a real estate professional, they can definitely break it down for you in a way that, you know, it makes sense when you don't wanna wait-

Christian: [13:14] Mm-hmm. Yeah … Joanna: to get in. If you are financially prepared and mentally ready, trying to time it is a big mistake. Yes. It's, that's the only time I've really seen people fail- Mm-hmm is when they do try to time it. 'Cause you just can't. Like, the only people that I've seen successfully time it are the ones that did it completely on accident. Yeah. Yeah. It wasn't planned that way.

Varun: [13:34] Yeah, it wasn't planned. Do you think the market is hindsight always?

Christian: [13:36] It always. It is. You never know.

Varun: [13:38] Yeah.

Christian: [13:39] So Varun, what about you? What do you think the biggest mistake homebuyers made in 2024 was?

Varun: [13:43] I think, uh, from a homebuyer perspective, I would agree with Joanna. It's just waiting, and-

Christian: [13:49] Mm … Varun: getting into the analysis paralysis stage- Totally- … Varun: is- … which is so easy to do-

Varun: [13:53] Yeah … Speaker: in real estate. Mm-hmm … very easy, because there's so many data points, so many point of views out there.

Christian: [13:58] Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Varun: [13:59] People who are s- telling you that market's gonna crash- Yes … wait and watch. Yeah. And people are telling you the market's gonna go up, buy now. And so- Yeah … it's very difficult for a buyer to figure that out. That is one. From an investor standpoint, I think one of the things, not only just waiting, but not partnering fast enough.

Christian: [14:14] Mm-hmm.

Varun: [14:15] I think that was a lesson I learned as an investor. Yep. If a deal makes sense, the numbers work, but if I don't have the skill set, bring partners on. Yes,

Christian: [14:21] which

Varun: [14:22] you

Christian: [14:22] did this year.

Varun: [14:22] Yeah, I did that this year. Yeah. And do the deal.

Christian: [14:24] Yeah.

Varun: [14:25] And that totally okay, but you have to take action- Yep … not just analyze, analyze, analyze. Take action.

Christian: [14:32] Yeah. That is the exact recipe that I agree with, and what I was gonna say the biggest mistake people make is not taking action. Whether that's writing an offer, or just analyzing deals, or whatever you, what that means for you, you actually have to take action. Right. That's my biggest regret in real estate overall. Even though I bought my first house at 22 years old, I still regret not taking more action after that. 'Cause then I bought a few more, but then I waited for a long, long time.

Varun: [15:00] Yeah.

Christian: [15:00] And I didn't get into it sooner, and I wish I would have. But again, hindsight, it's so easy.

Varun: [15:05] Yeah.

Christian: [15:06] So easy to look back and go, "Ah, I should have, but…"

Varun: [15:09] But that's what we are doing. This, like, this is the podcast which tells you, okay, let's reflect- Yeah … but then also let's plan.

Christian: [15:14] Exactly. Let's learn

Varun: [15:15] from our- Plan … mistakes. Yeah.

Joanna: [15:16] Yep.

Christian: [15:17] Yep. All right. Let's go over nationally what was going on. Joanna, what happened, what happened nationwide with real estate?

Joanna: [15:23] Well, nationally the prices did continue to rise. Mm. Um, in November of 2024, the US home prices were up 5.4% compared to the previous year, selling for a median price of 429,813.

Christian: [15:37] Sorry. That'd be so great if that was, like, Seattle prices.

Joanna: [15:39] I know. I think about that all the time. I'm like, nationally, or could that just be here? Yeah. Um-

Christian: [15:44] Not gonna happen. That was- Just for

Varun: [15:45] our offers.

Joanna: [15:46] Just for- Yes, please. Um, I wish. Uh, so the number of homes sold was up 5.2%- Wow … year-over-year, with 385,194 homes sold in November.

Christian: [15:59] Wow. Wow. So that's,

Joanna: [16:00] that's awesome.

Christian: [16:00] Yeah. That's- What I think that's showing us is in 2023, the end of 2023, that's when interest rates were- Mm-hmm extremely high, the highest they'd been in years and years. Yeah. People were freaked out. They just didn't like that. Yeah. So they weren't moving forward. Yeah. And in 2024, homebuyers were getting more comfortable with the idea of those high interest rates. Interest rates were coming down. They're still not low- No but they're not as high. They're not in the sevens. They're somewhere else. And we'll bring on a special guest here in a moment- … to talk about that. Varun, let's talk about rents. Um, what happened with those nationwide? Because although we're talking about overall home prices- Yeah … and, and home buying, rental market does play a part of this. That, yes. Yeah. For sure.

Varun: [16:44] Yeah. And so nationally, rents in May 2024 were up, uh, 0.5% from last year, so not a huge increase. Yeah. Kind of flat.

Christian: [16:52] Mm-hmm.

Varun: [16:53] On the contrary, in Seattle, rents in May 2024 were down 6.6%. Hmm. So Seattle was kind of a little bit different- Yeah … uh, which is interesting. But I would caveat that by saying that stabilization of rent did play some part, but affordability was still a huge issue. Yes. Because, again, as we know, inflation was high, and so not just rents, but your day-to-day items were still pretty expensive.

Christian: [17:17] Everything was so expensive. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. And I think- That

Joanna: [17:19] plays a huge part … Speaker: I think part of what was going on with those rental decrease as well is there was a lot of newer inventory on very expensive apartment buildings, especially in South Lake Union downtown- Yeah that were just sitting there vacant And they were giving away concessions, free months, dropping, you know, they don't wanna decrease the actual rental amount. Yeah. But they'll throw in a couple free months and free parking or all these other extras that they can do- Right … to keep the stats as high as possible. Right. But it was oversupply. Yeah. And I think that's what happened here.

Varun: [17:53] Could be, yeah.

Christian: [17:53] Um, I didn't see that with any of our rentals. If anything, our rentals either stayed flat or went up slightly.

Varun: [17:59] Yeah.

Christian: [17:59] And I haven't heard from any other investor friends that their rental prices went down.

Varun: [18:03] Yeah, both my rentals I was able to rent higher than- Yeah the previous tenants moving out. Yeah. So it could be the condo market and the newer apartment buildings- Yep … in downtown that played a big role here.

Christian: [18:13] And also there was a lot of newer ones built in the U District as well. Right. Near the light rail station, and those were pretty expensive for what they were. And I'm not sure who they were really attracting with that, whether they're trying to attract people that are working or students. Students. Mm. Because they're not really geared… They're, I mean, the students that have a lot of money I guess could live there.

Varun: [18:32] Yeah.

Christian: [18:33] But the students that I generally rent to, that's why they're sharing a house with 6 or 7 or 11 other friends. In the big houses that I have, because it's so much less expensive.

Varun: [18:44] Right. Right.

Christian: [18:45] Yeah. All right. So now we are going to bring on a special guest to talk about interest rates and what happened last year. So let's bring on Mr. Dan Keller with New American Funding.

Dan: [18:57] Hey, guys. It's great to be here with you.

Christian: [18:59] Yeah. Thanks for coming, Dan. So let's go into rates. Mm. What happened with mortgage rates in 2024? It was a bit of a rollercoaster at times. So let's give a quick recap of what went down.

Dan: [19:08] Well, luckily for you, I came prepared.

Christian: [19:10] You usually do. You usually do. So- And that's why we love having you on … Dan: if you're watching this on YouTube, you're gonna see a slide come up. Yep. And I p- I d- I wish I could take credit for this. Mortgage News Daily, I highly recommend that website. Yes. Their app. It- Their app is great for tracking what's going on with interest rates and

Dan: [19:26] mortgage rates. Yeah. I mean, as a real estate agent, or even as a home buyer, I tell my home buyers our rates at New American Funding are right there. Sometimes we're a little bit lower, sometimes we're a little bit higher. Credit score plays a difference, down payment. Mm-hmm. Points, all of that stuff. But for the most part, it's really, it's pretty accurate in regards to the rates that banks are offering. Yes. Okay? So Mortgage News Daily, they came out with this little slide the other day, and I took a screenshot of it and I'm giving them credit on it. But I loved it because you said this earlier, Christian, in order to realize where we're going, you have to understand where we're at and where we've been. Yep. Right? So let's talk about that. So obviously we're January of 2025, 30-year fixed rates today, right about 7.1%. Mm-hmm. Okay? Let's go a year ago. Let's go back a, 13 months ago, okay? So December 2023, 30-year fixed rates, 7.08. Mm. So basically unchanged- About the same, yeah … year over year. Mm-hmm. Now, let's backtrack a couple months right before that. So October, gosh, we can all remember this, October of 2023, 8.03%. Yeah. Ugly, ugly, ugly. I mean, I even- It was so high … saw some as high as, like, 8.5.

Christian: [20:33] Jeez.

Dan: [20:33] It was ugly. But here's the cool thing. Now let's fast-forward to just about four months ago, which is September of 2024. I remember we were doing a podcast. We were like, "Heck yes, this is it. Rates are finally coming down." Yep. So September of 2024, 6.10%. Mm-hmm. So we saw it year over year, about a year ago, seven point- 08. Today, 7.1. So nothing really to write home about there, but it's what happened in between. In between, yeah. So we're gonna see about a range of a point. I'm telling people, based off of all the projections that I'm following with economists and data, I think 2025 is gonna be pretty darn close, possibly just a little bit lower according to a couple of economists.

Christian: [21:16] Yeah. So not a massive change overall, year over year. But in between, there were definitely times where they were higher and they were lower, and that's just- Yeah … what happens. All the different economic data comes out, jobs reports, everything comes out- Yeah … and, and it sways what's going on. Yeah.

Dan: [21:35] What's really i- interesting to understand, though, if you take out September of 2024, take away that month where rates dropped down-

Christian: [21:43] Yep. Yep … Dan: it was 7%. The whole year. Across the board. Yeah.

Dan: [21:47] Yeah.

Christian: [21:47] Yeah, and it was only, what, two and a half, three weeks that it was that lower?

Dan: [21:51] If that. Yeah. Yeah. We were like, "Yeah!" And then by the time we had enough time- To get ahold of everyone. Yeah … the opportunity to call people and say, "Hey, let's get you out of your 8%, let's get you apt," that ship had taken- It had already sailed left the port.

Christian: [22:01] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I had some friends that, other investors and stuff, that were able to refi right when that happened. Yeah. They were just … They were already in the process- Yeah … and rates dropped. They took advantage, and before their process was even over, they had already jumped back up. Oh, yeah. Yeah. It was- Yeah … it was kinda crazy. Yep. So we're gonna bring you back on for our next episode, where we talk about what's to come in 2025. Mm-hmm. Is there anything else 2024 that you wanna talk about? Actually, let's talk about this. Yes. There was a huge- … worldwide event that happened called the United States presidential election.

Dan: [22:30] Yeah.

Christian: [22:31] Let's talk about what happened there, 'cause you and I, we used to have a radio show together. Yeah. We have a lot of great experience going back and forth on things. Yep. I'd love to hear your opinion on that and what happened there. Yeah. Well,

Dan: [22:41] I think it's worth talking about because every client that comes in and applies for a home loan with me, when it comes time to talking about rates, because they are high- Yeah they're like, "Hey, are rates gonna come down in 2025? How is the election gonna factor into that?" Mm-hmm. The election really bet- whoever gets elected has never really factored into lower interest rates at the time. No. It's not like the market takes off or drops because so-and-so was elected or is elected. And so, uh, we were just talking about this off-camera. This year, what made it unique, in early part of January, we saw … So Trump gets elected. Yep. National news, Trump gets elected. And then within a couple of days or a week of that, we get an announcement from the Fed. Mm-hmm. They came out. So the Fed's different than the presidents, right?

Christian: [23:23] Yep.

Dan: [23:24] Yep. Fed came out and said, "Hey, we're gonna kind of, uh, we're taking a different stance on our Fed rate policy for 2025. Instead of an estimated 1 to 1.25% drop in the Fed rate," which remember, you guys, the Fed rate is not mortgage rates, but mortgage rates move indirectly with.

Christian: [23:40] Yes.

Dan: [23:40] So if you overlap the Fed rate historically and mortgage rates, you'll see that they're kind of in line with each other. Yeah.

Christian: [23:46] Not perfectly, but they do follow each other.

Dan: [23:48] Yeah. Indirectly. Yeah. Yeah. They work, they move with each other. So- Right after Trump gets elected, the Fed comes out and says, "Hey, we're gonna pull back a little, so our estimated Fed rate cut for 2025 is only .5% or 50 basis points." Mortgage rates went right back up about a half of a per- eh, little less than half a percent. So-

Christian: [24:07] And that was in one week of each other.

Dan: [24:08] One week. Yeah. So that had nothing to do- Him getting elected and-

Christian: [24:12] Yeah … Dan: yeah. That had nothing to do with the election. So what I do tell clients right now, the stock market loves Trump, okay? It just, it is what it is. Mm-hmm. So you're gonna see the stock market do its thing over here. Mortgage bonds, typically you have investors that invest in the stock market, and you have investors that invest in bonds, okay? Bonds help or worsen mortgage rates. What's gonna impact mortgage rates in 2025, and this is what's important to know, is jobs- Mm-hmm … and inflation. Now, this happens to be perfect timing. It's the 15th of January. This morning we had a core inflation report come out, and it missed expectations, so we've seen a huge rally today- Hmm … and improvement in mortgage rates. So that's what you need to watch in 2025. Inflation needs to come… We all know this. Inflation needs to chill out, right? Yes.

Dan: [24:55] And then-

Christian: [24:56] Yes, please … Dan: we wanna keep our eyes on unemployment numbers and new jobs created. Those are the two main, three main factors, really, that will impact rates in '25. Okay. Well, cool. I think, I hope, that you got a ton of info on this 2024 year-end review podcast. Dan also sh- spilled the beans a little bit on what to expect in 2025. We're gonna have him back on for that episode, which comes out February 1st, so make sure you keep that on your calendar, listen to that, and we'll see what happens in 2025. But for today, thank you so much for viewing, if you're watching on YouTube or, uh, listening to us on the podcast, this episode. We'll see you again in two weeks on the Awesome in Seattle podcast. If at any time you are thinking you would like to reach out to us and discuss what's going on with you personally, if, whether you're looking to buy, whether you're looking to sell or to get into real estate investing, we would love to help you out here at the Awesome Nossum group. You can schedule a time to chat with us right on our website, which is AwesomeNossumGroup.com. You can also go and schedule right with us from our website, AwesomeNossumGroup.com/schedule. Our info, our phone numbers, everything is right there on the website. And if you wanna reach out to Dan Keller of New American Funding, Dan, what's your info?

Dan: [26:05] Yeah, you can, you can just Google me, Dan Keller Mortgage, and you can find all my information online, or you can… The easiest is go to Instagram, @mymortgageguydan.

Christian: [26:13] Do you wanna give your whatever number?

Dan: [26:16] Probably should- Yes, 'cause you- … give my, my MLS ID, an MLS ID number, because we did talk about interest rates a little. Yeah. We didn't make any rate quotes or anything- No … but I did want to- But I always

Christian: [26:24] wanna keep you

Dan: [26:25] aligned Bring us back to our old radio days. Exactly. My, my, my license number is 11534 and niner.

Christian: [26:33] You got the niner in there. All right, well, thanks for watching, and we'll see you in two weeks with our 2025 predictions.