Real Estate sales report for February for Seattle MLS, NWMLS

We just got a report for resale of homes in the Seattle Metro area, from Snohoomish and King County. The numbers don't look good, home sales resale numbers are down. Resale homes are homes that are not new construction homes. As a downtown Seattle Real Estate agent resale numbers being Lower means to me the market is slowing down. This real estate home sales slow down for January February is not a seasonal effect. And, I don't think the interest rates have slowed the market down. Or do interest rates going up really do have an effect on real estate sales? I thougt interest rates had an effect on home refinances, not home sales. I could be wrong here, and I think affordibility is a big deal, especially with high interst rates. Now what can make a real estate bubble, especially in a place like Seattle is that people start to have their mortgage rates go up, with variable financing home loans, and they default. Than we could have a mess on our hands.

So this coming from a otimistic Seattle based real estate agent, I thoor that the market slow down does not hault, and so I hope we, precede with caution here!

Real estate is still a great investment folks, but be cautious on your home purchases, don't get caught up in a frenzy. Good luck! Good night from Seattle!

Sent from my BlackBerry wireless handheld.