WaFd’s Beardall returns for Mid-Year Economic Forecast lunch

In June, the Bellevue Chamber hosted another sold-out Mid-Year Economic Forecast, welcoming WaFd Bank’s President, Director, & CEO — Brent Beardall — back as our keynote. 

“First of all, I am so glad to be back here and not talking about a plane accident,” said Beardall, referencing his tearful retelling of the 2023 tragedy at our last Forecast event. “That's big progress!”

Beardall began his presentation by catching us up on the state of employment, inflation, and the correlation between the two, then transitioning into real estate, the banking industry, and state spending. (Check out his slide deck here for a recap.)

“The whole value proposition of WaFd Bank is we try to be big enough to be relevant and to solve your needs, but yet small enough to be nimble and get things done,” he said. “That reminds me a lot of what Bellevue tries to do.”

Beardall then detailed our local position in the economy, specifically as it applies to our real estate market.

“Bellevue is doing quite well,” he said. “If somebody had told me that the Fed was going to increase rates by 500 basis points, and that mortgage rates were going to go from 3% to 7%, I would expect there to be a decline in home values by some, 20 to 30 percent … So if it's true that demand should be weak, why is it that the price of housing has remained so high?”

“If you look at the housing units relative to the US population demand, we have, ever since the Great Recession, been under supplying new inventory … [So] that's really the answer to getting affordability back to where it needs to be: We have to increase the supply of housing, meaningfully.”

Before concluding the program, Beardall also teased an exciting announcement, revealing that WaFd had finalized the sale of $2.8 billion in multifamily commercial real estate loans to Pacific Investment Management Company LLC ("PIMCO") through Bank of America.

“What's great about that is, this proves to the world the liquidity of commercial real estate.”

Learn more about the deal here, stay up-to-date with WaFd here, and be sure to join us for next year’s Forecast!