Washington state's surging taxes and ballooning budget are already pushing wealth out of the state, WaFd Bank President and CEO Brent Beardall told a sold-out Bellevue Chamber of Commerce crowd on Wednesday, June 24.

Three members of WaFd's own board of directors have moved their legal residency out of Washington, Beardall said during the Chamber's Mid-Year Economic Forecast. He called it a signal that concerned him deeply.

The national picture, Beardall said, looks solid. U.S. GDP grew 1.5% in the first quarter of 2026, with projections topping 2% for the rest of the year. The S&P 500 was up nearly 11% year-to-date as of June 24. Unemployment remains near 4.25%. Artificial intelligence and computing infrastructure alone contributed nearly 1.5 percentage points to overall growth.

The state picture is different.

Washington now ranks among the worst states in the country on sales, business, capital gains, and estate taxes, according to Beardall's presentation. The state's operating budget has grown from $33 billion to $78 billion since 2014, which Beardall characterized as a 48% increase after adjusting for inflation and population growth. Official state budget documents confirm the enacted 2025–27 biennial budget at $77.9 billion.

The 2025 legislative session enacted nearly $21 billion in new taxes, including a payroll tax on large employers and a high-earner income tax signed by Gov. Ferguson in April 2026, according to Washington Senate Republican Caucus budget analysis.

Those pressures are showing up locally. Seattle-area single-family home prices fell 2.5% year over year in March 2026, the largest decline among major metros tracked by the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index. On the Eastside, active listings jumped 43% year over year in April 2026 and prices dropped 3.78%, according to Northwest Multiple Listing Service data.

A downtown Seattle office building recently sold for about $280 per square foot, which Beardall called well below replacement cost.

Beardall, a Sammamish resident who has led WaFd since 2017, projected mortgage rates staying in the mid-6% range and interest rates holding near 4.25%. He noted that Fed Chair Kevin Warsh has signaled rate cuts are off the table, a stance Beardall supported, arguing the Fed's 2% inflation target hasn't been sustainably reached.

Beardall said WaFd's most recent quarter showed loans up 12% and earnings per share up 26%.

Bellevue Chamber President and CEO Joe Fain moderated the event, which the Chamber described as Beardall's eighth annual economic forecast for the organization. Despite the median Eastside home sale price holding at $735,375, the 43% inventory surge and falling prices suggest sellers on the Eastside face a market that has shifted beneath them.