More Thurston homes were put up for sale last month. What does that mean for home buyers?
There hasn’t been a lot of good news for home buyers in recent months as interest rates and median price have been high and inventory remains low.
But in May, more homes were put on the market in May than in the same month a year ago, according to new data released Wednesday by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
In fact, homes for sale rose in 24 of 26 counties tracked by Northwest MLS, including Thurston County.
Inventory levels rise and fall throughout the year. They tend to dip during the holidays and winter months then climb again as the year moves toward spring and summer.
More than 400 homes were put on the market in April, then the number jumped to 520 new listings last month, up from 456 in May 2023, the new data show.
“Higher levels of for-sale inventory should have an impact in stabilizing price levels over the summer months,” said Steven Bourassa, a director at the Washington Center for Real Estate Research.
There’s some indication that prices are already stabilizing.
Thurston County median price was essentially flat between May 2024 and May 2023, rising just a little over 1% to $510,000. May’s median price also was down slightly from a median price of $512,400 reported in April.
However, some other characteristics of the market remained the same: Sales fell more than 6%, and there is still less than two months of inventory, despite the additional homes listed for sale in April and May.
A market that doesn’t favor either buyers or sellers is thought to have four to six months of inventory.
Average mortgage interest rates on a 30-year mortgage also remain high at around 7%.
“More hawkish commentary about inflation and tepid demand for longer-dated Treasury auctions caused market yields to rise across the board,” said Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater in a statement. “This reality, as well as economic signals that have moved sideways over the last few weeks, have resulted in mortgage rates drifting higher as markets continue to dial back expectations of interest rate cuts.”
Thurston County continues to look relatively affordable compared to other Puget Sound counties: The median home price in King County topped $1 million last month, a record high driven by an average home price of $1.7 million on East Side, according to The Seattle Times.
Thurston County housing data for May
▪ Single-family home sales fell 6.6% to 298 units last month from 319 units in May 2023.
▪ Single-family home median price rose 1.2% to $510,000 from $504,000 over the same period.
▪ Single-family home pending sales fell 3.9% to 419 units from 436 units over the same period.
▪ Condo sales rose to 15 units from 10 units over the same period.
▪ Condo median price fell 7.9% to $315,000 from $342,000 over the same period.
▪ Condo pending sales fell to 17 units from 22 units over the same period.
Data on 298 homes that sold in May
▪ 49 homes sold for $445,000
▪ 39 units sold for $485,000
▪ 32 homes sold for $554,995
▪ 30 units sold for $528,250
▪ 26 units sold for $572,500
▪ 22 homes sold for $565,000
▪ 22 units sold for $546,500
▪ 19 units sold for $482,640
▪ 12 homes sold for $502,500
▪ 11 units sold for $524,000
▪ 11 units sold for $500,000
▪ 9 units sold for $595,000
▪ 8 units sold for $607,750
▪ 7 units sold for $461,000
▪ 1 home sold for $1.25 million
Source: Northwest MLS
This story was originally published June 6, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "More Thurston homes were put up for sale last month. What does that mean for home buyers?."
