The Thurston County housing market did something in August that hasn’t happened in months
For the first time in months, the Thurston County housing market saw the number of home sales rise in August, according to data released Thursday by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
Sales of single-family homes climbed to 358 units last month from 353 units in August 2023, the data show. Thurston County wasn’t alone. Fifteen of the 26 counties tracked by the Northwest MLS showed sales gains last month.
What was the difference? Mortgage interest rates are significantly lower than they were a year ago, according to Freddie Mac, which tracks rates. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage was more than 7% last summer, but now is down to 6.35%.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that the other aspects of the county housing market are going to sound very familiar: Median price remains high (and flat year over year) and inventory remains at less than two months, which means sellers continue to have the advantage over buyers.
A market that doesn’t favor either party is thought to have enough inventory to last four to six months.
A closer look at the August data
▪ Single-family home sales rose 1.4% to 358 units last month from 353 units in August 2023.
▪ Single-family home median price was flat at $529,999 versus $529,950 over the same period.
▪ Single-family home pending sales rose to 399 units from 377 units compared to the same period.
▪ Condo sales fell to 10 units from 14 units over the same period.
▪ Condo median price fell more than 1% to $332,475 from $337,435 compared to the same period.
▪ Condo pending sales fell to 11 units from 14 units over the same period.
Thurston County median price by area
▪ Boston Harbor: $945,000 (four sales).
▪ Northwest Thurston County: $840,000 (nine sales).
▪ Black Hills: $697,500 (eight sales).
▪ Northeast Thurston County: $654,125 (46 sales).
▪ West Olympia: $569,900 (21 sales).
▪ South Olympia: $567,500 (24 sales).
▪ Southeast Thurston: $562,475 (12 sales).
▪ Tumwater: $548,000 (45 sales).
▪ East Olympia: $540,000 (seven sales).
▪ North Olympia: $528,500 (28 sales).
▪ Hawks Prairie: $500,000 (35 sales).
▪ Yelm/Rainier: $485,000 (57 sales).
▪ South Thurston: $480,000 (19 sales).
▪ Lacey: $480,000 (34 sales).
▪ Rochester: $455,000 (nine sales).
Source: Northwest MLS.
This story was originally published September 7, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "The Thurston County housing market did something in August that hasn’t happened in months."
