Remember how cold December was? The Thurston County housing market didn’t feel it

Despite the cold weather and the holidays, the Thurston County housing market rolled on in record form in December, according to recently released Northwest Multiple Listing Service data.

Sales of single-family homes were flat on a year-over-year basis, but it hardly mattered because 414 units sold last month and 418 units a year ago, making it the two strongest Decembers in the county in years, said Ken Anderson, president and owner of Coldwell Banker Evergreen Olympic Realty in Olympia.

Prior to December 2016, the next best December for home sales was 366 units during the pre-recession boom in housing in December 2006.

“All other Decembers dating back to 2000 averaged just 241 homes sold,” Anderson said.

New listings last month slightly outpaced listings in December 2016, but it wasn’t enough to keep up with demand. And that meant that months of inventory fell to 1.13 last month. A healthy balance between a buyer’s market and a seller’s market is thought to have inventory that would last four to six months.

At 1.13 months, Thurston County had one of the lowest months of inventory in Western Washington, the data show.

Pierce County also was at 1.13 months in December, while in King County stood at 0.56 months. Strong demand and little inventory sent the median price up 15.45 percent in King County, to $635,000.

A closer look at the Thurston County housing data for December 2017, compared to December 2016:

▪ Sales fell less than 1 percent to 414 units from 418 units.

▪ Median price rose 2.15 percent to $285,000 from $279,000.

▪ Pending sales fell 7.46 percent to 310 units from 335 units.

This story was originally published January 11, 2018 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Remember how cold December was? The Thurston County housing market didn’t feel it."