Thurston County median home price hits $390,000 in August, driven by low inventory
The median price of a Thurston County single-family residence rose nearly 12 percent last month from a year ago, increasing the median to $390,000, according to Northwest Multiple Listing Service data released for August.
The county is still a bargain when compared against the King County median price of $742,000, but it’s closing in on $400,000 which would put it in range of the $433,000 median price found in Pierce County.
Driving all of this the past few years has been steady demand, combined with shrinking levels of inventory. The total number of active listings was lower by 59 percent last month from a year ago, which means sellers are in control and buyers continue to find themselves in a very competitive market. The county had less than a month’s supply of inventory in August.
A housing market that doesn’t favor either sellers or buyers has 4-6 months of inventory, experts say.
“Inventory continues to be a major, major issue for us,” said Steve Garrett, designated broker and owner of Windermere Olympia, “and it’s causing problems at all sorts of different levels.”
Sellers are getting confused because so many offers are coming in and buyers are getting frustrated, he said.
Garrett said he recently worked with a prospective buyer who was pre-qualified for a $550,000 mortgage — someone who also could put down 20 percent of the purchase price — but the buyer got nowhere.
“Solid offers are not even getting up to the plate,” he said, adding that the number of cash transactions in the local market is surprising. There also are a number of out-of-town and out-of-state buyers, he said.
“It’s a challenging market,” he said. “It’s hard to get your head around.”
The competitive market has also created the “love letter” phenomenon, Garrett said, where prospective buyers contact the seller by mail and explain their interest in the property.
A closer look at the county housing data for August
▪ Single-family residence sales fell 8.27 percent to 521 units last month from 568 units in August 2019.
▪ Single-family median price rose 11.9 percent to $390,000 from $348,500 over the same period.
▪ Single-family pending sales rose 17.61 percent to 708 units from 602 over the same period.
▪ Condo sales rose to 17 units last month from 13 units in August 2019.
▪ Condo median price fell 7.83 percent to $212,000 from $230,000 over the same period.
▪ Condo pending sales rose to 24 units from 11 units over the same period.
Source: Northwest Multiple Listing Service
This story was originally published September 10, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
