More Thurston County homes sold in July than ever before
Despite higher prices and limited inventory, there is still plenty of buyer demand for a Thurston County home. And that demand soared to a new high last month, according to Northwest Multiple Listing Service data released Thursday.
More than 600 homes sold in July, a record for the month, said Ken Anderson, president and owner of Coldwell Banker Evergreen Olympic Realty in Olympia.
“Buyer interest in our area remains strong with both local moves, but also continued strong inbound migration,” he said. “As prices move higher in the counties to the north — and they are way up — more folks look our way to find affordability. We remain one of the most affordable markets on I-5 despite the big jumps in home prices here.”
In King County, for example, the median price of a single-family home rose 20 percent to $871,000 last month, compared to $465,000 here.
After months of increasing prices, Thurston County’s median price was down slightly from the June Thurston County median price of $469,950, the Northwest MLS data show.
Why the dip? More homes came on the market in July — 726 units, compared to 649 last year — giving buyers more choices. But the increase in listings didn’t really move the needle in terms of shifting the market in favor of buyers. Inventory here remains below one month.
“We remain the strongest seller’s market in the entire NWMLS region at just a 0.53 month supply of homes,” Anderson said.
A housing market that doesn’t favor either seller or buyer has four to six months of inventory. The county hasn’t been near that level in years.
The market remains very hot or a little cooler, depending on the price point, said Steve Garrett, owner and broker at Windermere Olympia.
A home priced between $300,000 and $335,000 is going to have lots of showings and receive multiple offers, but at $550,000 and above the market has cooled somewhat, he said.
“For our county, that’s still rarefied air,” said Garrett about those more expensive homes.
He said it was good to see more listings come on the market last month. “It’s more encouraging for buyers because they have been shutout for so long,” he said.
Thurston County housing data for July
▪ Single-family residence sales rose 7.3 percent to 605 homes last month from 564 in July 2020.
▪ Median price rose 21.7 percent to $465,000 in July 2021 from $382,000 in July 2020.
▪ Pending sales rose 3.2 percent to 673 units from 652 units over the same period.
▪ Condo sales rose to 21 units last month from 13 units in July 2020.
▪ Median condo price rose 19 percent to $269,000 from $225,000 over the same period.
▪ Pending condo sales rose to 23 units from 22 units over the same period.
Source: Northwest MLS.
This story was originally published August 6, 2021 at 5:15 AM.
