Thurston home sales volume tumbles in January, but sales remain ahead of 2021
Over the summer and into fall it was not unusual for 500 to 600 Thurston County homes to sell in a month.
That didn’t happen in January: Only 335 single-family residences changed hands last month. Still, that was ahead of January 2021 totals by 18.8 percent, according to Northwest Multiple Listing Service data released Monday.
All the other factors that have extended the seller’s market into its eighth year here remained the same last month, including low inventory, and a substantially higher median price than a year ago. The median price now stands at $479,950, the data show, which is down slightly from $482,000 in December.
Although a smaller volume of Thurston homes sold in January, the 18.8 percent increase from a year ago, at least in percentage terms, outperformed King, Snohomish and Pierce counties, all of which experienced percentage declines from a year ago, the data show.
Pierce County home sales fell 14.5 percent from January 2021.
“The year started off with more of a whimper than a boom thanks to listing inventory in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties being lower than any January on record,” said Matthew Gardner, chief economist at Windermere Real Estate, in a statement.
It appears Thurston County can expect more inbound migration.
“Strong activity along the I-5 and I-90 corridors outside of the Seattle area continues with strong double-digit price increases being recorded,” said James Young, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at the University of Washington, in a statement.
A closer look at the Thurston County data
▪ Single-family home sales rose 18.8 percent to 335 units in January 2022 from 282 units in January 2021.
▪ Single-family home median price rose 17 percent to $479,950 from $409,975 over the same period.
▪ Single-family home pending sales fell 2.9 percent to 364 units from 375 units over a year ago.
▪ Condo sales fell to 10 units in January 2022 from 17 units in January 2021.
▪ Condo median price rose 21 percent to $287,500 from $236,500 over the same period.
▪ Condo pending sales fell to four units from 13 units a year ago.
Source: Northwest MLS.
This story was originally published February 8, 2022 at 5:45 AM.
