Here’s where the million-dollar homes sold in Thurston County in 2024, new data show
For at least the third straight year, more than 100 homes sold for $1 million or more in Thurston County, according to new data released this month by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
Northwest MLS releases monthly housing data throughout the year and then recaps the year in its annual review.
In Thurston County, 107 single-family homes sold for at least $1 million, with those sales taking place throughout the county.
Leading the way, however, was northeast Thurston County, which recorded 27 sales at or above that price, followed closely by northwest Thurston County at 21 homes. Some of the northeast million-dollar sales were in the area of The Woodlands, one of two golf courses at the Golf Club at Hawks Prairie.
Boston Harbor, a destination for high-end home sales, recorded nine seven-figure sales, the data show.
Million-dollar price point no longer rare
Owning a home that costs that much is no longer unusual, said Mitch Dietz, owner and designated broker of Coldwell Banker Evergreen Olympic Realty in Olympia.
Dietz recalled that in 2010, few, if any, homes in the county, including those with waterfront views, sold for $1 million.
But now the median price of a home here is $515,000. And if you want a home with four bedrooms and two baths, it’s probably in the range of $600,000 to $700,000, he said.
“It’s not that far off to have a home for $1 million,” Dietz said. In King County, 8,900 single-family homes sold for $1 million or more last year, the data show.
Elsewhere in Thurston County, the housing market for 2024 looked like this: The single-family home median price rose 2% to $515,000 last year from $505,000 in 2023, while single-family home sales dropped about 2% to 3,316 units last year from 3,379 units in 2023.
Dietz said 2024 was a “weird” year.
By all indications it was a market that favored sellers, yet his office had more canceled transactions than ever because buyers felt they had more options, he said.
They didn’t have a lot more options, but the market had inventory under two months instead of under one month, Dietz said.
A market that doesn’t favor either buyer or seller is thought to have inventory that ranges from four months to six months. Thurston County ended the year at under two months, the data show.
It’s still a market that favors sellers, but buyers last year were able to negotiate price, ask the seller to help pay for closing costs and ask for home inspections, Dietz said.
What’s his forecast for 2025?
Dietz thinks median price will rise 5% because he expects mortgage interest rates to fall over the year. Current average interest on a 30-year mortgage is slightly above 7%, according to Freddie Mac, but Dietz expects that to drop to 6.25%.
“People are getting more comfortable with interest rates,” he said.
Million dollar home sales in 2024
▪ Northeast Thurston County: 27 houses.
▪ Northwest Thurston: 21.
▪ West Olympia: 18.
▪ Boston Harbor: 9.
▪ Yelm/Rainier: 6.
▪ Hawks Prairie: 5.
▪ Southeast Thurston: 4.
▪ East Olympia: 3.
▪ Black Hills: 3.
▪ Lacey: 2.
▪ North Olympia: 2.
▪ Tumwater: 2.
▪ South Thurston: 2.
▪ South Olympia: 2.
▪ Rochester: 1.
Source: Northwest MLS.
