There’s good news for Thurston home buyers as this key number continues to rise

Prospective buyers looking for a Thurston County home are benefitting as inventory inched higher last month, according to new data released by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

It comes with a caveat: Inventory still isn’t in the range of a buyer’s market, which would be four to six months of inventory, but it is getting closer as the number of homes for sale rose to 2.62 months in September, the data show.

The county’s housing market still favors the seller, but the market has changed, said Mitch Dietz, owner of Coldwell Banker Evergreen Olympic Realty in Olympia.

The number of multiple offers per home has dropped, there are fewer deals higher than the listed price, and deals below the list price were high, he said, all of which can help the buyer.

“It’s great to have more choices,” said Dietz about higher inventory. He acknowledged that median price continues to rise, too, but the current market is giving the buyer more options.

If a prospective buyer can afford to act on a home now, they should do it because if mortgage interest rates, which have been trending lower, fall again, the market will only become more competitive, he said.

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage is at 6.37%.

As for the seller, the home needs to be “priced right,” Dietz said.

That’s perhaps more easily said than understood, but Dietz provided this example: 52% percent of homes that didn’t require a price reduction went under contract in 17 days, while the 48% that were overpriced sat on the market for a much longer period.

A broker can help determine the right price point, but it also helps to not be too aggressive with the price, Dietz said.

And the home should be prepared and ready to be sold, he said.

“Buyers are strapped,” said Dietz, because they are dealing with higher costs, higher interest rates and higher payments. “They want move-in ready.”

Other housing market indicators rose across the board. For example, the number of sales rose 11.8% between September 2024 and September 2025.

However, in terms of total number of units sold last month, the numbers were low when measured against historical standards, Dietz said.

The September data

• Single-family home sales rose 11.8% to 312 units in September 2025 from 279 units in September 2024.
• Single-family home median price rose 4.26% to $536,950 from $515,000 over the same period.
• Single-family home pending sales were largely flat, rising less than 1% to 337 units from 336 units over the same period.
• Condo sales fell to nine units from 10 units over the same period.
• Condo median price fell about 8% to $285,000 from $309,500 over the same period.
• Condo pending sales rose to 17 units from 10 units over the same period.

Source: Northwest MLS.