August 2024 Housing Market Update: Home Prices at Highest in 22 Months

You can’t tell just from looking at the graphic above, but this month’s Tri-Cities market update is an unusual one: Supply, demand, and prices are all up. And not just “up,” but all are at levels we haven’t seen in a couple years or more.

Let’s dive into this month’s numbers!

Tri-Cities Home Prices

Every month, I point out how long our median sales price has been staying in the $399K to $435K window. No more! The streak is over after 22 months.

Our median sales price for homes sold in July was just above that window: $436,250. As I mentioned in the headline, that’s the highest our home prices have been since October 2022.

Prices are up about 2.7% month-over-month and about 2.6% year-over-year.

Prices reached a record high last month in Kennewick. That $440K median price edged the $439,900 median Kennewick saw back in August 2022. West Richland didn’t set a record with its median price of $472,950, but that’s the highest prices have been there since July 2023.

Sales Activity Last Month

Demand continues to grow slowly each month. Our 336 closings last month were up 4% month over month, and sales have gone up for six straight months.

That total of 336 closings is the most we’ve had since…get this…October 2022 — the same month we last saw home prices this high.

Even though we’re seeing more sales, the market is moving more slowly than in past summers. Our median days on market last month was 20. A year ago, it was 14, and in August 2022, it was just 7.

Inventory of Homes for Sale

With prices and sales activity on the rise, you might think the number of homes for sale would be falling.

It’s not.

There were 872 homes for sale when we did our market snapshot on August 5. That’s the highest inventory in the almost six years that we’ve been tracking our own local sales data! Inventory is up just 3% month over month as you can see on the graphic. But it’s up 19% over one year ago.

So to sum up: Home prices and sales activity are at their highest since October 2022, and homes-for-sale inventory is at its highest since at least November 2018.

And that’s a look at this month’s Tri-Cities housing market! As always, please drop us a note if you ever have questions about what’s happening around town or in your specific neighborhood.

(*Remember that days on market can sometimes be skewed by how new construction homes are processed in the MLS.)