We don’t have a whole lot of surprises to share in this month’s Tri-Cities real estate update. We have more homes for sale than we’ve had in at least five years, but it’s not unusual for inventory to go up in November. What is unusual is that our sales activity last month was up 5%; we normally see the number of sales declining as we approach Thanksgiving.
Let’s dive in to the numbers!
Tri-Cities’ Inventory of Homes for Sale
When we did our snapshot last week, there were 855 homes for sale across the Tri-Cities. That’s the highest inventory we’ve had in at least five years! It’s not unusual for inventory to rise in November. Last year’s inventory hit its peak in November 2022. And that’s the case again this year.
As you can see, inventory is up this month everywhere except Richland. Pasco had the biggest increase, going from 180 homes for sale last month to 210 this month.
The increase in inventory is happening in the upper half of the market. Above $400,000, there are 8% more homes available than a month ago. Below $400,000, inventory is down 7% this month.
Home Sales Activity
This is a bit unusual. As we get into holiday season, it’s normal for sales activity to slow down. We saw that in October’s market update. But as you can see above, sales were up 5% last month compared to the month before. Most of that is due to Richland seeing a double-digit rise in sales last month.
And I have to say that any rise in sales activity is pretty remarkable considering that mortgage rates were rising through most of last month!
Homes continue to take longer to sell, with last month’s sales taking a median of 16 days on market. If you prefer the average days on market instead of median, that was 37 days last month.
Tri-Cities Home Prices
Our median home price last month was $415,000, down just $5,000 from September. This is the first time in a year that prices have dropped in two consecutive months.
But price consistency is still the name of the game. We’re now at 10 months in a row where median prices have stayed in between $415K and $435K.
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.)
About The Author
