Tri-Cities Real Estate Market Update: December 2019

The holiday season is here, and it’s showing up in this month’s real estate market update. The number of active listings is down this month across the board — Pasco is the lone exception, with five more homes available than when we checked last month. Everywhere else, inventory is down between 5-20%.

The number of homes sold is also down overall, and more pronounced than the drops in inventory. Homes sold in Kennewick and Pasco were both down 20% or more from a month ago. Days on market is also up across the board, with homes staying on the market a couple days longer than last month.

This is all typical for the Tri-Cities market (and most others across the country, no doubt). Looking at the market changes between November-December 2018, I’m seeing pretty much the same holiday slowdown that we see this year. Here are some other interesting bits of info about the Tri-Cities real estate market this month:

• That total of 370 homes sold last month is the lowest we’ve seen since May’s market update, which showed only 327 homes sold the prior month.
• The 13 days on market for the whole area is the slowest it’s been since May, which was also 13 DOM.
• Pasco is the only city we watch where both active inventory went up and days on market went down.
• That total of 87 homes sold in Pasco is the lowest we’ve seen since March.
• Don’t read much into the increases in median sales prices in West Richland, Benton City and Burbank. With so few homes sold each month in those areas, a few sales here and there can have an oversized impact on monthly stats.

Give us a call, text or email if you ever have questions about the housing stats here in the Tri-Cities, or even in your specific neighborhood. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the market to help our clients make the best decisions for their buying or selling situations!

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