There are signs that the Tri-Cities housing market is stabilizing as we reach three months since Governor Inslee announced his “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” quarantine plan. As you know, aside from a few days at the beginning of that plan, real estate was allowed to continue as long as we followed strict health guidelines.
As you look at the numbers above, two things should stand out:
1.) There’s more green than a month ago.
2.) The monthly change percentages are very small.
That second point is what I mean by stabilizing. Across the area, active listings are up 2% this month, rising from 514 to 522. Sold homes are up 1%, rising from 316 to 320. Even the median sales price for the whole area edged up by 1.5% over the past month. Those are all signs of stabilization and could set the stage for a pretty quick rebound if more buyers and sellers re-enter the market. That could be impacted, though, by the fact that we’re still in Phase 1 of re-opening in both Benton and Franklin Counties. And that, in turn, may keep more locals out of work and unable to pursue whatever real estate plans they had this spring/summer. We’ll see. But for now, it’s a good sign to see steady numbers in this month’s housing update.
One other note: Almost across the board, days on market went up this month — meaning homes are selling a little more slowly than before. For the area as a whole, DOM was 9 a month ago and 13 this month. Smaller cities West Richland and Benton City were the exceptions. Homes sold faster there this month.
Year-over-Year Comparisons
In June 2019, we had 536 active listings in the Tri-Cities area — only 3% more than we have now. But where we see the biggest Y-o-Y change is in sold homes. A year ago, we reported 374 sold homes — about 16% more than the 320 you see above.
What’s interesting is how different cities are faring this year compared to last. In Pasco, active listings you see above are 29% below June 2019 and sold homes are down 25%. But in Richland, active listings are 22% higher this year while sold homes are down 19% Y-o-Y. In Kennewick, actives are down 9% and sold homes are down 3% from last year.
As always, get in touch if you ever have questions about the housing market here in the Tri-Cities, or even in your specific neighborhood/town/city.
(*Remember that days on market can sometimes be skewed by how new construction homes are processed in the MLS.)
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