The COVID-19 pandemic has slowed a lot of business activity in Thurston County, but not the real estate market, according to July home sales data released by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service on Thursday.
The same factors that have driven the market for months, both before and during the pandemic, continued last month as low inventory of single-family homes, combined with strong demand, pushed the median price higher by 12.35 percent from July 2019.
That's more good news for sellers and not as good news for buyers.
"These conditions create higher intensity for each new listing, making it feel like 'multiple-offer everything' in the local market," said J. Lennox Scott, chairman and chief executive of John L. Scott, in a statement.
Months of inventory in July remained below one month. A real estate market that doesn't favor either sellers or buyers has months of inventory in the range of four to six months.
It's a somewhat puzzling situation because unemployment in the county remains high at 9 percent and yet more than 500 single-family homes sold last month.
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Ken Anderson, broker and owner of Coldwell Banker Evergreen Olympic Realty in Olympia, said Thursday in-bound migration to the county continues to play a significant role in driving sales. He said buyers from California, King County and Pierce County are moving to the area, both for the affordability and to "get out of urban lifestyles," he said.
The mortgage interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage also remains low, according to CNN Business.
As for closed sales in July, which were actually down slightly from the year-ago period, it was still the fifth best month ever in the county, Anderson said.
The median price of a single-family home in the Seattle area last month was $727,500, almost twice as expensive as Thurston County at $382,000.
A closer look at the July single-family home data
-- Sales fell 3.92 percent to 564 units in July 2020 from 587 units in July 2019.
-- Median price rose 12.35 percent to $382,000 from $339,999 over the same period.
-- Pending sales inched higher to 652 units from 650 units over the same period.
A closer look at the July condo data
-- Sales fell to 13 units in July 2020 from 16 units from July 2019.
-- Median price rose 5.88 percent to $225,000 from $212,500 over the same period.
-- Pending sales rose to 22 units from 16 units over the same period.
Source: Northwest MLS.
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