Real Estate Inventory Down Across State, But Lewis County Holds Steady

Posted

While some counties showed marked declines in inventory from Dec. 2018 to Dec. 2019, and between November and December of last year, Lewis County’s active residential real estate listings stayed fairly steady. 

The Northwest Multiple Listing Services reported that at the end of December, inventory in its 23-county coverage area was down 31 percent from the same time the previous year. As of last month, Washington had 8,469 active residential listings, compared to 12,275 in Dec. 2018. 

Last month marked the sixth straight month of declining inventory, noted James Young, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research, according to the NWMLS.  Inventory peaked in June, 2019 when the database had 16,680 active listings, about twice as many as December.

Out of the 23 counties, there is about 1.2 months of supply for listings. The largest drops in inventory were 54 percent from last December in Thurston County, down 38.9 percent in Pierce, 38.8 percent in King, 35.6 percent in Snohomish. 

Lewis County also experienced a drop in inventory, though a smaller one — down 5 percent from 225 active residential listings in Dec. 2018 to 213 in Dec. 2019.



In December, Lewis County had 55 new listings, compared to 53 in Dec. 2018. The median home price was $324,900, down slightly from $326,900 the previous December.

“This market is unlike any market I’ve seen in the South Sound over the past 40 years. Too many buyers chasing too few properties,” remarked Dick Beeson in the NWMLS release, principal managing broker at RE/MAX Northwest in Gig Harbor.

December’s volume of active listings included 3,777 new listings added during the month, but during the same timeframe, 5,943 sellers accepted offers on their properties. That number of pending sales was up about 4.7 percent from twelve months ago.