This monthly housing story is going to sound awfully familiar: Low inventory, combined with strong demand, continues to push the median price of a Thurston County home to new highs, and continues to make life pretty hard for those trying to find, let alone buy, a house.
According to new data released Wednesday by Northwest Multiple Listing Service, the median single-family home price rose 26% last month from the same period last year. The price: $469,950.
Meanwhile, sales rose 32% over the same period and there’s still less than a month’s supply of homes on the market. All that means the market strongly favors the seller.
A market that doesn’t favor either the seller or buyer is thought to have inventory in the range of four to six months, but the county hasn’t been close to those levels in years.
One reason the county housing market is so brisk — 561 residences sold here last month — is that even a median price of $469,950 is a relative bargain when compared to other counties north of Thurston. In King County, the median price in June was $860,000, Northwest MLS data show.
Experts say more homes need to be built to bring some balance to the housing market, and there is movement in that direction.
A year ago, a massive housing proposal called Tickner Farms was first pitched to the city for farm land next to Black Hills High School.
The proposal was quiet until June 24 when representatives of Tickner Farms met with Tumwater building officials to get feedback on two elements of their project: 364 single-family lots on 77 acres and 250 multifamily units spread across 10.7 acres, city of Tumwater information shows.
