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The stats for March 2024 are a mixed bag. Northwest MLS key metrics for March 2024 activity, including new and active listings and pending and closed sales, showed that the real estate market was picking up. However, the interest rate rose again just a few days after the stats came out. I had previously written that Unjustified optimism remains about a persistent decline in mortgage interest rates. I expect us to experience a see-saw of lending rates throughout 2024, and then perhaps they will settle somewhere between 5% and 6%. That seesaw was clearly in place last week. We must not forget that too many factors, the least of which are not geo-political conflicts, could significantly alter these predictions.
Important takeaways from March 2024 data for the Washington counties covered are:
- The median sales price of homes increased in 19 out of 26 counties and decreased in 7 counties relative to March 2023.
- The three counties with the highest median sale prices were King ($850,000), San Juan ($750,000) and Snohomish ($730,000). The three counties with the lowest median sale prices were Pacific ($347,500), Grant ($325,000), and Columbia ($274,000).
- The number of homes on the market increased throughout Washington with 20 out of 26 counties seeing a year-over-year increase.
- Overall, there was a 1.16% year-over-year increase in active property listings in Washington counties covered by NWMLS.
- Six of the 26 counties included in the report saw an increase in the number of homes sold year-over-year, while 18 counties saw a decrease. Two counties, Ferry and Chelan, saw relatively no change in the number of year-over-year sales.
- Condominium sales dipped slightly in the NWMLS service areas, with 752 units sold in March 2024, which is a year-over-year decrease of slightly more than 1%. The median sale price of condominiums increased more than 5% year-over-year, from $470,000 in March 2023 to $495,000 in March 2024.
I continue to believe that current homeowners who are aptly not eager to sell their homes because they have mortgages well under 4%, some even less than 3%, will remain a significant factor in inventory shortage for some time.
Any significant price increase remains unrealistic. While we may get a more balanced real estate market in the next three to five years due to mortgage lending rates remaining much higher than in recent years, home prices will likely continue to slide in the foreseeable future.
A monthly market snapshot by NWMLS helps you stay better informed. Whether buying or considering putting your home on the market, the most important tool is current, accurate, and relevant information. You will find that information in most current real estate stats. If you need specific information about your neighborhood or the one you may be considering living in and don’t see it here, reach out, and we will get it for you.
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