‘We’re in a changed market.’ November home sale stats for Pierce County, other areas

Rising mortgage interest rates have added to the big chill this fall in Pierce County when it comes to cooling off the housing market.

According to November home sales numbers released Monday from Northwest Multiple Listing Service, Pierce County’s median closed home sale price saw another consecutive drop. In November it was $525,000, down from $535,000 in October, $538,000 in September and $555,000 in August.

November’s median closed sale price was still nearly 2 percent higher than a year ago and was a higher percentage increase than seen in other parts of the region, including King, Snohomish, Kitsap and Thurston counties.

Area median closed sale prices for homes and percent change from a year ago:

▪ King: $827,000, 0.85 percent.

▪ Snohomish: $700,000, 0.72 percent.

▪ Kitsap: $505,471, 1.09 percent.

▪ Thurston: $474,990, no change.

Home listings in Pierce County were up 190 percent from the same time last year, offering more than 2 months’ inventory for buyers to consider. Pending sales were down nearly 46 percent from a year ago, and closed sales were down 42.74 percent from November 2021.

For condominiums, it was a different picture, with local prices still on the rise.

Pierce County’s median closed sale price was $408,000, up from $369,000 in October and up 16.57 percent from a year ago. Listings were up more than 123 percent from 2021, and pending sales were down more than 57 percent. Closed sales were down more than 36 percent.

Area median closed sale prices for condos and percent change from a year ago:

▪ King: $468,000, up 1.74 percent.

▪ Snohomish: $507,500, up 9.14 percent

▪ Kitsap: $612,500, up 50.31 percent

▪ Thurston: $335,000, up 12.79 percent.

The overall volume of closed sales in the NWMLS network was the lowest since January and February, but available inventory as measured by months of inventory systemwide was the best since since January 2019.

Northwest MLS director Mike Larson, managing broker at Compass in Tacoma, said in Monday’s NWMLS release that market signals were “a hopeful sign that after the holidays and the new year will come a more normal market.”

Others saw changes already taking place.

“The data show we’re in a changed market,” said Dick Beeson, managing broker at RE/MAX Northwest in Tacoma/Gig Harbor in Monday’s release. “High interest rates, doubled inventory levels, anxious lenders, contracts written with negotiations for repairs, closing costs, and other sundry things – all of these have returned to the market.”

Matthew Gardner, chief economist at Windermere Real Estate, predicted that interest rates would remain above 6 percent until next fall “when they should dip into the high 5 percent range. While this is higher than we have become used to, it’s still more than 2 percent lower than the historic average.”

In a separate report, real estate and data firm Redfin reported Dec. 2 that the priciest West Coast markets, including Seattle, were seeing the highest share of homes delisted as their pool of buyers grew smaller.

“Sacramento not only saw the biggest year-over-year jump in delistings; it also had the highest overall share, with 3.6 percent of for-sale homes delisted per week on average during the 12 weeks ending Nov. 27,” it reported. “It was followed by San Francisco (3.4 percent), Oakland (3.3 percent), Seattle (3.2 percent) and San Jose, California (3 percent).”