House prices are up. Condo prices are down. What’s 2024 hold in store for Pierce County?
November saw the median sales price in Pierce County up for houses and down for condominiums compared with prices in 2022, according to new data released Wednesday, Dec. 6.
Northwest Multiple Listing Service’s report of November sales showed the median sales price for existing homes in Pierce County was at $539,950, compared with $525,000 in 2022.
That compared with $885,500 in King County, $725,000 in Snohomish County, $549,950 in Kitsap County and $529,900 in Thurston County.
For condominiums, the median sales price in Pierce County was $393,000, down from $408,000 a year ago.
That compared with November’s median sales prices of $485,000 in King County, $521,209 in Snohomish County, $470,000 in Kitsap County and $366,950 in Thurston County.
The number of closed sales of existing homes and condominiums in Pierce County was down more than 28 percent from the same time last year. The NWMLS system as a whole reported a 16 percent decline in sales compared with November 2022.
New listings for existing single-family homes for the month in Pierce County were down 7.3 percent compared with a year ago, higher than the 6 percent decrease systemwide for NWMLS.
Interest rates on 30-year fixed mortgages averaged more than 7 percent as of Nov. 30, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation’s website on Dec. 6.
NWMLS, in its Dec. 6 release, noted that “the expected seasonal slow-down continues to be exacerbated by the high interest rate environment for buyers relying on mortgages.”
“With the 30-year fixed mortgage rate currently just over 7.2%, the purchasing power of prospective buyers remains stunted relative to a few short years ago,” said Mason Virant, associate director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at The University of Washington in the release. “Moreover, current owners with low-rate mortgages continue to be reluctant to sell. This has led to a continued decline in year-over-year transaction volume and the inventory levels in the market.”
John L. Scott Real Estate’s 2024 forecast predicted more of the same for the market in the months ahead.
In response to its own Q&A as to whether to buy now or wait for interest rates to come down, the report advised, “In your local market, if there is a shortage of supply of available homes for sale, we often see an increase in home prices after the first of the year, especially in the more affordable and mid-price ranges.”
In a separate Pierce County report, the real estate company noted that the holiday season routinely sees a “dramatic decrease” in the number of new resale listings, with “the first of the year as the low point for unsold inventory.”
The report showed that county-wide, the percentage of pending sales within first 30 days generally declined as price points rose among the available inventory. More than half were listed as pending in the category up to $350,000 among those listed in October, while just over 11 percent were pending for those between $1 million and $1.5 million.
Another John L. Scott report reviewing the market of Gig Harbor existing home sales showed 25 percent pending in the first 30 days in the $500,000-$750,000 price category among the October listed properties, compared with 48 percent in the $750,000-$1 million category.
This story was originally published December 7, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
