Pierce County’s January figures show the lowest year-over-year price gain in over three years, while prices actually dropped in King County, leading some to wonder if the market has peaked. Inventory continues to be higher than a year ago, but supply is still tight. Buyers are attracted by lower interest rates, but housing affordability is still a concern, especially for first- time buyers.
At month end, there were 1,623 active listings in the MLS database, 105 less than December’s 1,728 inventory, and 19% more than 1,360 homes and condos listed a year ago. MLS brokers added 1,245 new listings to inventory during January, 565 (83%) more than last month, and 12 more than last January.
January’s 1,418 pending sales were 34% higher than December’s 1,056 mutually accepted offers, and 10% lower than 1,570 pending sales last January.
Pierce County MLS members reported 895 closed sales during January. This is 21% lower than last month’s 1,134closed sales, and 103 (10%) less than 998 completed transactions in January a year ago.
The median price for January’s closed sales of single family homes and condominiums (combined) was $326,950. This is up 6.4% from the January 2018 figure of $307,250. The average time on market for properties that sold was 50 days, compared to 47 days last month and 47 days this month last year. Pierce County has a 1.8 month supply of housing inventory on the market. (4-6 months is considered a balanced market.)