Time to buy? Housing market cooling, but here come inflation, rising interest rates

Debbie Cockrell
·2 min read
2

Pierce County’s once-booming home sales are in decline as buyers face high prices coupled with higher interest rates.

According to Northwest Multiple Listing Service’s report on September home sales, home listings, excluding condos, were up more than 100 percent over the same time frame in 2021. Pending sales were down 29 percent, and closed sales were down more than 28 percent.

Pierce County’s median closed sale price was $538,000, down from August’s $555,000 but still up more than 6 percent from September 2021.

The county’s condo market isn’t taking quite the same hit, with listings up nearly 100 percent over last year, sales down only 18.69 percent, and closed sales up 2.47 percent from 2021.

The median closed sale price for condos was $410,000, up from $395,000 in August and more than 17 percent from 2021.

“Buyers are finally getting some relief,” said broker Mike Larson, a member of the NWMLS board of directors and managing broker at Compass in Tacoma, in Thursday’s recaps. “Getting back to a balanced, more normal market is almost a welcome change.”

But, he added, “inflation and rising rates aren’t helping.”

Real estate data and listings service Redfin in September put Tacoma among the top 10 fastest cooling housing markets nationwide.

The average rate for 30-year fixed mortgages on Thursday was more than 7 percent. Redfin on Thursday noted that buyers have lost 29 percent of their purchasing power since rates hit bottom in early 2021.

“It will take a few months before the prices of closed sales start to reflect this shock to the market,” said Redfin deputy chief economist Taylor Marr in the company’s Thursday update. “However, there is evidence of sizable price declines in parts of the market that aren’t accounted for by MLS data, such as home builders offloading homes in bulk at a 20 percent discount.”

Here’s how September median closed home sales compared in other counties and how much prices have increased since 2021:

▪ King County: $875,000, up 5.98 percent.

▪ Snohomish County: $735,000, up 8.89 percent.

▪ Kitsap County: $539,997, up 8 percent.

▪ Thurston County: $489,700, up 4.19 percent.

▪ Mason County: $407,500, up 5.84 percent.

Condos:

▪ King County: $483,000, up 3.54 percent.

▪ Snohomish County: $539,500, up 14.48 percent.

▪ Kitsap County: $370,000, up 15.63 percent.

▪ Thurston County: $338,000, up 31.26 percent.

▪ Mason County: N/A.