Slow January for home sales in county

Published 6:17 pm Sunday, February 15, 2026

LONG BEACH — January was a lazy month for home sales in Pacific County, with 23 completed deals and a sharp decline in the median price.

Twenty-two houses and one condo were sold in January, compared to 26 houses and a condo in January 2025, according to data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. NWMLS statistics don’t include all sales but represent a large proportion of real estate activity.

Sixteen of the house sales were in the south county area comprised of the peninsula, Chinook and Naselle. This was down 24% from the year before. The median selling price — meaning half went for more and half for less — was $347,500, a year-over-year decline of about 23%. The countywide median of $350,000 was about a 14% drop.

Pending house sales — deals awaiting final paperwork — totaled 21 in south county and 28 countywide, around a 15% decline. There were 120 houses on the market in south county and 165 countywide as the month ended, up from 108 and 143 in January 2025.

In north county, four houses sold in Raymond, the same as a year before. Their median price was $348,700, much more than the $207,500 of the previous year. One house sold for $394,000 in South Bend and another for $991,500 in Menlo.

One south county condo sold last month for $190,000. There were five pending condo sales. Twenty condos remained on the market, up from 17 a year earlier.

Pacific and Grays Harbor counties were tied for the most affordable houses on the state’s west side last month, with a $350,000 median compared to $610,000 for the NWMLS region as a whole.

Market recap

January housing market data shows a continuation of recent trends, with growing inventory outpacing buyer demand across much of Washington state, according to NWMLS’s monthly briefing. Active listings increased nearly 21% year over year, while closed sales declined 7% and median prices fell 3%.

“Substantial year-over-year growth in active listings continues to be accompanied by much slower, even negative growth in sales and median prices,” said Steven Bourassa, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at the University of Washington.

Compared to December, inventory rose nearly 6% in January, while closed sales dropped 31% and median prices declined about 3%. The data suggests more homeowners are willing to sell, while affordability constraints continue to limit buyer participation.

Consumer and broker activity rebounded strongly from December, signaling early momentum as the market begins to transition toward the spring selling season. Mortgage interest rates also continued a gradual downward trend, ending January at 6.10%, compared to 6.15% at the end of December.

Rates have reached similarly low levels only twice since the run-up in 2022 — briefly in February 2023 and again in September 2024 — when rates dipped temporarily before rising again. This time could be different, as the rate decline has continued over a longer period, suggesting that it might be more sustainable.