Real estate sale pending sign

LONG BEACH — Pacific County home sales started the year like a New Year’s rocket.

January’s countywide median selling price for houses was $404,950, about 58% higher than the year before. Twenty-six houses sold in the county last month, 53% more than the 17 in January 2024, according to Northwest Multiple Listing Service data.

Median means half sold for more and half for less. In a small real estate market like ours, changes in the mix of higher- and lower-priced sales can result in large statistical swings.

South county — the peninsula, Chinook and Naselle — accounted for 21 January sales, 75% more than the year before. The median selling price was $450,000, about 42% more than the $317,500 achieved in January 2024.

In January 2021, just before a nationwide pandemic-related surge in home sales, Pacific County’s overall median house price was $234,000. The south county median was $242,000.

Five houses sold in north county this January. The four in Raymond went for a median of $207,500, about 6% more than the average for two sold 12 months earlier. One South Bend house sold for $399,900 this January compared to two for an average of $262,500 a year before.

Inventory

Thirty-three sales were pending in the county as January ended, up 14% from 29 in January 2024. South county accounted for 25 of those pending sales, a 31.6% increase.

There were 143 total active house listings in the county as the month ended, up 16% from 123 at the end of January 2024. South county had 108 houses for sale, up 35% from 108 a year before. Elsewhere in the county, there were 20 NWMLS houses for sale in Raymond, three in South Bend, four in Bay Center, five in Tokeland, one in Menlo and two in Lebam. At the current rate of sales, it would take 5.5 months to deplete the county’s current inventory of houses.

One south county condo sold last month for $250,000, compared to two for an average of $160,000 a year earlier. One more condo sale was pending. There were active listings for 17 condos, up from 14 a year before.

Despite its steep increase in median prices, Pacific County remains a bargain compared to most of NWMLS’s 26-county area, which is predominantly west of the Cascades. The January NWMLS median for houses and condos combined was $615,000, up 3.62% from $593,500 in January 2024. Pacific County’s overall combined price was $399,900, up a record-setting 59.39% from $250,900 a year before.

Affordability

Questions abound regarding one of the most critical aspects of today’s market — affordability — and the political and economic factors that influence it, according to NWMLS’s monthly market analysis.

“Both prices and interest rates continued to increase, having a negative effect on affordability,” said Steven Bourassa, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at the University of Washington. “The median price rose by nearly 4% to $615,000, while interest rates rose from 6.69% at the end of January 2024 to 6.95% now.”

“Moreover, new immigration policies are expected to have an inflationary impact on home construction costs,” he continued, “And the National Association of Home Builders has warned that tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico would have a significant impact on materials such as lumber and gypsum, while multiple researchers have documented the possible impact of immigration policy on labor supply for home builders.”

“All of this suggests that the affordability of homeownership, which has been declining, will continue to do so,” Bourassa said.