Home sales rose 5.9% year over year across the Northwest region in July, with 6,615 total sales. Meanwhile, inventory increased 37.7%, with 15,122 total active listings that month, according to the monthly Market Snapshot from Northwest MLS (NWMLS).

Only seven of 26 counties in Washington experienced a sales decrease.

This news came shortly after Aug. 1, when 30-year mortgage rates were at 6.73%: the lowest rate since February, but still historically high.

As inventory increased throughout Washington, 25 counties in the state — all but one — saw a double-digit, year-over-year increase. The six counties with highest jumps in for-sale homes were, in order: Douglas (up 80.8%), Pierce (up 51.2%), Walla Walla (up 49.6%), Lewis (up 49.3%), Snohomish (up 47.8%) and Mason (up 43.7%).

A press release from NWMLS called these “signs that the housing market is loosening up and that interest rates are declining and likely to decline even further in the coming months.”
Amid these market changes, the median sales price in July was $650,000, which reflects a year-over-year increase of 5.7%. The counties with the highest median sales prices were, in order, King ($880,000), Snohomish ($775,000) and San Juan ($740,000). The counties with the lowest median sale prices were Columbia ($270,000), Pacific ($290,000) and Ferry ($319,900).

During the same month, 17,515 listed properties were eligible for the NWMLS’ Down Payment Resource (DPR) program, an increase of 19.8% from the previous July.

Reflecting the recent data, Steven Bourassa, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at the University of Washington, offered a prediction. “Although the Federal Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank did not lower rates at its July 31 meeting, it suggested that it might do so in mid-September,” Bourassa said. He believes the Fed will lower rates next month, citing “a weak jobs report, largely reflecting a growing labor force, combined with low inflation.”